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NewYork-Presbyterian Ambulatory Care Network

CHALK Choosing Healthy & Active Lifestyles for Kids

kids having bags infront, hiding their faces
kids having bags infront, hiding their faces

Program Overview

CHALK (Choosing Healthy and Active Lifestyles for Kids) is a portfolio of programs that support children, families, and their neighborhoods. We aim to prevent chronic illness by connecting communities to safe and joyful public spaces to play and move, nutritious food, jobs and secure employment, and supportive relationships with community-based organizations.

What ties CHALK’s programs together is our approach: We collaborate with non-profit organizations, emergency food providers, early childhood centers, NYP healthcare teams, and other partners across NYC and Westchester County. We co-design each program, leveraging our combined strengths to respond to community needs. Our priority neighborhoods are Washington Heights/Inwood, Lower East Side, Chinatown, Crown Heights, Corona, Mount Vernon, and Peekskill, which were identified through NYP’s Community Health Needs Assessment.

To learn more about the link between nutrition, environment, community building, and health, visit the Dalio Center for Health Justice.

Partnerships
Our Services
10 Healthy Habits
Our Impact/ Outcomes
Resources

Food Insecurity and New Directions

In 2017, NYP CHALK incorporated programs to increase healthy food access and decrease food insecurity through partnerships in Northern Manhattan. In 2019, we piloted Food FARMacia at Washington Heights Family Health Center. Patients facing food insecurity were referred to the program by their healthcare providers. Participants then selected up to 40 pounds of healthy groceries from West Side Campaign Against Hunger’s mobile market truck (twice a month for 6 months) and were connected to social services.

In 2020, in response to NYP’s Community Health Needs Assessment and the COVID-19 pandemic, NYP CHALK expanded our food insecurity initiatives further to reach high risk communities in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, Lower Manhattan, and Westchester County (Peekskill and Mount Vernon). Together we provided social services connections and more than 3.7 million pounds of healthy groceries to over 12,300 households between 2020-2022. In 2023, we shifted our focus to NYP patients screening positive for food insecurity and have since supported 3,000 households, distributing over 1 million pounds of food.

NewYork-Presbyterian's Mobile Food Pantry

Our Priorities

  • Increase access to healthy lifestyles for children and families through system, policy, and environment change
  • Empower schools, early childhood centers, and community-based organizations to create and sustain programs that foster healthy lifestyles, leverage resources, and improve the built environment
  • Partner with NYP healthcare teams, community-based organizations, and emergency food providers to address food insecurity in our communities

Resources

Community event request form
10 Healthy Habits bookmark
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In the News

Community Spotlight: NewYork-Presbyterian CHALK program
NYP CHALK Emergency Food Response to COVID-19
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Contact Us

NewYork-Presbyterian Community Health

chalk@nyp.org