Educational Tours

National Health Outreach Conference Tours, May 6

Conference participants will have the opportunity to participate in educational tours on Wednesday, May 6. The educational tours are designed to take advantage of the unique opportunities the city of Atlanta offers to expand the health outreach experiences of conference attendees. All Tours will depart by bus from the Crowne Plaza Ravinia at 1 p.m. sharp and will return by bus to the Crowne Plaza Ravinia before or by 5 p.m. Participants should select a first and second choice when registering for the conference. There will be space limitations on each tour and those registering early will get priority for selected tours.

The Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB) began operating in 1979 from a small space at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. ACFB now distributes more than 50 million pounds of food and grocery products each year from a 129,600 square-foot facility in N.W. Atlanta. The product is accessed by more than 600 partner nonprofits that provide food assistance to families and individuals in 29 counties across metro Atlanta and north Georgia. ACFB leads seven distinct programs that reinforce its mission to fight hunger by engaging, educating and empowering the community: Atlanta Prosperity Campaign, Atlanta’s Table, Community Gardens, Hunger 101, Hunger Walk/Run, Kids In Need and Product Rescue Center.  Hunger 101 youth and adult activities and curriculum will be shared.

The Atlanta BeltLine is the most comprehensive transportation and economic development effort ever undertaken in the City of Atlanta and among the largest, most wide-ranging urban redevelopment programs currently underway in the United States. The Atlanta BeltLine is a sustainable redevelopment project that will provide a network of public parks, multi-use trails and transit along a historic 22-mile railroad corridor circling downtown and connecting many neighborhoods directly to each other. The beltline provides a unique environment for creating an active lifestyle community.  An urban farm is currently being developed on a four acre site on the Beltline and managed by a qualified farmer. Working with the University of Georgia College of Agriculture, UGA Extension, and the Southeast Agricultural Society, educational programming will help teach the community principles of sustainable land care and healthy food systems.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),The CDC is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services  to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and in the U.S. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are chronic or acute, curable or preventable, human error or deliberate attack, CDC fights disease and supports communities and citizens to do the same. CDC increases the health security of our nation. As the nation’s health protection agency, CDC saves lives and protects people from health threats. To accomplish that mission, the CDC conducts critical science and provides health information that protects our nation against expensive and dangerous health threats, and responds when these arise. The group will learn about the work going on at the CDC in support of community outreach and  tour the David J. Sencer CDC Museum, tour the CDC employee Garden Market demonstration project and hear about the lessons learned.

The Atlanta Farmers Market has 150 acres and is considered one of the largest of its kind in the world. It features a garden center, wholesale and retail activities, and is a major marketing hub and distribution point for fresh produce in the Southeast and throughout the country. The Atlanta Market is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Atlanta Market also has a restaurant, welcome center and USDA Federal-State office.

National Center for Civil & Human Rights is an engaging cultural attraction that connects the American Civil Rights Movement to today’s Global Human Rights Movements. The purpose is to create a safe space for visitors to explore the fundamental rights of all human beings so that they leave inspired and empowered to join the ongoing dialogue about human rights in their communities. Exhibits focus on the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) established in 1948 declaring the inalienable rights of all people around the world. Exhibits on the second floor of the museum highlight Article 25 of the UDHR and show the impact of manufacturing and economic practices on human health.  New exhibits are added frequently to the museum.

The Carter Center and the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library.  The Carter Center a leader in the eradication and elimination of diseases, the Center fights six preventable diseases — Guinea worm, river blindness, trachoma, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, and malaria in Hispaniola — by using health education and simple, low-cost methods. The Center also strives to improve access to mental health care. These efforts have brought to resource-limited countries better disease surveillance and health care delivery systems. Because communities often are burdened by several diseases, the Center also is pioneering new public health approaches to efficiently and effectively treat multiple diseases at once. The emphasis is placed on building partnerships for change among international agencies, governments, nongovernmental organizations, corporations, national ministries of health, and most of all, with people at the grass roots. They help people acquire the tools, knowledge, and resources they need to transform their own lives, building a more peaceful and healthier world for us all.

Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), located in Atlanta, Ga., was founded in 1975 as the Medical Education Program at Morehouse College. In 1981, MSM became an independently chartered institution. MSM is among the nation’s leading educators of primary care physicians and was recently recognized as the top institution among U.S. medical schools for our social mission. Our faculty and alumni are noted in their fields for excellence in teaching, research and public policy.MSM is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of individuals and communities; increasing the diversity of the health professional and scientific workforce; and addressing primary healthcare needs through programs in education, research, and service, with emphasis on people of color and the underserved urban and rural populations in Georgia and the nation. MSM is home to world-renowned centers and institutes: The Cardiovascular Research Institute; The Center of Excellence on Health Disparities; The National Center for Primary Care; The Neuroscience Institute (NI); Prevention Research Center (PRC); Research Core Facility and The Satcher Health Leadership Institute (SHLI).  Join us as we meet lead educators and hear about groundbreaking work at Morehouse School of Medicine.