About Us

SCHC Mission
The Sussex County Health Coalition exists to engage the entire community in collaborative family-focused effort to improve the health of children, youth and families in Sussex County.

SCHC Vision
We envision a community in which our citizens and institutions (public, private, and not-for-profit) are actively engaged in community health promotion as a shared community good, and working together to create a cultural and physical environment which supports healthy lifestyles for our children and their families.

SCHC Goals
Our Coalition will be viewed by our community as a respected source of knowledge and action for community health promotion, with an organizational culture that is inclusive, welcoming, respectful, trustworthy, non-partisan, listening, responsive, action-oriented, and accountable.

Core Strategies
Our Coalition will employ ten core strategies to advance our mission and vision for Sussex County:

WE EXIST TO BUILD PARTNER CAPACITY, AND THIS IS HOW WE DO IT:

Monitor Community Health Status

• Raise community awareness of community health issues.
• Give voice to community concerns and ideas.
• Expand and publicize the knowledge base on community health promotion.
• Proactively engage people and organizations from all sectors (not-for-profit, public, private) in community health promotion.
• Facilitate development of child and family health promotion strategies.
• Develop and mobilize community resources for community health promotion.
• Build community capacity for policy and program development.
• Support collaborative efforts to improve community policies, programs, and practices.
• Evaluate and report on the impact of our actions.

Targeted Areas of Focus:

• Babies born healthy
• Developmental milestones
• Children entering school ready to learn
• Third grade reading levels
• Reduction of overdose deaths
• Increased support for families affected by substance use disorder
• Increased access to physical and mental health services for children and families
• Increased program support for children age 12 to 18
• Addressing intergenerational poverty
• Addressing chronic health concern

“The work the Sussex County Health Coalition does is so valuable because they are addressing health not only from an individual, but also from a population-based, health perspective. We are so grateful for their partnership.” -- Karyl T. Rattay, MD, MS Director, Division of Health and Social Services