March 15 – In the time since its launch, the Healthy Houston Initiative (HHI) has spread the news about the importance of health, nutrition, and finances in underserved communities across Houston.

Now, a $250,000 grant from the Houston-based Cullen Foundation is ensuring the program’s ongoing initiatives continue.

The grant will be used to fund the HHI, which focuses on addressing health disparities and promoting a holistic wellness approach to healthy lifestyles. Programming for the HHI focuses on four critical areas: finance, public health, food insecurity, and mental health and wellness.

“We certainly appreciate the Cullen Foundation for recognizing the efforts of the Healthy Houston Initiative,” Gerard D’Souza, Ph.D., dean of the Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU) College of Agriculture and Human Sciences, said. “Thanks to [PVAMU] President Ruth Simmons, we were able to connect with Cullen Foundation and now we’ve received this grant that will help us to make an impact on the lives of residents in some of the city’s most underserved areas.” 

The HHI is a partnership with the Texas A&M University System, PVAMU, and Mayor Sylvester Turner’s Complete Communities Initiative. Within PVAMU, the Colleges of Agriculture and Human Sciences, Nursing, Juvenile Justice and Psychology, and Business work together to develop programming that uses a portfolio of educational, healthcare assessment, and outreach programs. 

Carolyn Williams, Ph.D., executive director of the PVAMU Cooperative Extension Program (CEP), said the grant from the Cullen Foundation will help to bolster the HHI programming that plays a key role in addressing issues faced by the communities the program serves.  

“When we look at the communities served by the HHI, we know that education in areas like health, nutrition, and finances can be transformative for families,” Williams said. “The HHI allows us to make an impact in these communities that can be felt for years to come. Support from organizations like the Cullen Foundation helps us to further those efforts.”

The HHI also partners with the community- and faith-based organizations, school districts, youth agencies, and local businesses to offer nutrition and wellness workshops, virtual and face-to-face programs, health screening, nutrition demonstrations, and community gardening activities.

To learn more about the HHI, visit pvamu.edu/cahs/healthy-houston.