Kentuckiana Health Alliance convened by UAW/Ford Community Healthcare Initiative
The Kentuckiana Health Alliance (KHA) is convened by the UAW/Ford Community Healthcare Initiative (CHI) and is comprised of representatives that have a major stake in improving the healthcare system. The KHA's Well@Work program is a pilot project to study whether an intensive, worksite-based employee fitness program will produce positive results for participating employees and their employers. The project focuses on improving eating habits, increasing physical activity, and managing hypertension, three recognized methods for reducing levels of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. Under the umbrella of the Mayor’s Healthy Hometown Movement, this project seeks to encourage individual enrollment and the formation of teams, provide support from health care professionals, and track measurable results.
Tap Into Fitness! (TIF)
TIF is a community public/private partnership, including the Louisville Water Company, Jefferson County Public Schools and the Heuser Clinic, that promotes fitness in selected public schools through music and exercise. The goal is to teach the value of physical activity, nutrition and how consumerism impacts health choices. Students, teachers and parents at the three selected schools for this year will participate in a year-long program that includes fitness tests, workshops on nutrition, field trips and classroom programming. Schools participating in this year’s pilot program are Byck and Chenoweth Elementary and Meyzeek Middle School.
Fit For Me
Fit For Me is a collaboration of the University of Louisville, Cardinal Performance Team, Bellarmine University School of Nursing, Women 4 Women and Walnut Street Baptist Church designed to empower low-income teenage girls, ages 13-17, through providing them with an after-school fitness program that promotes life-long learning and integrates fitness into life skills for everyday living. Essentially, this program, through partial metro government funding, is able to extend to at-risk teens, UofL’s proven female athletic program which includes training in a full range of life activities; physical, academic, character and empowerment building.
Active Living By Design
The Metro Housing Authority of Louisville received a $200,000 Active Living by Design grant in November, 2003, from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to promote healthier living by creating a physical environment that encourages activity. Louisville’s ALD programs which include walking and bike paths, a fitness center, strategic parking planning and community networking, are being developed in conjunction with the $140 million overhaul of the Clarksdale public housing complex and the redevelopment of the Shelby Park and Smoketown Neighborhoods.
Mayor’s Healthy Hometown Hike & Bike
have drawn more than 5,000 residents, including children and families, to Louisville’s Slugger Field and Waterfront Park. Hike and Bike routes allow residents to enjoy scenic parks and parkways throughout the community while engaging in physical activity.
Smoketown Youth Bicycle Repair Program teaches youth ages 10 through 14 the fundamentals of bike repair and safe riding. Participants earn their own rebuilt bicycle and can take their refurbished bikes on adult-led bicycle road trips.
St. Peter Claver Community Garden was initiated through collaboration between ACTIVE Louisville, Louisville Metro Housing Authority, Metropolitan Sewer District, Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Service, and Presbyterian Community Center. The garden serves as an “edible” classroom for students from Meyzeek Middle School, as well as provide community garden plots for neighborhood residents.