Group finishes foundation for healthier Manatee

BRADENTON — CHART Manatee approved core values Tuesday, putting the finishing touches on the foundation of its plan to make Manatee County a healthier place.

Now the building begins.

The group of community leaders has 47 days and two scheduled meetings to come up with prioritized areas of concern — obesity and tobacco use are early favorites — and a detailed assessment of one organization in each of four sectors: schools, work sites, health care and community institutions/organizations.

The work must be complete before a contingent leaves for a three-day Action Institute conference with similar groups from other communities June 22-24 in Tampa.

“We have a tight timeline. We have a lot that needs to be done,” said moderator Donna Keith, the health department’s community health nursing supervisor.

“I think the community assessment will provide a very good picture of what needs to be done in the community. It’s also going to point out our strengths. That’s going to be an equally important thing as well as looking at needful areas.”

The committee will meet again May 18 to assign subcommittees for their organizations to survey.

The 20-member group was created earlier this year after Manatee County became one of 40 communities in the United States to receive a $40,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control through its Action Communities for Health, Innovation and Environmental Change.

On Tuesday, CHART Manatee agreed on six value statements that will guide the group during its three-year quest to make Manatee County a healthier place.

The statements are:

n Respect for cultural and ethnic diversity

n Recognize that family involvement is essential

n Make healthy choices easy choices

n Motivate through empowerment

n Use fun activities to encourage healthy lifestyles

n Foster community partnerships.

The value statements offer guidelines for how CHART Manatee will achieve its mission statement, which is “To promote healthy lifestyles for every generation in Manatee County by fostering increased physical activity, good nutrition and tobacco-free living through community education and changes in systems and policy.”

The team will spend the first year and $15,000 of the grant compiling a community action plan, coming up with at least one policy, environmental or system change in five sectors of the community.

The next two years and the remaining $25,000 of the grant will go toward identifying and securing resources for the action plan.