Community Health Priorities Unveiled at NeighborHealth’s Gallery Walk in East Boston
NeighborHealth and the Boston Community Health Collaborative (BCHC) gathered residents at the health center’s Maverick Square location in East Boston on Tuesday, July 8 for a Community Gallery Walk to present and discuss key findings from the 2025 Boston Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA). The CHNA is a community health improvement plan developed by BCHC, which is facilitated by the Boston Public Health Commission and convenes City departments, public health, healthcare, community based organizations, and Boston residents. The interactive event centered discussions on the local health data and community-driven solutions to help inform NeighborHealth’s health equity initiatives in 2026.
“Improving health across Boston requires a tremendous collaborative effort and, as the largest community-based primary care health system in Massachusetts, our partnership with the Boston Community Health Collaborative offers a data-driven roadmap for working together to address the root causes of health inequities,” said Jamie Hazard, Interim CEO and Chief Financial Officer of NeighborHealth.
The CHNA data identifies areas of strength and progress related to community health in Boston. It also provides community health centers with recommendations for improved outcomes based on data collected from surveys, focus groups and interviews with the local community.
Key insights from the assessment pertaining to NeighborHealth’s patient population were presented by Tibrine da Fonseca, PhD, Project Director of BCHC at the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) and Maya Iona Nuñez, CHNA Project Coordinator at BPHC.
“The Boston Community Health Collaborative process identified key priorities to support the health and wellbeing of Boston residents – strengthening access to healthy foods, safe and affordable housing, creating more economic opportunities, and improving access to care,” said Tibrine da Fonseca, Project Director of BCHC at the Boston Public Health Commission.
The event provided a platform for collaboration as patients, community members, health professionals, and local leaders responded to the data. NeighborHealth’s leadership emphasized the collective call to action, urging stakeholders to build on partnerships and prioritize practical strategies, along with highlighting how the CHNA findings will inform their equity planning.
“We were heartened to see much alignment with the work we are doing and the needs brought forward in the assessment,” said Mimi Gardner, Vice President and Chief Equity Officer at NeighborHealth. “Partnerships will be essential to advancing and expanding that work. Through NeighborHealth’s Community Health Equity Council, we look forward to bringing residents, local nonprofits, schools, healthcare providers, and elected leaders together to continue tackling food, housing, behavioral health, and economic stability.”
As the event concluded, participants heard youth performances from the EASTIE Coalition, enjoyed light refreshments and engaged in a gift card raffle.
For more information about NeighborHealth, visit www.neighborhealth.com.
Encore Boston Harbor Team and The Pack Shack Packed More Than Half-A-Million Meals for Families in Need
Volunteers made up of Encore Boston Harbor team members, volunteers from partner organizations, community members, and the team from The Pack Shack prepared and packed 591,798 free and nutritious meals that will be distributed to families in need in the Greater Boston area. This was the first phase of this year’s “Feed the Funnel” event, which is held biannually by Encore Boston Harbor and has produced one million free meals annually for the last six years.
“I am so proud of our team and all of our partners, friends and family for making this Feed the Funnel such a success,” said Jenny Holaday, president of Encore Boston Harbor. “Bringing almost 600,000 meals to our local communities, while having so much fun doing so makes this volunteer effort especially gratifying.”
The local nonprofits receiving the prepared meals from Encore Boston Harbor are:
• Pine Street Inn
• Greater Boston Food Bank
• Red Cross Food Pantry
• Food for Free
• Spoonfuls
• Bread of Life
• Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester
• Health Saugus-Healthy Students
The second phase of the Feed the Funnel event will take place December 15-17, 2025. Interested participants can email [email protected] to be added to the registration list for when final times are released.
Encore Boston Harbor, a Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star hotel, features more than 210,000 square-feet of gaming space, over 2,600 slot machines, over 200 table games and a state-of-the-art sportsbook. Situated on the Mystic River in Everett, Massachusetts, and connected to Boston Harbor, Encore Boston Harbor boasts 671 spacious hotel rooms, a Forbes Five-Star spa, salon and fitness center, specialty retail shops, a variety of dining and lounge venues, including Forbes Four-Star rated Rare Steakhouse and more than 50,000 square feet of ballroom and meeting spaces. The grounds feature a six-acre Harborwalk with pedestrian and bicycle paths that provide access to the waterfront, an event lawn, public art, and ornate floral displays. It is the largest private, single-phase development in the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The casino offers free self-parking for all guests seven days a week.
