The Alliance for Health Equity has launched Let’s Talk: Community-Designed Solutions 2.0 (CDS Challenge) as part of its Community Voice strategy. The CDS Challenge invests in community-created solutions by empowering Coatesville citizens in the places where they live, lifting their voices, and building their power to shape the services and programs that affect them.  

The first session, on Thursday, Nov. 16, will provide Coatesville residents with the tools and training to design, develop and strengthen their ideas and solutions related to community health and wellbeing. The session will convene seven CDS participants, co-investors,

The Alliance’s grant-making committee, and partners at the Brandywine Center 4^th Floor at 744 East Lincoln Highway in Coatesville from 4:30 – 6:30 PM. Key panelists and attendees will vote for the best CDS presentations to receive one $2,500 award, one $1,000 award, and three $500 awards.  

The Alliance is currently seeking individuals, organizations, and businesses to submit their ideas and solutions of the community’s status on health and wellbeing as they are the experts in their own experiences. Interested community members will submit their ideas and understandings via an online portal by Oct. 20.

The Alliance team will then supply personalized training and guidance on how to develop a sustainable solution based on their idea that includes a gap analysis, financials, team profiles, and timeline. Once training is complete, the community member officially becomes a CDS participant and is prepared to present their solution on Nov. 16. Community members interested in listening in and voting for solutions are encouraged to attend the CDS Challenge. Sign up to attend here.  

Additional CDS Challenge 2.0 sessions will take place on Jan. 23, March 26, and May 29 and will each have a different presentation topic. January’s topic is employment, education, and small business development, March’s topic is housing, and May’s topic is healthy environments.  

The CDS Challenge is a revised version of the first series that took place from February – June 2023. The First series gathered twenty-eight community members to present their solutions in front of over 100 community members. $25,000 in awards were distributed in five months and an additional $70,000 was selected by The Alliance’s grant-making committee to be divided between seven nonprofit presentations.  

“The Let’s Talk Series enhanced my experience of public speaking and increased my confidence in sharing my idea on the Buddy System to improve the mental health among youth in Coatesville,” said Ragha Mohan, West Chester University MPH Student and CDS Challenge Presenter. 

All interested community members are encouraged to sign up to begin the process of developing and sharing their solution for monetary awards. To ensure the solution is sustainable after presentation, The Alliance will continue to guide solutions development and provide personalized capacity building coaching as needed.  

Learn more at The Alliance for Health Equity.