WOMAN DEDICATED TO COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT
Jun 22, 2006

Boston (June 22, 2006) – When former businesswoman Bev Tittle-Baker retired over a decade ago to a ‘fixer upper’ home in Mesa, Arizona, her goal was to be close to her family and focus on her lifelong love for art. She tried to ignore the sirens and gunshots ringing out in her new neighborhood, which was unexpectedly plagued by the activities of gangs, drug dealers and other criminals. But Tittle-Baker could not ignore the 12-old girl who walked by her house each day with 30 children and her four younger siblings in tow. She had just lost her mother and each day she took the children to a local school for a subsidized breakfast program. These children inspired Tittle-Baker to build what became a major holistic youth development program in her community.

Tittle-Baker mobilized residents to take back their community, spearheading crime prevention programs in collaboration with local police that led to the arrest of 60 drug related and other criminals. While serving on Mesa’s Gang Technical Advisory Committee, she negotiated a truce among three rival gangs in her own kitchen. She then recruited young members from seven different gangs to work together painting and cleaning properties. Her home became the meeting center for the community with her backyard used for after-school and summer programs run completely by volunteers.

It wasn’t long before Tittle-Baker’s goals outgrew her house, as she became increasingly aware of the health care and other needs of the community. Through a partnership with Arizona State University, she conducted a need and asset assessment with a group of residents and student nurses. In 1996, she founded the CARE Partnership (Community Asset and Resource Enterprise,) a grassroots organization that has mobilized countless volunteers and partnerships to provide basic wellness and health care services to disenfranchised populations, with a special emphasis on children and civic engagement.

Tittle-Baker convinced volunteer architects and contractors to construct the CARE Partnership Opportunity Center with donated materials on land that was purchased with CDBG and City of Mesa general funds. It is estimated that she has attracted several million dollars in in-kind services and goods. Today, CARE runs a pediatric and family planning clinic with on-site prenatal care provided through a partnership with St. Joseph hospital - programs for youth, adults and the community- emergency food pantry, clothing bank and holiday assistance program -and plans are underway for a dental clinic.

It is for Tittle-Baker’s dedicated work in establishing and developing CARE that she is being honored as one of 10 outstanding individuals from across America chosen to receive the 2006 Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Program award.

“Bev is known for her ability to identify and utilize the talents and skills of individuals regardless of their economic or educational status, including those who receive CARE’s services,” said Arizona Senator Mark Anderson. “She has invested in the physical, emotional, and social health of the community.”

“Last summer’s devastating hurricanes brought into focus for all Americans the gaping holes in this country’s safety net,” said Catherine Dunham, Ed.D, Program Director, Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Program. “It reinforced what we know to be true; that local leaders taking the initiative are really the first and best responders whether the issue is access to care or youth development in underserved areas.”

The program awards $1.2 million each year to health leaders who have surmounted personal and other obstacles to help Americans gain access to heath care and social services. Tittle-Baker and this year's other winners were honored at a June 21 event at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey. She will receive $105,000 to further the work of her program and a $15,000 personal award.

Tittle Baker was chosen from more than 300 people nominated this year. Since 1992, the program has distributed 140 awards in 47 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Those chosen are nominated by civic leaders, health professionals, government representatives and others inspired by their efforts to provide essential health services to their communities. This year's award winners represent urban and rural areas of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, and the District of Columbia.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 30 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime.

For more information: http://www.communityhealthleaders.org

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