By: Rachel Ewing
This summer, at urban gardens, popular parks, community gardens, and grassy vacant lots across West and Southwest Philadelphia, often in sweltering heat, local residents turned on the grill, turned up the music, and coaxed their neighbors out to join them talking, eating, learning, and working in green outdoor spaces. Some of these gatherings were part a block party or festival, or other planned event. Other times, it was just a day when the sun was out and the vibes were good.
You might not think so just to look at it, but these gatherings are at the root of health. For most people, most of the time, treatments and check-ups in a hospital or clinic are just one small part of living a healthy life. A clean and green space to walk in the neighborhood makes it easier to maintain physical and mental well-being. So does fresh, locally grown produce as part of a nutritious diet. Meaningful relationships with neighbors who look out for one another are likewise part of what keeps people healthy.
That connection was clear for many of the people at the gatherings this summer. The attendees represented the “community” part of the community-academic collaborative known as Deeply Rooted, a program of Penn Medicine’s Center for Health Justice.
Funded by an initial $6 million investment from Penn Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 2022, Deeply Rooted invites community organizations and leaders to the table as equal partners with academics to make their neighborhoods into places that support good health, and where people are safe from violence. It funds tree planting and community gardens and gives small grants to community members to run events and programs involving green spaces.
Why would a health system invest in planting trees?
The principles behind Deeply Rooted as a community action initiative are supported by extensive research on the impacts of place-based interventions like greening, as well as financial interventions, on health and well-being. And that body of research continues to grow at Penn Medicine.
The work is flourishing while centering health justice—meaning that it improves opportunities for good health especially for people who have experienced historic harms due to structural racism.
And justice is why the pursuit is so important: It is the right thing to do. In the parlance of Penn Medicine’s strategic plan, it is an example of how we lead with humanity in everything we do and uplift our community, our environment, and ourselves.
Growing toward a healthier world
At the root of it, Penn Medicine is in the business of creating a healthier world. Providing excellent health care is just one piece of that.
Just as our teams are pursuing health in neighborhoods and green spaces across the regions we serve, they’re hard at work within our walls discovering new cures and better treatments. And there, too, vital work comes from partnerships—especially partnering with patients. Just look at the innovations in neurosurgery where patients undergoing advanced surgeries for Parkinson’s disease are also helping to refine the science of implants that could help paralyzed people control prosthetic devices with their thoughts.
In every domain, supporting health means creating communities that bring together diverse talents. Penn Medicine's newest leaders, including Roy Hamilton, MD, vice dean for Inclusion, Diversity and Equity, Pennsylvania Hospital CEO Alicia Gresham, and Michael Ostap, PhD, interim chief scientific officer, are powerful examples of those who lift up individuals and teams across clinical, research, and educational spaces to grow a healthier future.
The urban gardens where Philadelphia neighbors gathered this summer are now yielding a bounty of fall produce. And year after year, in the community, in clinics, and in classrooms, the work will continue to cultivate good health.