Guest User 11/9/21 Guest User 11/9/21

Get Ready to GROW: Comprehensive developmental checks

Only 20 to 30% of children with health, behavioral, and development problems are identified and receive appropriate interventions prior to entering school. Working along side Children's Institute and a collaborative of child-serving organizations, a new community campaign was created to ensure families are aware of the benefits and availability of screenings.

The Get Ready to GROW collaborative, led by Children’s Institute, features screenings designed to support a child’s doctor by providing complementary information that they would not get during a typical well visit. In addition to height, weight, vision, and hearing, these development checks look at movement, dental, speech & language, thinking & reasoning, and social & emotional well being, as well as social determinants of health and education. The free checks are an easy and fun way for families to engage in their child’s development, and leverage state-of-the-art technology to ensure best practices.

The initiative aims to raise awareness and educate parents about these important screenings. The advertising acknowledges that parents often see things in their child’s behavior they are unsure of or think will go away with time. With the help of a screening, they can uncover their child’s strengths and, if a need is identified, take action to ensure their development is on track.

The GROW community initiative is managed by Children’s Institute but is the result of multiple years of collaborative planning efforts with more than 30 partnering organizations across education, health, and human services. Each partner provides vital knowledge, services, and funding, with roles including funding, family and community connections, direct services such as screening, child care and medical service provision, and parent navigation support.

Parents or providers can learn more about Get Ready To Grow or sign up for a free check at www.GetReadyToGrow.org or by reaching out to the GROW team by email at support@getreadytogrow.org or by phone at (585) 295-1008.

Guest User 10/29/21 Guest User 10/29/21

Get AMPED: Go All Electric

“Carbon-free electricity will power our entire community, showing the nation that this transformation is possible”

Launched in September 2021, this community-led initiative supports the transition to clean energy through beneficial electrification in the nine-county Genesee-Finger Lakes Region

The overarching goal of this initiative is to mitigate the impacts of climate change by reducing carbon pollution caused by burning fossil fuels. Climate change poses numerous harms and risks to our community, including the increased frequency and severity of extreme weather events, food insecurity, the spread of vector-borne diseases, poor indoor and outdoor air quality, toxic algae blooms, and damage to both private and public property.

This campaign is promoting the use of carbon-free electricity to meet our energy needs. Because most local emissions come from building heating systems and on-road vehicles, the focus of the campaign will be to encourage and support the transition of area organizations’ vehicles and buildings to technologies that are powered by carbon-free electricity, instead of fossil fuels.

AMPED is using inspiring stories and resources helpful to organizations looking to learn about beneficial electrification options, costs, and available incentives. Monthly webinars will cover a variety of building electrification and electric vehicle topics, all targeted at enabling organizations to take action. Local success stories and details can be found on ampedproject.org.

The AMPED campaign was developed through a process facilitated by Causewave Community Partners and funded by the Climate Solutions Accelerator, Greater Rochester Clean Cities, New York State Pollution Prevention Institute and the City of Rochester. Collaborators in the campaign included representatives from those funders and Center for Community Health & Prevention, Common Ground Health, Dutton Properties, EMCOR Betlem, Empire State Development, Gallina Development, Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council, Genesee Transportation Council, Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce, Monroe County, PathStone Corporation, Piekunka Systems Inc., Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester Housing Authority, Rochester Regional Health, Regional Transit Service, SWBR, and University of Rochester.

To learn more about the campaign and sign up for updates visit www.ampedproject.org.

Guest User 12/4/18 Guest User 12/4/18

drive2Bbetter: Traffic Safety

Driver error remains the number one cause of crashes involving cars and bicyclists/pedestrians, despite the fact that drivers have the most power to prevent these accidents from happening in the first place.

The drive2Bbetter Campaign is has been brought to life through the work of community-wide stakeholders who strive to improve safety for all road users – including pedestrians and bicyclists.

The initial phase of the campaign focuses on three desired driver behaviors: slowing down, scanning for pedestrians and bicyclists, and leaving at least 3 feet of space when following, driving beside or passing a bicyclist on the road. By following these three simple driving habits we can begin to reduce the nearly 1.3 crashes that happen each day in Rochester.

Our partners on the drive2Bbetter campaign include AARP, Center for Disability Rights, City of Rochester, City of Rochester Police Department, Common Ground Health, Genesee Transportation Council, Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Rochester, Monroe County Department of Health, Monroe County Department of Public Safety, MVP Healthcare, Reconnect Rochester, Regional Transit Service (RTS), Rochester Cycling Alliance, School 19 – Rochester City School District, United Way of Greater Rochester.

Visit drive2Bbetter.com to learn more information.

Andrew Soucier 1/7/16 Andrew Soucier 1/7/16

H2O Hero: Water Pollution Prevention

Our region is home to some of the most beautiful freshwater in the world. Thanks to the abundance of this natural resource, we have access to plentiful clean drinking water, are a tourism destination, enjoy year-round recreational activities, and have untapped economic development potential.

Unfortunately, the Rochester Embayment area has been identified as 1 of 43 Areas of Concern in the Great Lakes due to harmful human activity, while historical and current pollution problems continue to impair the quality of this precious resource.

With our partners at the Water Education Collaborative (WEC) and SIGMA Marketing, we are working to increase awareness and understanding regarding water quality and how individuals can make a difference. Since non-point source pollution principally comes from stormwater run-off, and is affected by people’s daily activities, the WEC’s overarching mission is to address this problem by promoting water quality education in the community and encouraging stewardship in one’s own backyard. The “H2O Hero” campaign launched in May 2007, and has seen success in the form of hundreds of additional volunteers and education delivered at the award-winning www.H2Ohero.org website, as well as rain barrel education.

Andrew Soucier 1/7/16 Andrew Soucier 1/7/16

Let's Make Lead History: Lead Poisoning Prevention

Since 2004, we have worked alongside the Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning, Roberts Communications and dozens of other community organizations and individuals to address childhood lead poisoning. When the initiative launched, Rochester’s rates of lead poisoning exceeded the national rates by 10 times.

The City of Rochester passed a lead ordinance in 2006 that is one of the most ambitious in the nation. The policy has been recognized as a leader in cost-efficiency and effectiveness, having identified over 9,000 homes with interior lead hazards since it began.

The Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning provides community-wide education to the general public, health professionals, property owners, contractors, and parent groups. Roberts Communications partnered with us to develop materials in multiple languages about lead paint hazards and the importance of getting children tested at ages 1 and 2.

Today, our region is looked to as a national model in reducing the number of children reported with lead poisoning, with an 85 percent reduction to date. In the past ten years, more than 5,600 children have been spared from the terrible effects of this public health hazard because of the collaborative efforts of local government agencies, the Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning, community agencies, and property owners.

Still, the job isn’t done yet. In 2014 there were 609 Rochester area children reported to have unacceptably high blood lead levels — that’s enough to fill more than 30 kindergarten classrooms.

Visit letsmakeleadhistory.org or email info@causewave.org to find out how you can be part of the movement to protect Rochester’s children from the dangers of lead poisoning.