STARTING FROM ZERO:
MAKING EFFECTIVE,
SUSTAINABLE PSE CHANGES
IN RURAL COMMUNITIES
Sandy Lorenz, MA
Chera Sevcik, MS
STATEWIDE HEALTH IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
(SHIP)
 Passed by the 2008 legislature as part of Minnesota
Health Reform.
 Minnesota Department of Health awarded funds that
covered all Community Health Boards and 7 of 9 tribal
governments.
 Uses sustainable Policy-System-Environmental (PSE)
approac h to improving health.
 Targets four sectors: Community, Sc hool, Worksite,
Health Care Organization
FARIBAULT, MARTIN & WATONWAN COUNTIES
SHIP BACKGROUND
 Faribault, Martin &
Watonwan (FMW)
Counties received a SHIP
grant to work in sc hools,
worksites, health care
organizations and
communities
UTILIZING COMMUNITY LEADERS
 FMW SHIP established an active Community Leadership
Team to guide and oversee SHIP efforts.
 County-level steering committees were started to
provide input and recommendations to the CLT
 Grassroots, innovation and sustainability were the
primary goals of our project – resulting in providing
mini-grant awards to communities, sc hools, worksites and
health care organizations to help implement SHIP work.
DETERMINING STRATEGIES
 Fall 2009- FMW SHIP conducted a comprehensive
community assessment whic h included:
 Community Surveys
 7 Focus Groups
 Key Informant Interviews
 Community Mapping
 Reviewing Existing Data
 Assessment data combined with Steering Committee
recommendations allowed FMW CLT to select 6
strategies
 Community Nutrition, Community Physical Activity, School Nutrition,
School Physical Activity, Worksite Wellness and Health Care
Referral
DECIDING ON MINI-GRANTS
 Mini-grants allowed for innovation, communitycontrol and grassroots implementation of SHIP
efforts
 Allowed community champions to take ideas and
“run”
 FMW SHIP awarded 23 mini-grants impacting over
30 sites
This is a story about a few of those projects….
OUR JOURNEY BEGINS….
In Blue Earth Minnesota
Blue Earth has a population of
________.
BLUE EARTH ACTIVE LIVING
 Blue Earth Area Community Education was awarded a
SHIP mini-grant to work on active living – increase
walkability & bikeability and Safe Routes to Sc hool
 Goals included:
 Conducting a walkability assessment of the City of Blue Earth
 Convening an Active Living Coalition to:
 Review practices and policies related to pedestrian travel, land -use
and facilities
 Work with community stakeholders to provide feedback on upcoming
road renovation projects
 Define priorities in regards to walking and biking
 Act as a catalyst for suggesting policies and practices to key
stakeholders regarding pedestrian travel
 Promote active living principals and increase access to facilities
BLUE EARTH AREA ACTIVE LIVING
Goals Cont’d
 Review current Community Education and Recreation
Policies and Practices and suggest changes
 Increase availability of active living and nutrition
programs and offerings in Community Education
Opportunities
WALKABILITY ASSESSMENT
 Community Education/ FMW SHIP held a kick -off event
 Contracted with Dan Burden, founder of non -profit organization
Walkable Communities to conduct a walkability assessment of the
community where existing walking, bicycling, recreational
opportunities, and overall active living conditions in Blue Earth
were assessed.
 28 community members and key stakeholders participated
ASSESSMENT AREA
Assessment area included
elementary school,
downtown/main street area and
major parks
WALKABILITY ASSESSMENT
WALKABILITY ASSESSMENT
 The result of the walkability assessment included:
 A full length technical memorandum with suggestions and
opportunities to make Blue Earth more walkable and
livable. Suggestions included:
 Painting crosswalks near the schools
 Adding curb extensions
 Making streets and open spaces more
inviting and appealing
 Making improvements to parking, sidewalks
and intersections
 Creating more places to safely walk and bike
THE BIRTH OF THE ACTIVE LIVING
COALITION
 Walkability assessment sparked interest in the community
 Community Education created an Active Living Coalition to
continue the dialogue and further active living work
 The coalition includes representation from:
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City Council
County Engineer
County Commissioners
Community Education
School District
Business Owners
Community members
Senior Citizens
Parents
RESULTS OF COALITION WORK
 Coalition members have a seat at the table in planning groups for
upcoming renovations planned for Highway 169 and Main Street
RESULTS OF COALITION WORK
 Crosswalks painted in time to celebrate International Walk & Bike
to Sc hool Day, 2010.
RESULTS OF COALITION WORK
 Increased access to and attractiveness of recreational facilities
 Community Education has increased their offerings for health and wellness
type classes and programs including Zumba and Aerobics classes.
 Promotion of Family-Friendly, Low-Cost Activities
 Yard Games Classes in the summer months offers kids an opportunity to
learn how to be “free-range kids”
 Snowshoeing
 Promotion of area parks and trails – including hosting events related to
learning how to snowshoe and offering snowshoes for rental at low -cost to
anyone.
RESULTS OF COALITION WORK
 Bike Safety Day as part of Sc hool Curriculum & newly installed
Bike Racks throughout town.
LESSONS LEARNED
 Address resistance with education.
 Involve the right people.
 It take time to make big c hanges.
 Move forward what you can.
 Have a plan in place.
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
 Continue to help provide feedback to city, county and
state as they plan for street/highway renovations
 Continue to promote active living in the community
 Increase the number of low-cost/no-cost recreational
opportunities, including utilizing the river for canoe trails
and creating walking & biking routes through the
community
 Work with city and county stakeholders to ensure
policies support progression of active living (i.e. plowing
parking lots at parks during winter months).
