HEALTH Pillar Highlight: Thrive18

One Northside Anchor, Project Destiny, engages residents where they are by helping to stabilize their lives through a direct connection to resources and support. Through Project Destiny’s Thrive18 initiative, Northside residents get help on a variety of non-medical factors called the social determinants of health including access to safe housing, transportation, food, quality childcare, employment and more.

Reverend Brenda Gregg, Founder of Project Destiny and the Thrive18 initiative is proud of the Thrive18 model and the way community health workers, “work alongside residents, and never tell residents what they need or how to do it. Instead, they work with residents to find their strengths and help make connections.”

Through the relationships Thrive18 has built with service providers, health care systems, community-based organizations and others, staff help residents navigate complex systems, and resolve issues. The Thrive18 model is unique because once a resident is connected, they remain a partner and can receive ongoing, long-term support long after their initial need has been met. The initiative seeks to help residents thrive beyond where they are and receive the support and connections they need today and in the future.

Those connections and support can include help getting a struggling child to school, getting utilities turned back on, accessing transportation and employment support, finding a physician, navigating Medicare or Medicaid or finding a food pantry. Whatever a resident’s need is, Thrive18 staff are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help. To connect with a Thrive18 community health worker, call Project Destiny at 412-231-1258. Someone on the Thrive18 team will be back in touch within 24 to 48 hours.

Learn more by watching the video below!