Workshop Focuses on Active Citizens
By Tom Vogt, The Columbian Staff Writer
Saturday, June 25, 2005
A "healthier steps" campaign advanced another stride Friday when representatives of civic groups and regional agencies discussed prospects for a more active community.
Accessible trails, more sidewalks and safer walking routes for schoolchildren were among the topics of the workshop, sponsored by Steps to a Healthier Clark County.
"Steps" is a five-year initiative that started in September 2003 when a local group, Community Choices 2010, received a federal grant to take on obesity and related health issues in Clark County.
Barbe West, executive director of Community Choices 2010, said Friday's workshop helped the campaign make some progress in one of its target areas, active community environments. The discussion included public-sector people from planning, transportation and health agencies, as well as trail and cycling advocates.
"This brought in some new partners," West said.
The campaign has already issued 29 grants to partners in its three other target areas employers, schools and health care.
Nine employers have received seed money to start wellness programs for their employees. The biggest grant was $7,000, West said.
"You won't run a program on that, but it's a way to get them thinking about healthy employees," she said.
The emphasis is on long-term change, West added, and she pointed to WaferTech's decision to get a new cafeteria contract that will focus on healthier foods.
The Vancouver School District has established a community health advisory council, West continued.
"It will advise the superintendent and the school board, and that is a permanent change," she said.
Two community health providers the Family Wellness Center and Family Medicine of Southwest Washington have started programs to help low-income patients manage their diabetes.
"They've seen improvements over the last 12 months," she said.
So far, the active-community piece of the plan has included grants to the Community Cycling Center, which provides bicycles for low-income school children, and the annual Discovery Walk Festival.
"We're creating a walking and hiking trail map of Clark County now," said Jennifer Campos, a Vancouver transportation planner.
During Friday's workshop, a Seattle-area advocate for walkable communities discussed some of the things being done in other areas.
Education can be done at the neighborhood level, said David Levinger, president of Feet First, a nonprofit advocacy group. Businesses have posted maps showing how far a person can walk in 10 minutes, as well as bike routes and bus stops in the vicinity.
Photo radar is being proposed around schools in Washington as more effective way of enforcing school-zone speed limits to make the areas more student-friendly and thereby encourage walking, Levinger said.
The federal grant that is funding the local projects originally was announced at $5 million, but it will be less than that, West said. Federal officials decided to get more communities involved, so Clark County's allocations for this year and for 2006 will be $550,000 annually, rather than the $1 million each year that had been originally announced.
"Hey, we started at zero," West said.
Update
Previously: Community Choices 2010 received a grant to foster an active community.
What's new: A Web site listing resources is at stepstoa healthierclarkco .org
What's next: A map of Clark County walking trails should be available in the fall.