Healthy Columbia is a campaign born from Organizing for Health, an initiative of ReThink Health that is funded by the Fannie E. Rippel Foundation.

Starting in 29203, Healthy Columbia seeks to transform the health and health care of the population using community organizing and shared leadership. Organizing for Health is grounded in the belief that health and health care is local. There is no single action that will improve the health system; and there is no single actor who can do make change alone. Therefore, the focus of Healthy Columbia in 29203 will be determined by the community as the goals go beyond improving the medical care delivery system. Campaign leaders are looking at what can be done to make neighborhoods healthier; what churches and neighborhood organizations can do to promote healthy eating, exercise, and disease management; and what individuals can do to improve their own – and one another’s – health.

The core team that is leading this effort across South Carolina consists of campaign leaders from the South Carolina Hospital Association, Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina, Eau Clare Health Clinics and Palmetto Health. This core team recruited a Columbia team to lead Healthy Columbia, the first of a series of campaigns that will lead up to a Healthy South Carolina.