NEDA Offers Funding to NEDA Network Members!
For the first year ever, NEDA was able to offer grant funding to members of the NEDA Network. The NEDA Network is a partnership between NEDA and other mission-aligned organizations dedicated to advancing the field of eating disorders and building a community of support and hope.
Over the course of the last year, NEDA staff, alongside a team of advisors, received applications from almost every Network organization. These proposals included plans for symposiums, conferences, projects, and workshops, all sharing the common goal of raising awareness and expanding the reach of eating disorders resources and knowledge. The review committee worked hard to ensure that each organization’s project was well thought out, allowing it to be as successful as possible. NEDA was able to at least partially fund all of the eleven Network organizations that applied for a grant this year. Through this grant process, NEDA has been able to showcase the incredible work our Network organizations do, and to reinforce NEDA’s commitment to funding eating disorders research.
Breaking the Chains Foundation has proposed a Love Your Selfie Campaign targeting 12 to 25 year olds with an interactive video and a corresponding workbook. Their goal is to foster more authentic and self-compassionate social media use.
The Carolina Resource Center for Eating Disorders intends to expand education and outreach by hiring a new part time education coordinator who will work to develop curriculum and train speakers to present. Up until now, CRC for ED’s education and outreach has been fully volunteer based, so this grant will allow them to have a person on staff specifically skilled in those fields.
The Eating Disorder Foundation’s project is called “Breaking the Silence, Rebuilding Lives,” and is focused on capacity building and expanding outreach. Their target audience is individuals, families, friends, and caregivers affected by eating disorders. They’re looking to evaluate how support groups work for people, by partnering with Corona Insights, a market research and evaluation consulting agency. Through surveys and discussions, they’re going to be looking at participants’ levels of satisfaction with support services, and changes in coping skills, self-acceptance, self-awareness, etc.
With their grant money, the Texas Eating Disorders Association (formerly The Elisa Project) intends to improve their Helping Hands initiative by aiding the infrastructure and dissemination of the project, which includes client needs assessments, followed by advocacy skills training, support, treatment referrals, transition planning, and access to care plans, all at no cost.
The Michigan Eating Disorders Alliance’s project titled “The Student Body Reimagined” is targeted towards students and intends to shift attitudes to include body acceptance and end body shaming. MiEDA will be working closely with the creators of the film “The Student Body” to create a shorter version of the film for classrooms, accompanied by a study guide for teachers, guidance counselors and coaches, to facilitate a post-film discussion.
The Missouri Eating Disorders Association intends to bring their Feed The Facts ED curriculum project to marginalized communities, specifically food insecure and low income middle and high school students in Missouri.
The Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association will be focusing on their Online Hope project aimed at improving access to care and reaching more marginalized groups, including those who might not otherwise seek treatment. They will be launching low-cost support groups in 8-week increments.
The Oklahoma Eating Disorders Association will be hosting a one-day educational symposium aimed at clinicians and other medical professionals that deal with eating disorders. It appears that OEDA intends to make this an annual event.
Ophelia’s Place will be improving and expanding on their certificate program which is designed to increase awareness of eating disorders prevention and intervention and improve body respect for self and others. The certificate program is aimed at promoting access to support and treatment, and reshaping cultural norms around food, exercise, and appearance.
Renewed intends to use their grant to grow their traveling outreach coordinator position in hopes of expanding their reach to students across Tennessee, including more rural areas of the state.
Realize Your Beauty is piloting their Sparrow Program, which is an interactive workshop series aimed at strengthening body image, self-esteem, and eating disorders understanding. They hope to increase media literacy, allowing students to critically assess societal beauty ideals and discern between weight loss and health. In their pilot, the target audience is female adolescents ages 15 to18, but they hope to develop a similar program for males later.
This is the first year NEDA has offered grants to the NEDA Network, and we are so pleased with each application submitted. NEDA is so excited to see what these fantastic organizations achieve with their projects, and we look forward to expanding on these projects and adding additional ones in the years to come.
Carly Andrade, a California native, has been involved with the National Eating Disorders Association since 2017 during her time as an undergrad at the University of California-Davis, starting first as a volunteer then joining the team as an intern. After graduating with her BA in Political Science and Women & Gender Studies, Carly transitioned into her current role as Partnerships Associate. Carly’s work focuses on NEDA partnerships and programs and includes supporting the expansion of The Body Project, assisting with the coordination of NEDAwareness walks, and work with the NEDA Network. Carly loves lemonade, millennial comedians, going to concerts, and GLITTER.
