Volunteer

Health Initiatives

In an effort to address the ever-growing health and wellness needs of Greenville County school children and their family members, Communities In Schools teams with local community resources to bridge the gap between individual needs and appropriate available resources.  Health Initiatives  works in conjunction with all programs within CIS to identify students in need, make home visits to determine health and wellness needs of both the student and the family members, establish goals, formulate strategies, implement a plan of action, and evaluate/adjust actions as necessary.  The ultimate goal is to ensure the students and their families become self-sufficient in addressing their own health and well being needs and to do so, it will be imperative to:

  • Secure a medical and dental “home”
  • Enroll in any available private or public insurance plans
  • Reduce inappropriate emergency room visits
  • Increase awareness of preventative measures
  • Equip with tools to make necessary beneficial lifestyle changes
  • Incorporate physical activity into after school programming
  • Provide evening transportation home for program students

In addition to the core functions above, Health Initiatives offers a variety of special activities and services tailored to each site’s needs and preferences.  In the past these have included:  Tae Kwon Do; Millie Lewis’ Personal Teen Development series; Go Girl Go (girls’ running program); Mobile Dental Unit services; Sports Physicals; Give Kids a Smile Day; and LensCrafters’ Hometown Days (free vision services).

Specific Health Initiatives at Monaview

For the first time, Health Initiatives (H.I.) is partnering with a school during regular school day hours.  As part of the Comprehensive Site Plan, H.I. will bring in community partners to teach one week per month in the school’s science lab.  The topic for each month will revolve around health and wellness, and will assist in helping the school reach goals that can then qualify them as a South Carolina Healthy School.  In conjunction, H.I. will help facilitate the School Health Index, the CDC’s research-based guidelines for school health programs, which identify the policies and practices most likely to be effective in improving youth health risk behaviors. This model highlights the importance of involving all eight components, which can have a powerful impact on student health behaviors. The eight modules in the SHI correspond to the eight components of a coordinated school health program.

The eight modules are:

  1. School Health and Safety Policies and Environment
  2. Health Education
  3. Physical Education and Other Physical Activity Programs
  4. Nutrition Services
  5. Health Services
  6. Counseling, Psychological, and Social Services
  7. Health Promotion for Staff
  8. Family and Community Involvement

Contact:

Kimberly Mahaffey
Project Director
864-250-6740
kmahaffey@cisgreenville.org