In order to provide Georgia's residents with improved opportunities for outdoor recreation, a taskforce including various outdoor recreation providers, crafted a clear and comprehensive plan, called Georgia's Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) 2014-2016. This is Georgia's official policy to guide outdoor recreation, which enables the state to be eligible to receive funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). The plan provides an overview of current trends for outdoor activity in Georgia as well as information on the economic impact of outdoor recreation on consumer spending. Many of the states' short-term challenges as well as the emerging situations in regards to outdoor recreation are detailed in the plan, along with measurable and defined ...
Members of the Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP) recently launched an on-line campaign to raise $36,000 in funds towards a protected bike lane in downtown Denver. According to a Fox31 Denver news report, once built, this would be the fourth protected bike lane for downtown Denver, the latest one having just been installed in May 2014. Crowd source funded campaigns like this, which seek investments from corporations and individual sponsors are becoming more and more common. Last year, supporters from Memphis Tennessee succeeded in raising a total of $70,000 to build one of the country's most innovative bike projects. The idea is to get people vested with the success of this project early on, said DDP senior manager Aylene McCallum, in a PeopleForBikes blog. This way ...
Carondelet Health Network, which currently operates Holy Cross Hospital, and funded by a 2010 donation from Dr. Harold and Mrs. Nancy Cunningham offers health classes to young Latino students. The classes are often given as teleconferences and involve multiple schools in Southern Arizona simultaneously, but the Desert Shadows class was in-person, reports Nogales International. During the class, Gwen Gallegos (a diabetes educator) sketched out the food and lifestyle choices that can significantly decrease the chances of the young girls developing diabetes, a chronic illness that can lead to a host of complications, including heart and kidney failure, amputations and blindness. “With kids, our whole goal is diabetes prevention and just making children aware of what they eat and ...
Former mayor of San Antonio, Phil Hardberger is working to bring a unique land bridge to one of San Antonio's premier parks, Hardberger Park. Because the park is actually split into two sections and divided by a high traffic street (Wurzbach Parkway), park goers can generally only get from one side to the other by car. Hardberger, as well as supporters from the Hardberger Conservancy would like to change this by building a wildlife land bridge, which would provide a natural path for both humans and wildlife to cross from one side to the other. While land bridges are not too common in the US, they are much more common in Europe. “I believe it will be done. I believe it can be done,” Hardberger said in a news article from the Rivard Report. “It might take five years ...
Middle-school students in the FreeWheels for Kids program are learning what it means to be leaders for healthy change. By bringing bike clubs to various schools and facilities across Kansas City, and its growing Latino population, this nonprofit is helping kids have fun and stay active, while teaching them how to fix bikes, build nature trails, and to voice their desire for a bike friendly community with bike-friendly streets.
EMERGENCE
Awareness: Benjamin Alexander was already an avid bicyclist when he started working at a local community center, where he mentored kids in Kansas City, Kan., which is 28% Latino. “I rode my bike to work every day,” Alexander said. At the community center in spring 2011, he was fixing his bike when a middle-school student asked him how he ...
The city of Brownsville, Texas which sits on the Texas-Mexico border was desperately in need of some changes for better health. Fortunately, a diverse group of leaders banded together to implement a variety of initiatives to reach locals with improved access to healthy foods, culturally relevant opportunities for physical activity and programs to aid those with limited access to health care. In an article from Health Affairs blog, Salud Hero and associate professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health, Belinda Reininger recounts how some of Brownville's leaders got started with bringing about a culture of health to its residents. According to the article, in Brownsville, 48% of children live in poverty, 80% are obese or overweight, 30% of the population has ...
Members of the Go! Austin/Vamos! Austin (GAVA) grassroots initiative are making a difference for families living in Austin's Dove Springs community---a predominantly Latino area of southeast Austin with historically high childhood obesity rates. In just two years, the group has managed to bring healthy changes to local parks, corner stores, grocery stores and schools. Some of the group's accomplishments include getting: A New multi-age playscape;
Park improvements;
An open gym pilot program;
A zumba program; and
Healthier options at corner stores Read more about this change here. See a presentation with information from one of GAVA's public health committee meeting ...
Residents living in Boyle Heights, one of Los Angeles' predominantly Latino districts, took charge of their health by hosting one of the area's very first 5K runs in conjunction with a community health fair. According to a Streetsblog LA blog, the event which took place on Saturday, October 11, 2014 from 8:00-9:45 am, was organized under the leadership of Juan Romero, owner of a local coffee shop called Primera Taza. Romero wanted for local residents to have an event of their own that celebrated their culture, family and health, while raising funds for organizations in need. After years, of discussing the idea for a 5K, in March 2014 Romero decided to take the initiative of organizing the event himself. He partnered with the White Memorial Hospital the Variety Boys and Girls ...
After learning that kids in Rosedale were at a high risk for childhood obesity, the Rosedale Development Association (RDA) decided it was time to do something about it. They learned that the community wanted more trails so they hired an expert who developed plans for a hike & bike nature trail to connect the community to parks and other key spots. With support from various groups and the local government, the RDA built over 2.3 miles of nature trail, all at a minimal expense. Families and children in the community are already benefitting from the trail and the group continues expanding the Rozarks trail network.
EMERGENCE
Awareness: The Rosedale Development Association (RDA), a Kansas City, Kan., non-profit community development corporation, has worked since the 1940s to solve ...
