Healthy Hometown Coalition approved for Phase II funding

Posted January 7, 2015 at 3:16 pm

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The health and well-being of Clinton County residents, and especially that of the younger residents in our county, may have received the most significant news ever last week.

At a meeting of the members of a relatively new group here who have taken the initiative to try and improve the health of the people of Clinton County, the announcement was made that the Clinton County Healthy Hometown Coalition would receive the second phase of grant funding from The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.

The announcement was made to the group by Paula Little who has been serving as the Chairperson of the Healthy Hometown Coalition since it’s beginning 18 months ago.

The announcement came in a “preliminary” form as the official announcement of the Phase II funding won’t be made until mid-January, but Little said she had been informed that Clinton County was one of the projects that had been approved.

The grant will be in the amount of $400,000 over a three year period and will be used on a host of programs and projects that are centered on improving the health of residents in Clinton County.

At the meeting, Little was clearly excited about the potential the funding would have for Clinton County, and especially for school aged and younger residents.

She also offered a host of praise for the work that the members of the local Hometown Coalition had completed in order for the program to receive approval for the next portion of grant monies.

“We have a chance to do something now that is going to make a difference in our county,” Little said during the presentation. “Something we can look back on and say ‘we did something good.’ ”

The Healthy Hometown Coalition Clinton County is made up of a broad cross section of leaders that include government officials, school employees, members of the medical and health profession as well as several business and industry leaders.

The group also includes representatives from the very group of people it hopes to see benefit the most, members of the student population from Clinton County High School.

“We have been selected for Phase II funding and over the next three years, because of the great community support we have, we are going to get $400,000,” Little said. “Our community support is what sold us.”

She added that while the plans are to address several health concerns of residents in Clinton County, the bulk of the programs will be pointed toward the reduction of the most prevalent issue that plagues local health conditions – obesity.

While the overall health of residents in Kentucky is poor, Clinton County ranks near the bottom of the state in health related matters and it is that statistic that the Healthy Hometown Coalition hopes to be able to address with the programs and projects that this additional grant funding should provide.

In her executive summary of the Healthy Hometown plan, Little noted that “children born and raised in Clinton County, Kentucky are more likely to be obese, face debilitating chronic diseases, have a lower quality of life and experience a shorter lifespan than children in other parts of Kentucky.”

In addition to the low health conditions seen in the younger aged residents here, the adults are also in poor health generally speaking and also suffer from a host of chronic conditions, most of which can be directly related to the biggest health issue that most local residents face – obesity.

Health problems that can be tied to the overweight condition also include diabetes, heart disease and hypertension.

Although last week’s meeting and announcement of the additional grant funding was the main topic of discussion, Little did point out during her presentation that the efforts of the Healthy Hometown Coalition were already being noticed through various efforts that had been made in the 18 months since the group was formed

For instance, she pointed out that several thousand dollars had already been secured through other organizations and private donations to help fund a renovation project at the Mountain View Recreation Park to provide new playground equipment.

Those efforts should see new and upgraded equipment being purchased and installed in 2015 and will also be the centerpiece project for additional improvements at the recreation park, including the installment of new surfacing around the playground equipment area as well as on the walking track.

Additional efforts related to increased physical activity levels for local youth also include the organization of “walking clubs” at each of the Clinton County schools and eventually develop a “fitness buddy” program at Clinton County High School that would partner high school students with elementary school students in an effort to help increase fitness levels in the student age population.

In addition to the improvements at the recreation park that will be geared toward increasing the fitness and activity levels of the local youth and adults, much of the grant funds use will be geared toward the education and implementation of programs designed to improve the nutrition habits of local residents of all ages.

For instance, the implementation of school breakfast carts in schools as well as having available free fruits and vegetables for snack purposes for elementary students are among the many improvements she listed in the work plan that was submitted with the application for the Phase II funding request.

Other plans associated with the Clinton County Healthy Hometown effort will include the complete renovation of the Bus Stop Cafe Mobile Food Bus that was put into service last year and just this past summer served meals to children all across Clinton County.

That program alone was responsible for some 9,000 healthy and nutritional meals being served to children here.

Another nutrition based aspect of the plans would be for a school supper program that would be available for students who spent after-school hours working with tutoring services or extra-curricular activities.

A host of fitness oriented programs designed to get residents into more active healthy habits are planned as is training for those who will be responsible for implementing and promoting those events, activities and programs.

The plan also calls for the eventual efforts needed to expand the local Farmers Market into a more productive and viable attraction for local residents and producers alike.

Continued to be based at the current Mountain View Park location, hopes are to see the Farmers Market be expanded, promoted and better equipped to benefit a much larger section of Clinton County residents.

Along that same line of nutritional improvements, the program also has plans that would get high school students more involved in that same area, with the implementation of a raised bed gardening program there and eventually provide a venue for the sale of the products raised in those gardens.

And while the program is designed to reach out to Clinton County residents of all ages, the age group that will benefit the most – through the new programs as well as the educational efforts – will be the school-aged and younger group.

In her Executive Summary, Little expressed her hopes for the success of the Healthy Hometown program by stating that “through changes in policies, programs and physical environments, Clinton County will become the Healthy Hometown our children deserve.”

Dr. Paula Little, Chairperson for the Healthy Hometown Coalition, talked to members of the Coalition during a recent luncheon meeting. Little announced to the group at that time that the program had received Phase II funding, meaning that an additional $400,000 will be used to implement projects designed to raise nutrition and health levels of Clinton County residents over the next three years.