FYI: Cook Co.'s Alliance for Healthy and Active Communities!

Information from the Cook County Department of Public Health:

Many of the places we live, work and play promote increased food intake, unhealthy foods or physical inactivity. Here’s how you can change that and get involved.

Join the Alliance for Healthy and Active Communities to receive up-to-date information. As an Alliance member, you’ll have the opportunity to meet and work with a vast array of organizations, including healthcare, community-based, governmental, school and faith groups to ‘make the healthy choice the easy choice.’ Visit www.cookcountypublichealth.org and click Join the Network.

The next quarterly meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 23rd from 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM at the Oak Park Library (834 Lake St., Oak Park). Linda Shak of the Prevention Institute is the guest speaker and will present on how community health can be transformed through environmental and policy change. Click here to register.

Attend a regional forum and help shape a healthier future for Illinois. Express your ideas for what should be included in a state-wide plan for tackling obesity. Also, learn more about available funding. Regional meetings will be held October 1, 8 and 15 (9 a.m. –12:30 p.m.) in the West, North and South suburban Cook County regions, respectively. Click here to register.

Begin preparing now to apply for the Model Communities Grant. The Request for Proposals (RFP) will be released in early November. Up to $4 million will be awarded to applicants who demonstrate readiness to make changes in their communities that support residents in efforts to live healthy, active lives. To learn more about trainings and other actions you can take now, contact the CPPW office and ask for a regional manager at 708-524-5156 or via e-mail at cppw@phimc.org.