Cambridge Health Alliance Chief Executive Patrick Wardell speaks March 26 at the fourth annual Inspiration Celebration of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Middlesex County. (Photo: Boys & Girls Clubs of Middlesex County)

Cambridge Health Alliance, a community health system serving Cambridge, Somerville, Everett and Boston’s metro-north communities, received the Boys & Girls Clubs of Middlesex County’s 2013 Community Partner Award last month. The Alliance has collaborated with the Middlesex County organization for several years to connect underserved youth with health and wellness programs at clubhouses in Cambridge, Somerville and Everett.

Initiatives include developing workshops on dating violence, healthy relationships and pregnancy prevention for youth, as well as training for youth workers on responding to risky behaviors. The Alliance also has offered training on healthy snacks for after-school programs and developed a healthy market across the street from the Cambridge clubhouse, which is at the Alliance’s Windsor Street Health Center. Additionally, staff from the clubs have participated in the Alliance’s Community Health Advisory Council over the past three years, helping Alliance leaders better understand community factors affecting patient and community health.

“We are honored to receive this award, which reflects a commitment to the underserved that is at the heart of CHA’s mission,” Alliance Chief Executive Patrick Wardell said. “Our work with the Boys & Girls Clubs demonstrates the difference we can make in our communities when we join our energies and resources.”

Wardell accepted the award March 26 at the Middlesex County organization’s fourth annual Inspiration Celebration at Microsoft’s NERD Center in Kendall Square, where he was joined by members of the Alliance’s Department of Community Affairs and the Cambridge Public Health Department who have helped grow its relationship with the clubs and helped reduce health disparities and promote wellness in Alliance communities.

Founded in 1973, the organization is a multi-community, multi-facility agency that serves more than 1,500 youth and teens annually at its four clubhouses in Cambridge, Somerville, Medford and Everett. They serve primarily low- to moderate-income youth who may be turned away by other organizations due to their inability to pay program fees. For information, click here.