MAD COOL COMMUNITY is a wellness non-profit providing services, and facilitating services, addressing the social determinants of health (Education, Health and Healthcare, Economic Stability, Neighborhood and Built Environment, and Social and Community Context) to underserved communities at risk for health disparities. MAD COOL COMMMUNITY partners with anchor institutions to build community capacity, with a particular focus on increasing the empowerment capacity of schools.

A MAD COOL Mission

MAD COOL COMMUNITY helps individuals and communities to achieve their highest potential and happiness using good health as a foundational and activating element.

From a social-ecological perspective, individual health is a function of the broader social and physical environments, and policies and structures that impact health. All of these factors must work together to create an ecosystem of health.

On an individual health behavior level, MAD COOL COMMUNITY offers physical fitness classes, nutrition classes, health coaching/health behavior change classes. These holistic wellness programs are based on founder Dr. Jennifer Turner’s personal wellness journey and training, her research on effective, community-based health programs, and proven models for individual health behavior change.

What is a MAD COOL COMMUNITY?

A MAD COOL COMMUNITY is an economically and socially healthy, vibrant community, free of racism and violence, with equitable access to healthcare, places for friends and families to engage in physical activity, and physical and economic access to healthy foods.

A MAD COOL COMMUNITY is an empowered community that leverages community stakeholders to unlock the power of their community for the betterment of its people.

Agents of empowerment include schools, universities, houses of worship, state and city leadership overseeing community planning and urban development, hospitals, healthcare providers, corporations who are invested in the community.

Challenges to a MAD COOL COMMUNITY

• Racism
• Mistrust of the healthcare system
• Lack of access to care
• Lack of economic opportunity
• Lack of education

As anchor institutions in communities, schools are uniquely positioned to play a powerful role not only in improving the health of its children, but also the health of their parents and the broader community in which these schools exist.

This perspective is based on Dr. Turner’s dissertation research: “Using a Multiple-Case Study Design to Evaluate the Healthy Schools Program (HSP) at Select New Jersey Charter Schools”.

Dr. Turner’s Dissertation Findings

Study results found the social determinants of health (e.g., economic stability, education, built environment) impacted HSP implementation in schools, as well as parent health behaviors, knowledge, and health status.

Consistent themes across all study schools were: 1) The need to improve parent health and parent health behaviors, and 2) The concept that schools were dealing with many other social externalities (e.g., poverty, domestic violence, incarceration, immigration stress) that impacted a student’s ability to learn.

Teachers and administrators stated that schools were not just schools, they were “community centers” that were created to service the needs of the child, family, and the broader community. Schools needed to be resourced accordingly, but were dramatically underresourced, or did not have the right kind of resources.

These dissertation findings informed the focus of MAD COOL COMMUNITY.

MAD COOL COMMUNITY Focus

MAD COOL COMMUNITY focuses on building health (and life) resiliency and capacity by empowering students, teachers, and parents with the health knowledge and healthy lifestyle skills they need to be MAD COOL, thereby raising the health status of the overall community.

The first school to pilot our mental and behavioral health wellness programs is Jersey City Global Charter School

https://www.madcoolfitness.com/mad-cool-jersey-city-global-charter-school/

MAD COOL COMMUNITY also partners with other mission-aligned organizations to overcome the aforementioned challenges to creating vibrant, healthy communities.

The coronavirus has exposed the weaknesses in our healthcare system, the social, racial, and economic inequities, and highlighted an urgent necessity for us to not go back to where we were, but to re-build our communities stronger, better, healthier than they were before.

MAD COOL COMMUNITY PROGRAMS

Our wellness programs include:

Be an agent of change. Support our MAD COOL COMMUNITY today!

MAD COOL COMMUNITY is focused on making communities healthier, starting with schools. Dr. Turner has been leading a pilot wellness program in schools to help support parents, teachers, and students mental and behavioral health during this difficult time.

The MAD COOL #WarOnRona Wellness & Resiliency program includes health education, physical fitness, and coaching to develop coping skills and help schools become healthier, mentally and physically. Click below to support our school wellness programs. Support our mission of health. Donate today!