Founder of community health worker network wins inaugural 'Spark' prize

A St. Louis-area woman has received a $200,000 award as one of the recipients of the inaugural Spark Prize, which the Missouri Foundation for Health awards to individuals who work to improve the health of Missourians.

Ciearra “CJ” Walker received the prize for her work with the Community Health Worker Coalition, a group that provides certification, networking and professional development to on-the-ground health professionals.

“Our organization, in the simplest way, positions itself as the CHW for the CHWs,” Walker said during an appearance Thursday on St. Louis on the Air, “because we recognize that the helpers often need help, too.”

Community health workers often labor behind the scenes, connecting neighborhoods with public health resources such as case management and education. They act as links to clinics, health departments and other formalized health institutions and the neighborhoods they serve.

Such workers are usually members of the communities they work in, and can therefore be a more trusted source of public health information. According to the Community Health Worker Core Consensus Project, other roles can include cultural medication, coaching and social support, and conducting research.

Community health workers can be vital in communities with limited access to doctors and other health resources, Walker said.

“When we think about someone being able to make it to a hospital or be adherent to their pharmacy needs, they have to have the things that they need socially, like safety or housing or income,” she said. “So we believe that in order for someone to truly be able to focus on the most immediate health needs, we have to dig into some of those social concerns.”

The coalition also connects workers to nonprofits and other health organizations. Instead of hiring their own community health worker, organizations can hire a contracted worker from the coalition.

A group of nine community health workers formed the coalition in 2018, and the group gained traction during the coronavirus pandemic, she said.

Unlike a grant, the Spark Prize provides flexible and unrestricted funding for individuals instead of institutions, similar to a MacArthur Foundation’s “Genius Grant.”

Walker, who was inspired to pursue public health after a trip to South Africa in college, said she does not yet know how she plans to use the funds.

“I was told that sometimes a spark needs a little bit of oxygen to ignite, and that's exactly the posture that I'm thinking about right now,” she said.

MFFH gave out five awards in total, including to two other St. Louisans: Casa de Salud President and CEO Diego Abente and Transform 314 Executive Director Kelly McGowan.