Healthy Communities Planning

Western U.P. Health Department, with community partners including local government officials, schools, hospitals, community-based organizations and volunteer groups, is working to reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity and build a healthy community for all residents.

The health department, on behalf of the Healthy Families Consortium, a broad-based advocacy and planning group, received two multi-year grants beginning in late 2009 to engage citizens and institutions in the types of policy, systems and built-environment changes that will support active living and healthy eating, two key components in reducing chronic didease and promoting life-long health and wellness.

The health department received grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), and the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH), both aimed at making opportunities for year-round physical activity and healthy eating accessible and affordable, woven into the fabric of the community. In the initial phase, funding is for Houghton County, though the health department will expand the projects in the future by replicating what works in other Western U.P. counties. 

The RWJF grant comes from their new and ambitious Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities (HKHC) program, the flagship of the foundation’s $ one-half billion commitment to reversing the epidemic of childhood obesity by 2015. The MDCH grant, called Building Healthy Communities, will bolster the efforts of HKHC with funding for local activites, such as improvements to trails, bike routes, community gardens and farmers markets.

Learn more at http://www.healthykidshealthycommunities.org/communities/houghton-county-mi