Onward860: United to End Poverty 
Examining Health Outcomes and Life Expectancy 

How can Connecticut minimize health risks and reduce poor health outcomes in our communities? By helping ensure everyone has access to health care and safe, healthy living environments. 

It may sound easy, but many people in our communities feel like cost, discrimination and transportation barriers limit their access to quality care. 

In addition, the 2023 Connecticut United Ways ALICE Report found that mental health issues, including depression, anxiety and feeling of hopelessness are more common for those below the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) Threshold in Connecticut. 

Breaking Down the Barriers 

Let’s look at the key factors identified as the biggest barriers to affecting those living in extreme or working poverty in Connecticut: 

Cost – Earning levels directly influence health outcomes, often leading individuals and families to postpone preventive care, which impacts their physical well-being. 

Discrimination – According to the DataHaven 2023 Greater Hartford Community Wellbeing Survey, women were more than twice as likely as men to feel discriminated against in health care settings, Black and Latino adults more than three times as likely as white adults, and lower-income adults five times as likely as higher income adults. 

Transportation – Lack of reliable transportation causes many to miss medical appointments. The DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey reports that in 2022, transportation impacted 6 percent of Connecticut adults, including 13 percent in urban core cities like Hartford. 

How do we break down these barriers? It begins with community conversations. 

“United Way is uniquely positioned as a convener in the community,” asserts Rebekah Castagno, Director of Health Initiatives at United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut, who works closely with Hartford Hospital and Saint Francis Hospital-Trinity Health Of New England. 

“For example, I can streamline the community health assessment process by convening Connecticut Children’s, Hartford Hospital and Saint Francis Hospital, so they’re not all out in the community asking the same questions,” she shares. 

“While they’re competitors, around this community process, they’re at the same table. United Way organizes community conversations and shares that information with all three hospitals, so they can use it to inform their processes,” Rebekah explains. “It’s bringing everyone together, doing the process all at once, and sharing the information. Then each hospital has its own implementation plan process.” 

In addition, United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut is considered the backbone organization for the North Hartford Triple Aim Collaborative. The Collaborative is a group of leaders representing the Hartford Health Department, the three hospitals, nonprofit organizations and residents who live in the north end of Hartford and are also leading work in the various social determinants of health, including urban ecology, farming, food insecurity and youth advocacy.  

“Those involved all have different perspectives, which create a very full picture when we’re talking about a healthy community,” says Rebekah. “They’re committed to reducing silos and redundancies and bridging communication gaps. They’ve collectively put aside individual agendas to come with a higher agenda.” 

She adds, “The Collaborative has brought millions of dollars into the city collectively by collaborating on different projects or grant applications. They’re focused on making systemic changes to address a lot of the root causes that contribute to poverty and poor health.” 

Improving Health Outcomes 

United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut is deeply committed to convening leaders and residents in the community that are focused on improving health outcomes. 

“With any of those initiatives or conversations, the priority is that the community’s voice is elevated and involved in informing work, sustaining the work and being a part of the process from start to finish—it’s more than just conducting something like a survey,” emphasizes Rebekah. 

“In recent years, efforts have been more intentional to ensure the community is aware of available resources and incoming funding,” she adds. “The community’s voice now leads the work, rather than outsiders or institutions making decisions and investments based on what they think the community needs without the community’s involvement.” 

It’s a unique role United Way plays in the community, serving as a convener, bringing people together and integrating the community’s voice in all the work—institutions, community members and the government. 

Extending Life Expectancy 

Mortality negatively and disproportionately affects communities with fewer resources and less access to basic needs, including basic health care. 

The DataHaven 2023 Greater Hartford Community Wellbeing Survey shares that in 2019, the overall life expectancy in Hartford County was estimated at 80.5 years and overall expectancy in Connecticut was 81.1 years. In Hartford County in 2019, life expectancy for white residents was 80.7 years, compared to 78.9 years for Black residents and 80.2 years for Latino residents. 

“There are medical and non-medical contributors to health and a quality of life. What we have access to as children, as adults and as families really impacts our health,” says Rebekah. “If we don’t have access to quality care, healthy and affordable food or education around certain things—or if there are language barriers or if our housing is unstable, those kinds of things set everything into motion.”  

What makes a difference?  

“Having well-paying jobs; living in secure, safe and affordable housing; feeling comfortable walking to school—all contribute to health and quality of life. So, access to those things is key,” she underscores. 

Helping End Poverty  

“By helping address the contributors to poverty, we’re going to see those gaps in life expectancy close,” encourages Rebekah.  

She notes that the life expectancy gap is a symptom of a much deeper problem.  

“Poverty is obviously not something that’s going to turn around overnight. It’s going to take a real long-term commitment and intentional effort to address those root causes—not just provide band-aids—but examine how we can dismantle things in the system,” Rebekah says. 

“We need to be working with the community and with the institutions and policy makers to actually make a lasting change. Things like grants have funding that runs out. They help and they’re resources, but they’re not the long-term fix,” she points out. “Eventually, things go back to the way they were, and then people feel unseen and unheard again.” 

Rebekah continues, “United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut is working to uproot what doesn’t belong—and at the same time plant and water seeds people have been planting for a very long time.” 

Supporting the Onward860 Vision 

Working together, we can help ensure individuals and families can access health care and continue to live full, healthy lives.  

United Way of Northeastern and Central Connecticut is co-creating a better future for our region. Our approach includes:  

• Aligning community, corporate, government and philanthropic partners to end poverty 

• Leveraging 100 years of experience, expertise, data, community voice and resources to deepen impact 

• Connecting people with resources and opportunities to make a difference 

• Transforming the future with game-changing solutions and partnerships 

Be a part of our vision! There are many ways you can make difference—from donating and volunteering your time to signing up for our newsletter and following us on social media. 

Learn More about our Onward860 Vision