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Cultivating Health and Community: Fidelis Care Supports Local Gardens Across New York

At Fidelis Care, we believe that good health starts with strong communities and fresh food. That’s why we’re proud to support and partner with local community gardens across New York State as part of our statewide community impact initiative.

Community gardens do more than grow vegetables, they grow healthier neighborhoods. From Buffalo to the Bronx, these vibrant green spaces provide families with access to nutritious food, promote environmental sustainability, and offer safe, welcoming places for neighbors to connect, learn, and thrive.

Our Commitment to Community Gardens Includes:

  • Partnerships with Local Organizations: We collaborate with grassroots leaders, nonprofits, and urban farmers to provide resources and support where it's needed most.
  • Funding and Supplies: Fidelis Care provides funding, seeds, tools, and educational materials to help gardens grow—and grow sustainably.
  • Health Education and Wellness Events: We bring on-site events like cooking demos, nutrition workshops, and health screenings right into the gardens to meet people where they are.
  • Youth and Family Engagement: Through after-school programs and summer events, we help children and families learn about healthy eating and the importance of fresh, local food.
Together with our partners, Fidelis Care is planting the seeds of change—one garden, one neighborhood, one family at a time.

 

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Capital Roots | Albany

https://www.capitalroots.org

Capital Roots works to reduce the impact of poor nutrition on public health in New York’s Capital Region by organizing community gardens, providing healthy food access, offering nutritional and horticultural education for all ages and coordinating urban greening programs.

The heart and history of Capital Roots is their Community Gardens. Founded in 1975 to bring the benefits of growing your own food to Capital Region inner cities, they now operate over 55 gardens in 4 counties.

Gardens are located across Albany, Troy, Rensselaer, and Schenectady areas.

Capital Roots works with CDPHP and MVP. 

Grassroots Gardens | Buffalo

https://www.grassrootsgardens.org/

Grassroots Gardens of WNY is a dedicated group of community gardeners and activists. Our mission is to share knowledge, power, and resources to grow healthy food, heal systemic harm, and strengthen neighborhood connections through community gardens. We operate in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, offering technical, resource, and administrative support to community and school gardens.

We partner with and support our 100+ community and school gardens, with a focus on healthy food opportunities, environmental stewardship, and community connections. In Buffalo, where over 15,000 lots sit vacant, the work of Grassroots Gardens is essential to communities reclaiming their neighborhoods.

Grow NYC

www.grownyc.org

GrowNYC's garden program, which builds community gardens, urban farms, and school gardens in all 5 boroughs, does more than 200 corporate workdays every year.

We have a list of our 2025 garden projects here: www.grownyc.org/vol2025 - This includes several in-person options, an event that we can bring to your office, and one virtual option.An average in-person volunteer day includes activities such as:

Grow NYC has locations across all 5 boroughs and works with some NYCHA developments as well.

Grow NYC works with Healthfirst & Humana. 

Syracuse Grows

https://syracusegrows.org

Syracuse Grows is a grassroot network that cultivates food justice through We envision a community where everyone has equal, appropriate food. We value resiliency, diversity, fellowship, collaboration, healthy communities, self-sufficient food production, and community betterment.

The 28 Member Gardens of Syracuse Grows fill a necessary gap in Syracuse, NY as in 2024 it was found that the city hosted a child poverty rate of 45.6% between the 5 year range of 2019 to 2023 which is the highest of any major U.S. cities with a population over 100k (Tampone, 2024).

We also have a strong website platform that is updated periodically: syracusegrows.org. Syracuse Grows also fiscally sponsors the Syracuse-Onondaga Food System Alliance (SOFSA) which also has its own website and member listserv that we periodically use to communicate (https://syrfoodalliance.org/).

Gardens are located primarily in Onondaga County.

Fidelis Care is Here for Your Health

Learn more about our different approaches to improve health equity:

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Community Screening for Drivers of Health

Fidelis Care’s innovative Health-Related Social Needs (HRSN) screener program is a grassroots health equity initiative to address conditions that affect people’s ability to maintain their health and well-being. HRSN refers to the social and economic needs that individuals experience that affect their ability to maintain their health and well-being. They include things such as housing instability, housing quality, food insecurity, employment, personal safety, lack of transportation, and more. 

The screener enables trained Fidelis Care representatives to assess an individual’s immediate needs and challenges related to HRSN through a brief series of questions covering areas such as access to transportation, food, and secure and safe housing. More than 450,000 Fidelis Care members have participated to date.

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Connections to Social Care Networks

Fidelis Care proudly supports New York State’s innovative Social Care Network (SCN) program. The SCN program, part of NYS’ 1115 Medicaid Redesign initiative, encourages partnerships across health and social services to address Medicaid members' Health-Related Social Needs (HRSN), such as food insecurity, housing instability, and lack of transportation.  