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
 Work with city and county to develop a marked bike
trail and include signage to other recreational
opportunities
 Continue to expand upon and promote Safe Routes to
Sc hool/Work
ACTIVE LIVING CASE STUDY
Faribault, Martin, and Watonwan Counties Blue Earth
Area Active Living Case Study report can be found
at http://tinyurl.com/3o6zn5v
WELLS, MN
The Journey Continues to Wells, MN
A DREAM, A VOICE..
 Citizens came together in Wells, MN to form the Voices
of Wellness Committee
 Functions as a multifaceted committee dedicated to
increasing active living, increasing access to nutrition
and physical activity within schools, worksites and
communities surrounding Wells, MN.
VOICES OF WELLNESS GOALS
 Work with all sectors to improve the long term health of
our community.
 Bring together a team of leaders to assess our
community and to address the needs for healthy living
opportunities for all ages and abilities.
 Create and implement a sustainable initiative for the
future health of our community.
COMMUNITY: WALKABILITY ASSESSMENT
VOW worked with Minnesota Department of
Health to become trained to conduct a
walkability assessment within the community.
A walkability assessment was conducted in
December, 2010.
COMMUNITY: WALKABILITY ASSESSMENT
 Wells Walkability Workshop
Dec 2010
Coalition Representatives
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City Council
City Administra to r, Comm unity Developme nt, Street Commissio ne r
Chief of Police
Planning and Zoning
County and City Enginee rs
County Commissioners
Sc hool Administra tio n
Comm unity Educatio n
Chambe r of Commerce
Region 9 Development Commissio n
MNRAAA (MN River Area Agency on Aging) CFL initiative
Senior Citizens
MN/DOT/ ATP (Area Transpo r ta tion Par tne rship)
MDH
Wor ksite s
Comm unity members with disabilitie s
Youth
Results of Walkability Workshop
 Assessment resulted in development of three sub committees:
 Safe Routes to School
 Trail Development
 General Walkability
 Sub-committees are meeting monthly to develop
short and long term plans for improved
walkability/bikeability/handicap accessibility.
 Feed back is being offered to city, county, and state
as they plan for sidewalk, street and highway
renovations.
Results cont’d
 Input has been accepted by Mn/DOT for upcoming
resurfacing of Hwy 109 to support paving the shoulder to
facilitate multiuse of the road. Letters of support were
obtained from Winnebago, Delavan, Easton and Wells.
 Education on Complete Streets has been presented to city
and county.
 Continue to promote active living with increased emphasis on
winter activities and options for seniors.
 Commitment to increase the number of low or no cost
recreation opportunities year around, indoor and outdoor.
 Meeting with city engineering firm to develop plans for Safe
Routes to School initiative.
COMMUNITY: A WALK IN THE PARK
Held the first annual
“…a walk in the
park” to draw
attention to a former
trail that has fallen
into disrepair and
encourage the
community to look at
safe paths and trails.
COMMUNITY-INCREASING ACCESS TO
RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
 Introduced Zumba to the
community and worked
with community education
to increase opportunities
to be physically active,
including offering Zumba
and healthy eating
classes and indoor
walking at the sc hool.
Opportunities cont’d
Provided ice rink equipment to replace an
abandoned rink with a commitment from city to
operate and maintain.
Offered Free Family Swims throughout the
summer at Faribault County public pools.
Purchased bike racks for parks and swimming
pool.
Provided support and equipment for Bone
Builders training and classes in Wells and
Bricelyn.
SCHOOL
 Helped United South
Central convene a
School Wellness
Committee and conduct
the School Health Index
 Conduct Assessment on
school walkability/Safe
Routes to School
 Implementation of
SPARK- Physical
Education Curriculum in
Early Childhood
Programs
SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL
COMMUNITY GARDENS/FARMERS’
MARKETS
 Worked with Community Garden Committee to establish
Wells Community Garden
 Worked with Bricelyn to start Community Garden featured in National Geographic.
Gardens/Markets cont’d
 Offered assistance to Blue Earth Area Mentors to
establish their community garden.
 Worked with Wells Farmers’ Market to increase vendor
input and grow existing market. Offered signage.
 Offered assistance and signage to Kiester Farmers
Market.
 Offered assistance to encourage starting markets in
other communities in the county.
 Offered free seeds to multiple garden sites.
COMMUNITY GARDENS/FARMERS’
MARKETS
WORKSITES
Developed partnership with Wells Chamber
of Commerce
Solicited businesses to implement
comprehensive worksite wellness initiatives
– 2 employers participated
United South Central Schools
Wells Federal Bank (all branches)
HEALTH CARE
 Worked to promote and expand Bone Builders classes in both
Wells and Bricelyn as well as offer to additional communities.
 Created a Healthy Faribault County website
 http://fc health.bevcomm.net
LESSONS LEARNED
 Dream big but take small steps
 Identify c hampions early
 Anticipate turnover
 Use existing coalitions and build new
 Understand geographic barriers
 Know your demographics
 Don’t make assumptions
 Don’t “reinvent the wheel”
FUTURE PLANS
Letter of intent for SHIP 2.0
Walkability in infancy – continue to support
existing committees
Continue to build coalitions locally and
countywide
Work with health care organizations to
encourage active living resource referral
Continue to support additional work on access to
healthy and local foods
Develop policy to insure sustainability
Offer ongoing assessment
CONTACT INFORMATION
Chera Sevcik, MS
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 507-236-5376
Sandy Lorenz, MA
E-mail: [email protected]