By Brittany Davenport
The Madison County Health Department is one of three health departments in the state receiving a $36,000 grant over the next year to support three projects known as the Healthy Communities Initiative.
The Healthy Communities Initiative is the first endeavor toward a Healthy Communities Certificate Program, highlighting communities successful in “implementing strategies to increase physical activity, improve access to healthier food options and reduce smoking and secondhand smoke exposure,” said the Department for Public Health in a press release.
The funding will go towards training for the Safe Routes to School program, promotional materials, reports and surveys, bike racks for the Berea Independent School campus and other locations throughout Berea, said Ruth Davis, health education director for the Madison County Health Department.
The money also will go towards walking/biking path street signs in the area and an indoor quality study of selected public venues in both Berea, Richmond and the county, pay for trips to state conferences, among other things, Davis said.
In addition, Davis said the money also will help promote healthy foods in the area by serving healthy snacks in school cafeterias, promoting farmers markets, distribution of information on how to eat healthy while dining out and how to prepare fresh fruits and vegetables.
To be considered for the grant, an application was written by the health department with letters of support from “several key community stakeholders,” Davis said.
“These addressed the community’s needs, support for the programs being proposed and willingness for their agency to be represented on the Healthy Communities Board,” she said.
The three departments awarded the grant scored the highest average point totals in the areas of “increasing physical activity among citizens; improved access to nutritious food; and reduced tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke,” said a press release from DPH. They also demonstrated the greatest potential for immediate action in addressing these areas.
“Kentucky continually ranks low when it comes to the health of our citizens. In addition to high obesity rates, we also are a leader in physical inactivity, poor nutrition and tobacco use,” said DPH Commissioner Dr. William Hacker. “The Healthy Communities Initiative awardees will be able to make immediate and future impacts by implementing proven public health strategies and creating plans to sustain their efforts for years to come.”
The two other health departments receiving the grant are the Jackson County Health Department in McKee and WEDCO Health Department in Cynthiana.
The grant is funded by the Department for Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Healthy Communities Program, Kentucky’s Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program, the Kentucky Osteoporosis Program and the Preventive Health Services Block Grant.
For more information about the Healthy Communities Initiative or the upcoming Healthy Communities conference on Aug. 12, contact Brian Boisseau, Healthy Communities program manager, at brian.boisseau@ky.gov or call 1-502-564-9358.
Brittany Davenport can be reached at 624-6624 or news@richmondregister. com.
