SHIP stories
The Statewide Health Improvement Program
(SHIP) works to improve health through better
nutrition, increased physical activity and
decreased commercial tobacco use and exposure.
Across the state, one key to success for SHIP
efforts is working with communities. As of June
2011:
• Because of SHIP, 227 apartment buildings
have adopted smoke free policies. Another
142 are working toward it.
It Takes a Village to be Healthy
Thanks in part to grant funding from the Statewide
Health Improvement Program, the Villages at Essex
Park went smoke-free.
Community Health Specialist Kelly Corbin helped the
buildings go smoke-free as of June 1, 2012, in order
to prevent secondhand smoke exposure. “Through a
community survey, we know 79 percent of Olmsted
County residents who live in rentals would like it to be
a smoke free property, yet there are not that many
options locally,” commented Corbin.
All fourteen buildings at the Villages at Essex Park
now enforce a smoke-free policy, the first smokefree apartment building for Dominium Management
Services. The smoke-free policy covers all units
and most of the grounds except a few designated
areas. Now, after this success, other properties under
Dominium’s management in the area will be evaluated
to see if similar policies will work for those complexes.
“The health and wellbeing of our residents is top
priority,” commented Michelle Ellis-Hirlston, Regional
8/2012
www.health.state.mn.us/divs/oshii
Property Manager for Dominium Management, “A
smoke-free building is safer and contributes to a better
living environment and aligns better with the vast
medical community of Rochester,” she concluded.
“My hope is that many people will make the decision
to quit smoking altogether due to this policy being in
place,” commented Eric Boline, Community Manager
for The Villages at Essex Park. “I am not in the business
of telling people they have to quit as it is their choice
to smoke. But as more and more businesses and places
become smoke free, I think more people will decide to
quit.”
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SHIP is working to make the healthy choice the easy
choice in Minnesota. Find out how at
www.health.state.mn.us/ship