BeHeardMileHigh is a project of the Center for African American Health that is devoted to gathering the wisdom and knowledge of Metro Denver’s African American residents and creating a unified voice that will be used to improve our communities and build healthier infrastructures. BeHeardMileHigh is the first community-based panel in the United States to serve as a platform for social justice and health equity for African Americans. The BeHeardMileHigh team collaborates with various minority and African American-based communities, such as Green Valley Ranch, Montbello, Five Points, and Park Hill, to identify data that residents will trust to directly reflect their collective wisdom and understanding of what the communities need to be happy and healthy. The purpose of this panel is to understand the state of health and well-being, as well as the challenges to social justice, among African Americans in Metro Denver, and to collaborate with partners to advocate for our communities and inform policy, practice, and programming.
BeHeardMileHigh has over 1,300 individuals enrolled as of August 2018. In its first year of operation, the platform:
- used mixed-methods data to advocate for affordable RTD bus passes for youth and low-income families
- informed The Center for African American Health’s Strategic Plan using survey data
- presented in the 2017 Culture of Data Conference, Mile High Data Day Conference, The Public Health in the Rockies Conference, and The American Association of Public Opinion Research Annual Conference, the 2018 Methodology of Longitudinal Surveys II Conference at the University of Essex, and The Colorado Health Foundation Symposium,
- has been invited to present at The Public Health in the Rockies Conference and The American Public Health Association Conference
- hosted its one-year anniversary community event
- collaborated with research-based entities and partners, including The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, The Colorado Health Institute, and East5ide Unified
- and formed new partners with The Family Center and Scholars Unlimited
