Kids and families now have safer streets thanks to a community-led effort which resulted in the addition of two new crosswalks and stop signs for one Concord, CA neighborhood. According to a First Five Contra Costa blog, in 2012, at least 12 members from their Central County Regional Group banned together to conduct a walk audit of local streets and intersections. What community members discovered was that two important intersections, often crossed by families and children, were not walkable under current conditions. After the walk audit, the team decided to go a step further by developing recommendations for their city council. In May 2013, the regional group members and staff from Health Services presented their need before city council and within a week stop signs ...
A group of young skateboarders from San Diego, CA, recently met up with park planners to give them an idea of what they would like to see in their new skate park. With skateboarding highly popular among teens and not enough safe places to skate, members of the Mid-City CAN Youth Council took it upon themselves to find a way to get a skate park for the community. "After three and a half years working on this campaign I'm really proud of our efforts to bring a skate park to the community," Angeli Hernandez, a Mid-City CAN Youth Council Member said, in a Mid-City blog. "I'm even prouder that the whole community can benefit from this." As a result of the Youth Council's efforts and support from organizations like the Mid-City Community Advocacy Network, Mid-City Skatepark ...
Communities with successful farmers' markets can speak to how markets inspire healthier eating and promote a new-found appreciation for local farming. With so many farmers' markets across the country, it can be difficult to say exactly how a farmers' market works and what a successful one entails. A non-profit group is pulling together data on markets around the U.S., and plans to use this data to help markets begin, grow, learn, and better serve their community.
The Farmers Market Coalition is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to strengthening farmers markets across the United States so that they can serve as community assets while providing real income opportunities for farmers. Farmers Market Metrics will be a set of tools and resources that will allow market managers to easily and ...
Kids at Boone elementary in San Antonio, TX celebrated the grand opening of a new community SPARK park on Friday October 3, 2014. What are SPARK parks? These are school playgrounds that are available to the public during after school hours. Parks such as these, are a great asset to the Latino community and can be especially useful for promoting physical activity in neighborhoods that lack green space or safe places to play. The SPARK park at Boone marks the third SPARK park at the Northside Independent School District (NISD). "The reaction that we've gotten is so positive from parents, from grandparents, from folks who just live around the school and have been able to use the facility," NISD Superintendent Brian Woods said in a TWC news story. Learn more about SPARK ...
Public Health officials in Grand Rapids, MI, (15% Latino) are working to connect two parks by way of a new walking path, thanks to support from a $13,900 active living grant it recently received from the Michigan Department of Community Health. The trail project is just one component of the team's plan for chronic disease prevention among the population. The idea is to encourage trail usage in an area of the city where much of the population is comprised of high risk Hispanics and African Americans. “What we are basically doing is trying to connect Roosevelt Park and Garfield Park in terms of providing a walking path,” said Jill Myer, the supervisor of the health department’s obesity initiative, in an Mlive news article . “The goal is to provide some safe walking ...
Soda companies are notorious for using big-name celebrities to promote their beverages in TV commercials, billboards, social media, and beyond. But one up-and-coming bottled water company landed a big star to promote their line of bottled waters, hoping to garner the same attention sugary drinks receive when they enlist celeb power. Singer Ariana Grande will be the new face of a campaign for Wat-aah!, a small but growing functional water brand, according to an article in Advertising Age. The campaign, expected to launch next year, will include outdoor, print and digital ads in teen and lifestyle publications. The company is also a supporter of Let’s Move!’s Drink Up! campaign. Wat-aah! calls itself a champion for child health, but some nutrition activists point to the ...
Harris Bilingual Elementary School in Fort Collins, Colo. saw many students throwing away fruits and vegetables at the end of lunch, wasting both food and money for the school. So the school decided to make a change and let the kids pick fruits/veggies that they like to eat! They implemented a fruit and salad bar into their cafeteria, allowing the school to abide by nutrition standards while giving kids healthy foods they wanted to eat. "Alison, que quieres? Oh, broccoli, tambien," says Kate Kosakowski, a teacher's assistant at the school. She gives the pigtailed kindergartner a pat on the back and places several florets on the tray. Kids speak in both English and Spanish throughout the school week at Harris. Poudre School District, which includes Harris elementary, serves almost ...
Birmingham, Alabama is working to overcome food deserts and foster community. The volunteer-led Southwest Fresh Market is part of an ambitious plan initiated by REV Birmingham, a nonprofit working with local government, business, and community partners to find solutions to a common challenge: how to connect urban, often low-income residents with small farmers looking to boost sales. REV Birmingham is working to create "public markets" around the city, partnering with neighborhood groups to engage local residents in planning all aspects of the markets, from operations to outreach to product mix. After two seasons the Southwest Fresh Market has developed a steady base of customers and recently started accepting SNAP benefits (formerly known as food stamps) to expand its reach to the ...
Community members belonging to the Great Streets Mountain View group are working towards friendlier streets in Mountain View, CA. To raise community awareness of the initiative and to offer residents the opportunity to identify potential road improvements along California St., Escuela St., and Shoreline St., the group held walking tours on Saturday September 27, 2014. According to Great Streets Mountain View (GSMV), the streets that they hope to bring improvements to are part of a neighborhood that is already densely populated and has high traffic counts (26% of Mountain View's population lives there). Therefore, they make good candidates for lane reduction, improved lighting, street trees, and bike lanes---all important components of Complete Streets. The area also has a ...
