The Healthy Communities program is comprised of three initiatives:

• The Building Healthy Communities program
• Safe Routes to School program
• ACHIEVE 

Building Healthy Communities Program
For the past four years, Michigan Department of Community Health's (MDCH) Building Healthy Communities program has provided funding, training and technical assistance to local health agencies to make policy and environmental changes to their communities in ways that make it easier for residents to obtain healthful foods, be physically active, and not smoke.

The Building Healthy Communities (BHC) program seeks to:

·        Reduce cardiovascular disease, stroke, obesity and other chronic diseases
·        Increase physical activity levels
·        Increase fruit and vegetable intake
·        Increase tobacco-free environments 
                                                       
        BHC  program initiatives:           Trails
                                                                Gardens
                                                                  Parks
                                                        Farmers' Markets
                                      Complete Streets, Non-Motorized Plans

The Building Healthy Communities program has achieved great successes in counties across Michigan. These include 18 trails covering 71.1 miles created / enhanced with benches, lighting and signage; 10 parks enhanced with new equipment, benches or lighting to improve safety; 42,500 walking maps; 135 community fitness classes conducted; 6 new farmers markets with electronic benefits transfer options for food stamp recipients; 8 new community and school gardens started; 6,400 Senior Project FRESH coupons distributed to low-income seniors; 3,900 healthy food taste testing; 200 nutrition education classes; 6 counties passed or working on passing clean indoor air ordinances.

                                          BHC Funded Local Health Departments 2008/2009

Implementation Grantees

Planning Grantees 

Reports of Success   

• 2009 Building Healthy Communities Full Report  
  
• 2008 Building Healthy Communities Full Report  
  
• 2008 Pictures From Local Health Departments 
  
• 2007 Building Healthy Communities Fact Sheet
  

Grant Opportunities

2009 Healthy Sprouts Award:
To be eligible for the 2009 Healthy Sprouts Award, your school or organization must plan to garden in 2010 with at least 15 children between the ages of 3 and 18.  The selection of winners is based on the demonstrated relationship between the garden program and nutrition and hunger issues in the United States.

Interested persons need to apply by October 17, 2009 to get funds to have a garden next spring through the National Gardening Association (NGA).

More information and the application may be accessed at this link:
http://www.kidsgardening.com/healthysprouts.asp

Communities Putting Prevention to Work Grant:
CDC's Procurement and Grants Office has published a funding opportunity announcement entitled, "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Communities Putting Prevention to Work."

Approximately $373 million will be available in fiscal year 2009 to fund thirty to forty awards.  The purpose of this FOA is to create healthier communities through sustainable, proven, population-based approaches such as broad-based policy, systems, organizational and environmental changes in communities and schools.

To learn more about this grant opportunity, click here. 

New Resources 

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation:   Action Strategies Toolkit - a guide for local and state leaders  to create healthy communities and prevent childhood obesity. Click on this link to access more  information.

Growing Communities Through Gardens Eat Smart, Move More North Carolina: Growing Communites Through Gardens is a planning and resource guide for anyone who is thinking about starting a community garden.     Download Eat Smart, Move More North Carolina: Growing Communities Through Gardens Here.

In The News

• Grocery Store Tax Incentive Has Potential to Create More Than 3,000 Jobs and $852 Million in Sales
• Tax Credit is Designed to Spur Grocery Store Expansions
  

Training

BHC Trainings

• BHC March Trainings - PowerPoint Presentations
  

• BHC December Trainings - PowerPoint Presentations
  
         BHC Planning Training
         BHC Implementation Training

Michigan Nutrition Network

Local Advisory Group Project
The Local Advisory Group project is a project within Building Healthy Communities that provides funding to local health departments to incorporate nutrition education and physical activity promotion into their policy and environmental change interventions.

The Local Advisory Group project:

• Is a collaboration between the MDCH, Michigan State University Extension, local agencies.
• Uses federal funding through the United States Department of Agriculture - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) to focus on promotion of healthy eating and physical activity among low-income populations.
• Compliments BHC policy and environmental change projects at the local level by focusing on the bottom three levels of the social ecological model: individual, interpersonal, and organizational.
• Engages communities through promotion and education, leading to increased use, awareness and knowledge of the policies and environmental changes being implemented through BHC.
• Contributes to the overall comprehensiveness, sustainablity, and success of the BHC initiative to increase access to and awareness of healthy eating and physical activity opportunities acress the state of Michigan.

Local Advisory Group Project Resources

Frequently Asked Questions Page

Reporting and Compliance Documents:

Other Resources

Local Advisory Groups

Fiscal Year 2007-2008
Fiscal Year 2008-2009

For More information, please contact:
Lisa Goldenhar, Local Advisory Group Project Lead - goldenharl@michigan.gov

Safe Routes to School Program
Safe Routes to School(SR2S) is an international movement to make it safe, convenient, and fun for children to bicycle and walk to school. When routes are safe, walking or biking to and from school is an easy way to get the regular physical activity children need for good health. 

ACHIEVE
What is ACHIEVE?  Action Communities for Health, Innovation, and EnVironmental change is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Selected national organizations collaborate with CDC to enhance local communities' abilities to develop and implement policy, systems, and environmental change strategies that will help prevent or manage health-risk factors for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, obesity, and arthritis. Communities will participate in a community assessment and development of a local coalition in their communities An action plan with specific activities will be directed toward reducing tobacco use and exposure, promoting physical activity and healthy eating, improving access to quality preventive healthcare services, and eliminating health disparities. The Michigan cities of Muskegon and Saginaw were awarded ACHIEVE grants in 2009.  Michigan ACHIEVE contacts and more information.