SAINT PAUL, MN — Ramsey County was chosen as one of nine communities across the nation to receive the 2023 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Culture of Health Prize. The Prize celebrates communities across the country where people and organizations are collaborating to build positive solutions to barriers that have created unequal opportunities for health and wellbeing.
Ramsey County and the Cultural Wellness Center received this award for their work building a strong foundation of on-the-ground community partnerships to regain Kujichagulia (self-determination) in the Black community. The initiative, Kujichagulia 2.0, aims to make Black community members integral to county decision-making—while keeping the responsibility to policymakers—as the central to the goal of eliminating systemic racist practices related to health, housing, education, career opportunities, and other issues that disproportionately affect the Black community.
“Through Kujichagulia 2.0, we are building trust and repairing harm,” said Saint Paul - Ramsey County Public Health director Sara Hollie, who accepted the award in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Ramsey County is moving from gatekeepers to connectors of resources; from helping people to being in relationship with people; from positional authority over to shared authority – which are all key components of the Cultural Wellness Center’s approach.”
Together, Ramsey County and the Cultural Wellness Center are working to change harmful practices that have existed within Ramsey County systems and turn them into a source of pride for both the county and the Black community. Through the partnership, residents from the Black Community Commission worked with Ramsey County’s African American leadership team to become knowledgeable about the county’s budget process and then helped present and approve the Public Health and Social Services budget for 2024.
The Commission helped shape the current internship model within Social Services to ensure partnerships with colleges and universities provided interns who represent the communities served within Ramsey County. Together, the organizations have also worked to decrease the number of children entering the child protection system by increasing meaningful investment in families and family support.
“This is an active community-building, community-engagement and community-reconnection process,” said Elder Atum Azzahir, executive director of the Cultural Wellness Center. “I admire that the county knows community is a major measure of health and wellbeing.”
As a Prize winner, the Cultural Wellness Center in partnership with Ramsey County, will receive $250,000, national and local promotion of the community’s stories to inspire others, and other opportunities to expand networks and accelerate progress toward building a healthy community.
About the RWJF Culture of Health Prize
In the 10 years since it was launched, the RWJF Culture of Health Prize has celebrated more than 50 communities across the country that are at the forefront of advancing health, opportunity, and equity for all. The 2023 Prize celebrates solutions led by communities that are breaking down the barriers to health and wellbeing caused by structural racism and other forms of systemic discrimination.
Since partnership within communities is at the heart of the Prize, it is awarded to whole cities, towns, tribes, reservations, and counties. Ramsey County joins eight other 2023 Prize winners, including Austin, Texas; Baltimore, Maryland; Detroit, Michigan; Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Reservation; Houston, Texas; Los Angeles County, California; Tacoma, Washington; and Zuni Pueblo.
Read more about the 2023 Prize winners.
