Healthy Mendocino Project Launches Regional Chapters

By: Thaïs Mazur, Ph.D.      

The physical design and networking of our community affects our health and happiness. Sometimes making healthy choices is not easy — being physically active is hard if we do not have access to sidewalks or parks, and eating well is challenging if healthy foods are not available. Revitalizing low-income communities, improving the health and quality of life of all citizens, and providing a safe and nurturing environment, is paramount to creating a healthy society. The mission of Healthy Mendocino is “to improve quality of life in Mendocino County by encouraging informed dialogue about the actions local residents and organizations can take to improve community health.”  Throughout the county, agencies including child welfare, food banks, mental health clinics, schools, and community garden projects are working to help those in need. Healthy Mendocino is creating a platform for sharing information and bringing people together to support individuals’ health and the health of the community.

How do we support all of the regions of the county, with different or even similar needs, and develop effective and sustainable strategies and solutions? How can we generate a plan that serves all of the populations and motivates people to work together for a stronger, healthier and more vibrant county? Inspiring citizen participation, agencies, schools, medical facilities, farmers, and others to come together to create health on all levels is one of the foremost goals of Healthy Mendocino.

Regional Chapters

Healthy Mendocino is launching Regional Chapters throughout the county to involve people in strategizing and creating a plan for their local community. Five Action Teams have been working for almost a year to identify goals, objectives, and measurements in five priority areas. These teams have been meeting in Ukiah and it is now time to start Regional Chapters in order to address all areas of the county. Mendocino County has a diverse and geographically isolated population and each region has its own unique culture and set of issues related to health. To support a collaborative effort, Healthy Mendocino Regional Chapters are being established in the following regions: Inland Ukiah including Hopland, Anderson Valley, Redwood Valley, Potter Valley, and Calpella; Willits/Laytonville/Leggett; Round Valley; North Coast and South Coast. 

Five Action Teams Per Region

Regional Chapters will focus on the five priority areas identified by the Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) to address issues in each region: Childhood Obesity and Family Wellness, Childhood Trauma, Poverty, Mental Health, and Housing. During 2015, the CHNA used data on HealthyMendocino.org plus information from local surveys, focus groups, interviews, and other sources to understand major health concerns and their causes in our county and inventory local assets for improving health. This information was used to engage the community in 2016 in setting priorities and strategies for responding to major local health concerns.

Laytonville Healthy Start Family Resource Center Coordinator, Jayma Shields says, “While I’m happy to travel to Ukiah to hear about important work being done around our county, I believe in the power of convening community groups to tackle our own local community-specific issues. While all communities in Mendocino County face issues with childhood obesity and family wellness, childhood trauma, poverty, mental health and housing, it certainly looks different in Laytonville than it does say in Fort Bragg. Allowing dedicated community members the power to make decisions and take action on these issues gives those living here the opportunity to shape their community, rather than relying on a . . . county agency to do so.”

The Regional Chapters will be comprised of county residents, people from human service agencies, hospitals, schools, farms, recreation departments, and other groups interested in the health and well-being of the county, all working towards a common purpose. Each Action Team will be responsible for:

• Identifying current successes and challenges to improve the issue in the region;
• Identifying evidence of success if the issue were “solved”;
• Prioritizing two strategies for addressing the region’s issue;
• Identifying 3-4 general actions that would need to happen first to accomplish each strategy;
• Developing an Action Plan for each strategy with specific accountability;
• Setting the Action Plan in motion while integrating the goals and objectives.

Each year, Healthy Mendocino will host an annual summit that brings together all of the Action Teams throughout the county to share information and progress that is being made. This year’s summit will be in October in Willits, which is more centrally located. 

Natalie Cottrell, Recreation Coordinator for Mendocino Coast Recreation and Park District, believes that we need to “build bridges not fences and we need to be actionary, not reactionary because health is everything for a good quality of life. As a community we need to help people be happy and healthy so they can strive for a better lifestyle.” Cottrell is helping launch a county wide triathlon as part of the Childhood Obesity and Family Wellness Action Team and will be spearheading a Regional Chapter on the north coast.

A healthy community is one that offers social, physical, and mental well-being to people in all stages of life. Affordability, stability, accessibility, diversity, safety, and equity are important for socially cohesive neighborhoods. Community health also supports an ongoing dialogue that generates leadership opportunities for all, embraces diversity, and connects people and resources to shape its future. "Hats off to Healthy Mendocino for creating a county wide collaborative,” says Annie Liner from Mendocino Coast Children’s Fund,  “It's a wonderful chance for our communities to share best practices, unique and universal concerns and create a safety net not only for our most vulnerable but also for those who serve them."

Healthy Mendocino Regional Chapters will give communities throughout the county a way to connect, generate local leadership, and empower people to get involved in social and civic engagement. People will be encouraged to make their community better for themselves, their family, their friends, their neighbors, and initiate the changes necessary for a healthier Mendocino County.

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Thaïs Mazur, Ph.D., is Project Manager of the Healthy Mendocino Project. Thaïs is a leader in the field of social change and building healthy communities. A resident of the Mendocino coast for 17 years, she co-founded Mind Body Medicine Mendocino as well as North Coast Action, a citizens group dedicated to the clean-up of toxic soil on the former Georgia Pacific mill site in Fort Bragg. She holds a Ph.D. in Human Science and Integrative Medicine, and for the past two decades has directed social and environmental justice projects locally, nationally, and internationally.