VIDEOS: Health Efforts Helping Transform San Bernardino, Calif., and Hernando, Miss.

Share On Social!

Throughout the country, people are coming together with a shared vision, strong leadership, and commitment to making needed and lasting changes that broadly improve community vitality.

This is happening in large urban settings and small rural ones; it’s happening in places with tremendous resources and in places with few resources to draw from; it’s happening in places with relatively few health challenges and in places where the challenges are many and daunting.

One place is San Bernardino, Calif.

In 2006, officials launched the San Bernardino Healthy Community Initiative. Since then, 17 of the county’s 24 cities have launched their own healthy city initiatives, including features such as Safe Routes to School, community gardens, shared resources and more.

Watch more about their effort here in this video from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Another county getting healthier is Hernando, Miss., where city leaders have been improving the city’s physical environment. Not only have all city parks been revamped, but they now have athletic facilities, community gardens and a local bike club. The city has also undertaken initiatives to stripe bike lanes, widen roads, and expand sidewalks to encourage residents to lead more active lives.

Watch more about Hernando’s efforts here.

The launch of the 2012 County Health Rankings and County Health Roadmaps also coincides with the release of the call for applications for the Roadmaps to Health Prize, another component of the County Health Roadmaps project that recognizes and honors the efforts and accomplishments of communities in the U.S. working at the forefront of better health for all residents.

Up to six Roadmaps to Health Prize winning communities will be honored in early 2013 and each will receive a no-strings-attached $25,000 cash prize.

Find out more and apply here, or watch this video.