Moses Lake project represented at national conference

ML city councilman shares successes of Healthy Communities with state and national health agencies

MOSES LAKE — After a trip that Moses Lake city councilman Lee Blackwell made to Newark., Del, more people across the United States are aware of the city's Healthy Communities Project.

At the end of January, Blackwell presented information at a conference entitled "Enhancing State and Local Capacity to Promote Healthy Weight in Children: Addressing Disparities in the Real World," where he shared Moses Lake's Healthy Communities Project with health care providers from around the state and nation.

Blackwell said his presentation discussed efforts made by the Trail Planning Team, Breastfeeding Coalition and the Community Gardens Committee, all of which make up a part of the Healthy Communities Project which began in Moses Lake in 2002 as a way to promote physical activity and nutrition.

Summit attendees were most surprised, he said, by the support of volunteer efforts in Moses Lake that have helped organize the project and wanted to know "'How does a group of citizens get together and create what we've created?'"

The answer to that question, Blackwell believes, is found in gaining not only support, but participation from both the government and citizens.

Blackwell said he told those in attendance that the Healthy Communities Project has been successful so far in Moses Lake because "it became a public and private activity … the city government is not only supportive but actively involved in this."

Among other issues raised by representatives from the Midwest and East Coast was how to reach minority groups and get them involved, which Blackwell said has also been a concern in Moses Lake.

"The Hispanic community in the past has been a separate community in terms of their involvement," he said, also mentioning the presence of Russian and Ukrainian populations present in the Columbia Basin. "We've got to reach out to them somehow."

That concern is shared among other Healthy Communities Project participants here in Moses Lake as well.

"That's something we've always wanted to do," said Sally Goodwin, executive director with the Moses Lake Business Association.

Goodwin said project leaders have and will continue to make presentations to minority groups and low income residents to encourage involvement. "At this point the garden co-chairs are making presentations to low income (and minority) groups to get them more involved," she said.

Alicia Seim, co-chair for the Community Gardens Committee and Youth Wellness Team advisor, echoed Goodwin's comment.

Part of what makes the Healthy Communities Project so great, she said, is "realizing the importance that everybody plays in the community."

Activities such as a bike rodeo, Goodwin said, are being planned for later this spring as a way to provide public events that will encourage people to use the trails and paths designed by the Trail Planning Team, and become involved in the Healthy Communities Project.

Blackwell said this latest conference shows how interested outside communities and health organizations are in learning about what Moses Lake has done.

"We're just recognized as a good community and interested in health, and we certainly should be."

A informational meeting to discuss the Community Garden is being held this Thursday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Noon Moon Coffeehouse and Dessert Bar in Moses Lake and is open to the public.

Sign ups begin March 1 for the 2005 Community Garden plots. For more information call 764 -1745.