Health is transformed by the boots-on-the-ground community members that put their heart into their work.

Community Blueprint partnered with the Minnesota Department of Health to produce this nine-video series about diabetes prevention. We traveled around the state to highlight what practitioners are doing to solve these problems. These videos show us how much power and wisdom exists outside of academia and clinics. These videos and stories are true public health— driven not by profits and patents but by compassion for thy neighbor and the human right of accessible, inclusive health care.

Project Team: Steve Kinsella, Rachel Kennedy, Theresa Ambroz, Karli Thorstenson and James Peackock.

Butterfield Hardware Store

How a hardware store can impact a food access

To help address challenges to healthy and affordable foods in the rural community of Butterfield, the local hardware store made a business and community decision to healthy carry food in addition to tools. 

Bois Forte 

Preventing diabetes on the reservation

The impacts of colonialism and other structural and economic barriers lead to high rates of cardiovascular disease and diabetes within Native American and Indigenous communities. Bois Forte has implemented multifaceted health and well-being efforts aimed at improving the health of tribal members and reducing rates of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, including educational material and physical activity that connects members to their ancestors and culture.

Rise 

People with disabilities face many challenges and inequities to obtaining and maintaining good health, including tailored, accessible opportunities for physical activity, healthy eating, and well-being. Rise, a nonprofit working in the Twin Cities Metro Area and Central Minnesota, has worked to create opportunities for their clients to engage in physical activity and healthy eating programs that are tailored to their clients’ needs. They partner with local organizations to help facilitate these opportunities.

Public input into the creation of the MN 2035 Plan

Public health is informed by the public

The MN 2035 Plan was created over a two-year period by more than 90 organizations and the Minnesota communities most impacted by cardiovascular disease, stroke, and diabetes. The process included community engagement events and a statewide survey of 540 Minnesotans. Participating organizations included the American Heart Association, American Association of Diabetes Educators, Arrowhead Area Agency on Aging, Bemidji Area Indian Health Service, Minnesota Black Nurses Association and many others.