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Community Health at Sibley Hospital

Ward Infinity

Empowering Change Through Community Driven Innovation

 

About Ward Infinity

 

The mission of Ward Infinity is to partner with change agents to magnify and accelerate their capacity to radically improve the health and well-being of underinvested communities. Ward Infinity aims to radically reduce health disparities through the creation of community-driven solutions. We partner with change agents in Washington, D.C.'s most underserved communities, Wards 7 and 8, to develop innovative solutions that address social determinants of health.

Upcoming Events The Community Collaborative

Sibley Memorial Hospital hosts the Community Collaborative to support local, impact-driven innovators with a series of informative business and networking events.

Our fourth event, "Securing the Bag: Understanding and Accessing Financial Resources for Your Venture," will bring a panel of community, government, and industry leaders to share the tools and resources needed to find and secure funding.

Securing the Bag: Understanding and Accessing Financial Resources for Your Venture
Date: Thursday, October 27,2022
Time: 12:15 - 1:15 p.m.
Location: Zoom

Register
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Our Goals

Eliminate Disparities

Health disparities increase medical costs by $77 billion and indirect costs by $83 billion each year. Our strategy distributes resources to increase health and vitality and reduce costs.

Increase Inclusion

Vulnerable communities are often not consulted on changes that affect their quality of life. Our approach empowers residents to shape changes in their community.

Build Trust

As we've seen with the COVID vaccine roll-out, trust between patients & providers either impedes or encourages healthcare service use. Our process listens and responds to community needs.

 
 

Community-Driven Solutions (Slideshow)

Nutritious Food Access Market 7

Benning Market 7

A community marketplace that alleviates food and retail deserts while empowering black-owned-businesses and celebrating food from the African diaspora.

  • Named Honoree on the Forbes Next 1000 list
  • Won $150,000 Essence & Pine Sol Build Your Legacy Contest
  • Awarded $50,000 from D.C. Dept. of Healthcare Finance
  • Established partnership Whole Foods Market
  • Named 2020 Changemaker in the DC Food System
Learn more

Strong Relationships Playback Theatre

Playback Theatre

Performances sharing and reflecting back stories of residents around health to heal and move beyond them.

  • In 1 year, increased performances by 500%
  • Performed for 700 in 1 year with a cast of 10
  • Branched into Diversity & Inclusion work, facilitating conversations between corporations and the community
  • Founder named 2018 winner of Day Eight's DC Poet Project
Learn more

Healthy Environments Fresh Food Factory

Fresh Food Factory Exterior

A self sustaining food hub developed by repurposing shipping containers that features an indoor food market, farm, training center and certified kitchen.

  • Opened a local and ethnic health food store
  • Trained other businesses to develop the food ecosystem
  • Partnering with D.C. Government to build the Food Hub
  • Raised $15,000 to fund Food Hub
Learn more
      

    • The WANDA Academy

      A women's circle that reclaims sisterhood and heritage foods to address food security.

      Members of the WANDA Academy

    • DMV Urban Greens

      An urban organic farm that provides produce for free/low cost while eliminating transportation barriers.

      DMV Urban Green team

    • Taste and Talk

      Gatherings in a familiar setting to explore the benefits of plant-based diets on $10/day. Health coaching for 9 months following the program.

      Taste and Talk
      

    The Sibley Innovation Method

    Triad illustration

    Our social innovation method prescribes a process, not an outcome. It combines our very own human-centered design approach Listen Imagine Do with public health and business problem-solving methods to generate community-driven innovations. The goal of the process is to design solutions that resonate with community needs and values all while having a viable underlying business model.

     
     

    Listen

    Encouraging the teams to listen and understand the health needs of their neighbors.

    Carlisha Gentles, a Ward Infinity 2019 participant, has conversations in a barbershop to understand how men navigate the healthcare system.

    Imagine

    Helping teams imagine viable solutions that will bring about lasting health changes in the community.

    Jason Anderson and Brenda Liddell, from the Ward Infinity 2018 cohort, conduct a brainstorming activity with staff member Marissa McKeever.

    Do

    Simply providing tools, knowledge, and funding that helps teams turn their ideas into real-world societal change.

    Taboris Robinson, from the Ward Infinity 2019 cohort, tests out his mobile market in Southeast DC. In communities east of the river, transportation is the #1 barrier to accessing healthy foods.

       
       
       

      Media Releases

       

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