(Black PR Wire) Ward Infinity, an initiative by Sibley Memorial Hospital, a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine, has announced its 2019 cohort of Community Health Innovators in Residence. Ward Infinity is a community-driven initiative that utilizes social entrepreneurship to improve health and wellness in residents of Wards 7 and 8 in the District of Columbia. Through Ward Infinity, Sibley partners with local residents and nonprofits who, acting as informed and passionate change agents, develop critical learning skills to help improve the health of their communities. This marks the program's second year of engaging grassroots innovators from Wards 7 and 8.

The 2019 cohort of Innovators in Residence will work alongside Sibley’s Innovation Hub team and partners such as 1863 Ventures, to learn, design and implement potential solutions to improving health and wellness in their community. Innovators in Residence will interface with the Ward Infinity Advisory Council, comprised of community and city government leaders, to assist in project development and sustainability. In addition to receiving coaching and guidance from leading industry designers and entrepreneurs, each resident-led cohort will receive up to $30,000 to support the cost of turning their innovations into reality. At the conclusion of the program, Ward Infinity hopes to have at least one prototype that has the potential for real impact in the community and the necessary supports for pilot, implementation and scalability.

“No one knows better about the health issues afflicting communities than the residents of those communities,” says Hasan Zia, M.D., interim president and CEO of Sibley Memorial Hospital. “And no one is better positioned to help improve community health than those community members. Accordingly, we have partnered with some extraordinary women, men and organizations with deep roots in their respective communities and who share our commitment to building community capacity to foster innovation and to address socioeconomic and health inequities in the District of Columbia. We are so excited to collaborate with these community innovators.” 

The 2019 cohort of Innovators in Residence consists of four teams of residents and nonprofit organizations in Wards 7 and 8 who have demonstrated passion for their community and interests that align with previously identified critical areas of need among residents of Wards 7 and 8: food access, housing and health literacy.

For more detailed information about the Community Health Innovators in Residence Program, click here.