We’ve Rebranded!
On March 16, 2023 the St. Louis Regional Health Commission (RHC) and Alive and Well Communities (AWC) announced an affiliation to advance health equity across the State of Missouri and beyond. When formed in 2001, the St. Louis Regional Health Commission (RHC) was a collaborative effort of St. Louis City, St. Louis County, the state of Missouri, health providers, and community members to improve the health of uninsured and underinsured citizens in St. Louis City and County. Read more about the RHC’s history and formation.
On July 17, 2024, the merged entity of the RHC and AWC was renamed to the Community Health Commission of Missouri (CHCM). CHCM is a Missouri-based organization dedicated to eliminating health disparities by promoting equity-centered, trauma-informed care. Our mission is to ensure that all community members have access to affordable, available, accommodating and acceptable healthcare and resources, particularly those historically marginalized or underserved.
Our Commitment to Racial Equity
Our work at Alive & Well Communities is based on the foundational belief that to achieve liberation for all, we must prioritize the dismantling of anti-Black racism and intersecting systems that continue to oppress. This includes re-orienting the trauma-informed movement, which has historically failed to recognize the trauma caused by racism and other forms of oppression as a critical component of the work.
We are committed to using the science of trauma to build understanding about how systems, policies and norms have caused harm and create poor economic, educational and health outcomes that disproportionately impact the length and quality of life for Black Americans and others who have been impacted by systemic dis-investment and harmful policies. This science shows us a pathway forward for healthy, equitable communities.
Our work to advance trauma-informed systems and communities requires that we are anti-racist and that we center inclusion and racial equity in all that we do. We use this understanding of trauma, including the trauma of racism to transform and activate systems and communities that are just and equitable, so we all can live alive and well.
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Health care organizations, schools (PK-12), agencies in the justice system and other social service providers have contracted with us to transform their organizations and develop healing relationships by working to become trauma informed. Learn more about our approach.