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The City of Brundidge hosted the Pike County Kick0off Event for the Central Alabama Neighborhood Health Initiative on Saturday on the grounds of the historic Bass House.

Ayanna J. Sterling, program manager, Health Literacy, Southeast Alabama AHEC, said, by all accounts, the kick0ff event was a great success in the number of agencies that participated, the attendance and the interest shown.

“Brundidge was chosen as the kick-off location because of the receptiveness, hospitality and support shown by Mayor Isabell Boyd and those at the senior center where I conducted a Health Literacy Workshop earlier this year,” Sterling said. “We look forward to participating in upcoming Brundidge events to promote community health efforts in the near future.”

Sterling said, in July 2021, the City of Montgomery and other partners were awarded $3.9 million by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Minority Health as part of the federal Advancing Health Literacy to Enhance Equitable Community Response to the COVID-19 Initiative.  The Central Alabama Neighborhood Health Initiative (CANHI) was founded to collaboratively increase the rates of COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, increase health literacy, and improve patient experience, and patient-provider relations in Elmore, Montgomery, and Pike Counties.

The vendors who participated in the event were: Reclamation Center of Alabama (RCA),

Troy Resilience Project, Lessons for Life Inc., HandsOn River Region 211, Trenholm,

Southeast Alabama AHEC (SEAAHEC), AL Medicaid, Pike County Health Department, ADPH – Nutrition and Physical Activity Division, Pike Regional Child Advocacy Center,

SCADC (Area Agency on Aging), Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Pike County Sheriff’s Department.

Also participating were Who’s Hungry and That’s my Dog food trucks. Music was by Clayton Wildcat Thomason’s Band.

“The City of Brundidge greatly appreciated the opportunity to host the kick-off event this past Saturday,” Boyd said. “We thank Ayanna Sterling for her dedication to making the kickoff event a great success. We thank everyone who was a part of making it happen and those who came to learn and support the efforts to those who are dedicated to the people of Pike County.”