Helping Communities Vote Like Their Health Depends On It

Healthier, More Inclusive Communities

When communities vote, they have better health outcomes...
And when they don't, they don't.

Mission

To inspire the next generation of healthcare providers to create healthier, more inclusive communities through civic engagement.

To recruit, train, and mobilize over 100 future healthcare providers to serve as trusted, nonpartisan messengers and help over 5,000 of their friends, families, and neighbors to vote by November 7, 2023.

History

This work is known as civic health (which recognizes the connection between civic engagement and health). It is inspired by an earlier civic health initiative known as Be Jersey Strong that recruited over 500 future healthcare providers – two-thirds of whom spoke a second language with over 50 languages represented in all – to help over 12,000 of their friends, families, and neighbors connect to health coverage. At the time, it represented one of the largest and most diverse efforts to connect the uninsured to coverage in the nation. This time around, we are partnering with Vot-ER to ensure those same communities are at the table in our democracy.

The Research is Clear

When communities vote, they have better health outcomes

This link exists at the individual, local, state, and national levels and persists even after controlling for factors like income.

That’s why prominent organizations like the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) have declared voting a social determinant of health.

That’s why states with leaders on both sides of the aisle have declared August as Civic Health Month and are uplifting the link between civic engagement and health.

The Initiative

And that’s why we are recruiting, training, and mobilizing the next generation of healthcare providers – doctors, nurses, social workers, and so many more – to register our friends, families, and neighbors vote.

We won’t tell you who to vote for. But we will tell you to vote because we know that your individual health and our collective health is better when you do.