Effective January 1, 2025, eligible Medicaid, MAP, MLTC, and HARP members can access to a range of free services through their local Social Care Network (SCN), which connects members to organizations in their community. These services provide essential support for housing, nutrition, transportation, and care management to help members, and their families thrive.

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Efforts to Support Maternal Health

Access to maternal healthcare helps ensure safe pregnancies and healthy babies. Expectant mothers need regular checkups and a healthy lifestyle to prevent potential problems and have a healthy pregnancy. Fidelis Care is dedicated to helping improve maternal health outcomes in New York State and ensuring there is equitable access to services for pregnant and new mothers.

Fidelis Care offers a special, free program called BabyCare to support the health of members during pregnancy. When members join BabyCare, a Fidelis Care Maternal Care Associate is assigned to help them every step of the way. Fidelis Care also has partnered with Pomelo Care to provide free 24/7 online pregnancy and infant care to eligible members.

To focus our maternal health efforts, Fidelis Care also has a Maternal Health Grant Program to provide funding to providers and not-for-profit groups across New York State that focus on helping moms stay healthy.



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Initiatives Promote Behavioral Health Equity 

Fidelis Care is dedicated to helping improve access to behavioral health services and outcomes. We are committed to supporting comprehensive, accessible, and compassionate care. We work together with providers and community organizations in support of these goals.

As part of these efforts, Fidelis Care and the Centene Foundation awarded $1.1 million to The Jed Foundation to protect the mental health of New York State’s youth. Through our funding,JED will expand its current services, providing at least five youth-serving community-based organizations (CBOs) with consultation or strategic planning services, including expert guidance, educational workshops, and training programs, equipping young people with life skills and connecting them to mental healthcare when they are in distress.

In addition, Fidelis Care offers a Behavioral Health Grant Program to provide funding and support to providers and community-based organizations across New York State. Grant recipients demonstrate a strong commitment to addressing mental health needs through innovative programs and services. 

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Campaigns Ensure Access in Rural Communities 

Fidelis Care partners with healthcare providers in rural areas to ensure that residents have access to quality care closer to home. Rural communities face unique challenges because of limited access to major grocery stores, safe and affordable housing, transportation, and other resources.

To focus our rural health efforts, Fidelis Care’s Rural Health Grant Program provides funding to support local organizations in New York State. These groups focus on helping people in rural communities, especially those with low incomes and high needs.

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Programs Fight Food Insecurity

Fidelis Care’s Veggies to Go program distributes bags of healthy food to individuals and families in need across New York State. The goal is to address nutrition and food insecurity in urban and rural communities across New York State. The events also feature information on healthy eating, including Fidelis Care’s ‘Lunchology’ recipe sheets.

Backpack Heroes is a special program designed to fight weekend hunger coordinated by Fidelis Care, The Food Bank of Northeastern New York, and WRGB-Channel 6. Through the program, participating students receive backpacks full of food each Friday to help ensure they do not go hungry over the weekend when they are not in school. Each year, Backpack Heroes is supported by caring community members, whose donations help to fight weekend hunger. Over the past nine years, Fidelis Care has raised over $715,000 for this cause.

In addition, Fidelis Care partners with community organizations across New York State to fight food insecurity and educate people about the important connection between nutrition and overall health. In 2024, Fidelis Care’s Food Insecurity Grant Program distributed $122,000 to 30 community-based organizations, as well as sponsoring dozens of events that highlighted the importance of a healthy diet.

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Partnership with Buffalo Urban League

To nurture social entrepreneurship, facilitate wellness and strengthen organizations focused on Black, Indigenous and People of Color in Buffalo’s East Side, Fidelis Care and the Centene Foundation donated $1.1 million Commitment to the Buffalo Urban League (BUL) to help establish its new headquarters and develop a Wellness and Entrepreneurial Center.

In addition, Fidelis Care partners with BUL through community programs and at events held in the city focused on health, family support and stabilization services, foster care, adoption, education, job training, employment, scholarships, and more.

Social Care Network

Starting January 1, 2025, members in our Medicaid Managed Care, HealthierLife (HARP), Fidelis Care at Home, and Wellcare Fidelis Dual Plus plans will have access to a network of service providers to identify and address needs such as housing, food, transportation, and more.
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Renew Your Coverage

Health insurance is no longer being automatically renewed for members in our Medicaid Managed Care, Essential Plan, Child Health Plus, or HealthierLife (HARP) plans. Members will need to renew their health insurance to keep their coverage without interruption.
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Essential Plan

With a $0 premium, the Essential Plan offers low-cost coverage, including free preventive care, to eligible New Yorkers who don’t qualify for Medicaid or Child Health Plus. Coverage includes no-cost dental and vision, as well as a low or no-cost prescription benefit. 

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