Culture of Health–Advancing Together (CHAT) has joined Mid-America Arts Alliance, a United States Regional Arts Organization (US RAO), to bring awareness to the role the arts can play in building community and increasing access to vital health resources.
About Houston, Texas’s Culture of Health–Advancing Together
CHAT was founded in 2015 by Dr. Aisha Siddiqui with the goal of promoting health and well-being in Gulfton, a community in southwest Houston, Texas, by reducing isolation and connecting people to resources. Through education, arts, advocacy, and access to health care, CHAT strives to empower healthy, self-sufficient communities capable of meeting the every challenges of life in a diverse society.
CHAT believes in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s definition of Culture of Health:
“Building a Culture of Health means working together to improve health for all in America. It means placing well-being at the center of every aspect of our lives. In a Culture of Health, Americans understand that we’re all in this together—no one is excluded. Everyone has access to the care they need and a fair and just opportunity to make healthier choices. In a Culture of Health, communities flourish and individuals thrive.”
CHAT’s founder and executive Director Dr. Aisha Siddiqui, and board chair, Dr. Ross Shegog, have actively collaborated with M-AAA through our Engage program. Aisha, who earned a doctorate in public health, management, policy, and community health practice Dr. Ross Shegog, who holds a PhD in Behavioral Science—both from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston—have played a key role in this partnership.
M-AAA has assisted CHAT’s organizational development from a self-funded fledgling organization to one that now, in just eight short years, has amassed nearly 20 health industry collaborators, including Baylor College of Medicine, University of Texas School of Public Health, Harris County Public Health, and Houston Health Department. Currently, CHAT receives funding from the Houston Arts Alliance, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Houston in Action, Ima Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, Houston Endowment, Centers for Disease Control, and Houston Health Department, among others, along with an impressive number of individual community donors.
CHAT in Action: The Gulfton Story Trail
One of CHAT’s recent achievements is the Gulfton Story Trail, an immersive art experience that invites the residents and visitors to discover the many cultures and voices of Houston’s Gulfton neighborhood.
Nestled in between Gulfton’s global cuisines and eclectic shops are 17 inspiring murals created by some of Houston’s most talented street artists. Each vibrant piece is multidimensional, born from poetry written by Gulfton students, blending Gulfton’s stories with their own.
Aisha notes that “Art is the gateway to reaching children and families . . . Art gives them a way to express themselves.
“Our goal is to promote a holistic way to help newcomers thrive in their new home. They don’t want a handout – they just want a chance to become part of the community. Art experiences are part of that healthy strategy. Health is a central part of creating a good living environment and art is the closest connection.”
CHAT and M-AAA: A Partnership for Belonging, Community, and Hope
In 2020, M-AAA began a conversation with CHAT about becoming a part of Mid-America Arts Alliance. There is need throughout the region for its work and its mission does not restrict CHAT to Houston or even Texas.
Bringing CHAT into M-AAA as a program provides us with an opportunity to expand our cross-sector work in the area of Arts and Health, which has most recently been advanced with our five-year cooperative agreement with the National Endowment for the Arts through the creation of the Creative Forces Community Engagement Grant program, a national program in partnership with the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs that seeks to improve the health, well-being, and quality of life for military and veteran populations exposed to trauma, as well as their families and caregivers.
This provides the ability to serve a broader constituency, which meets our strategic goals for commitment to serving all. Additionally, it is aligned with multiple objectives of our strategic plan and embodies our core values.
The model for what has been successfully created in Houston can be replicated, over time, throughout the region, much as M-AAA has done with other community-based programs like Engage’s organizational services and Artist INC’s artistic professional development workshops and through our national expansion of traveling exhibition service ExhibitsUSA.
Like those programs, this partnership with CHAT allows us to broaden our reach, expand opportunities, deepen our connections, and enrich the communities we serve and the staff we employ.