Empowering Moms-to-Be: A Community's Journey Towards Health Equity
The Texas Accountable Communities for Health Initiative (TACHI) is changing the way Texas thinks about health – from one that is centered on the health care system to one that values health equity and multi-sector partnerships. It’s an ambitious model to address underlying, root causes of poor health and find sustainable solutions for the entire community.
TACHI was created by Episcopal Health Foundation in 2021 and was initially funded by $8 million in EHF grants. Central Texas-based St. David’s Foundation joined as key partner in the initiative by investing more than $1 million in funding and providing strategic expertise.
TACHI now includes six community sites that are growing local solutions to address the non-medical drivers of health in many different ways.
“Some sites are utilizing community health workers to improve maternal health, while another is connecting would-be ER patients to desperately needed nutrition and housing needs,” says Dr. Ann Barnes, EHF’s president and CEO. “TACHI is developing locally-sourced, resident-focused solutions to help communities improve health, not just health care in their own unique ways.”
At the TACHI site in Williamson County, a coalition of organizations known as Community Health Connect is working with pregnant women in underserved areas in and around around Georgetown. The site’s goal is to help these women receive comprehensive health care along with other important non-medical services like housing navigation, child care, food assistance, and more.
