PORT ANGELES — A new group is aiming to make Port Angeles a healthier community.
This year, the city was named an ACHIEVE community by the Centers for Disease Control of Atlanta, and a group mainly made up of civic, health and educational representatives that sought the designation is working on a plan to improve the health of the city’s residents.
ACHIEVE stands for Action Communities for Health, Innovation and Environmental Change.
The CDC provides funding and other assistance to communities like Port Angeles selected to participate in the program to find ways to improve residents’ health.
The city is one of 40 given the designation this year. There were 200 applicants.
The local group spearheading that effort includes representatives of Olympic Peninsula YMCA, city of Port Angeles, Peninsula College, Olympic Medical Center, Peninsula Daily News, Port Angeles School District and Peninsula Children’s Clinic.
Health problems
Right now, it is working to assess the health problems in the community and expects a report to be finished this month, said Kyle Cronk, YMCA executive director.
“The key is we are working to make the healthy choice the easy choice,” he said.
The next step will be to address the health shortfalls in the community, which could involve improving pedestrian routes and getting businesses and public agencies to commit to placing healthier food in vending machines, Cronk said.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to both highlight . . . what we’re doing well and where we have some gaps,” he said.
So far, the group has received $12,000 to pay for the program for the first three years.
That allocation covers the cost of the group sending eight members to the ACHIEVE training seminar in June.
City Manager Kent Myers, who attended the seminar, said the city plans to take a leadership role in this effort.
The city has already made gains by adding bike lanes and creating a community garden, he said, but there’s still room for improvement.
“Are we putting in enough sidewalks? Are we requiring developers to provide sufficient opportunities for pedestrians?” are questions Myers said the city will be asking itself.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.