We need your help
The Healthy Community Center will open in the former Columbus Metropolitan Library Martin Luther King Jr. branch at 1600 E. Long St. on the Near East Side. The 8,900-square-foot facility created in partnership with the community, will offer a variety of community-centered programs and services with direct benefits to the community. Working to create and sustain lifelong healthy lifestyles for residents, the center will contain a teaching kitchen, urban gardening education, a healthy café and conference rooms to facilitate community gatherings.
Access to these services will not be dependent on a person’s ability to pay. The Healthy Community Center will provide services to address the most pressing health needs of Near East Side residents, outside the walls of traditional health clinics and hospitals. The center is on track to begin serving the public in early 2024.
The need is great
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention illustrate how health outcomes vary in neighboring communities.
Compared with residents in adjoining Bexley, those who live in the Near East Side neighborhood are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and overall lower life expectancy.
Ways to get involved
Partner with us
We seek the partnership of our philanthropic investors to help make this facility a reality. Improving the health and wellness of our neighbors is directly in line with The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center’s mission to improve people’s lives in Ohio and across the world through innovation in research, education and patient care.
Wexner Medical Center is investing millions of dollars to renovate the building. We are seeking investors who will help fund operations for the center and provide capital enhancements not currently funded. The creation of these funds is critical to our ability to provide these services at no charge to those who need them the most.
Our current partners include:
- Mid-Ohio Food Collective
- Partners Achieving Community Transformation (PACT)
- Growing and Growth Collaborative
We are so grateful you are considering supporting the Healthy Community Center. Although Ohio State will facilitate its creation, this center will truly belong to those it serves. We thank you for considering the opportunity to partner with us in bringing this vital resource to fruition.
Support for the center is needed in two primary areas: Capital expenses and ongoing operations costs. Numerous opportunities for naming spaces are available.
Contact us to become a partner
Volunteer
If you would like to get involved with the Healthy Community Center by volunteering, there are opportunities with PACT and in the community's food pantries and community gardens.
Contact us about volunteer opportunities
Give to the Healthy Community Center
Your gift to the Healthy Community Center will help provide access to a variety of community-centered programs and services to improve the health and wellness of the Near East Side community and its residents.
Your feedback is important to us. Share ideas and feedback about the Healthy Community Center with Joshua.Joseph@osumc.edu and William.Hayes@osumc.edu.