In June 2006, Elisabeth Arenales, CCLP's Health
Policy Director, was one of 10 people across the nation to win the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation's Community Health Leadership Award.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) initiated the Robert
Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Program (CHLP) in 1991 to recognize
individuals' contributions to improving health and health care in their
communities. The program is ongoing. Through $120,000 awards to their
organizations, CHLP honors unsung and unusually resourceful people working in
communities across the country to improve access to health care, and both the
health and local health conditions of often disenfranchised populations.
CHLP's working definition of health, established in 1993, is
derived from the holistic one used by the World Health Organization, which
includes physical, emotional, mental and spiritual elements. Thus, domestic
violence, environmental pollution, poor housing, and urban violence all come
into play as relevant threats to health under this definition. CHLP's vision
also recognizes that social and economic stability, along with educational
investments, directly impact the health of a community. CHLP also recognizes the
role that advocacy plays in health promotion.
Elisabeth and CCLP believe that Colorado's health advocacy
community is rich with people deserving recognition for their tireless efforts
to guarantee access to quality health care for all Coloradans. In particular,
CCLP and Elisabeth would like to recognize the leadership of Lorez Meinhold and
the efforts of her organization, the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative.
To honor the fact that successes are never achieved in
isolation, the Colorado Center on Law & Policy and Elisabeth will share the
$120,000 RWJF award equally with the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative. For
more information on CCHI, visit their website at
www.cohealthinitiative.org .
Click
here to see the
June 22, 2006 Rocky Mountain News Article about Elisabeth, CCHI and the
Robert Wood Johnson Award.
