Benton County SHIP has
provided start up dollars to Sauk Rapids-Rice Middle School for a schoolyard
garden. They have gone from a 5’X5’ garden plot to a courtyard with 5 raised
garden beds and a green house where they raise all kinds of seedlings, planted
by students and staff. This space also includes their own compost in which they
have composted lunch room scraps to use as fertilizer and a storage shed where
they can store all of their tools and materials. Not only are the children
at SRRMS getting an invaluable learning experience, they will also get to enjoy
the produce in their lunch line this fall.
Do you have a resource or success story (“gem”) to share for a future issue? Submissions for each week’s Thursday publication are due by noon every Tuesday to Health.MakingitBetter@state.mn.us or community specialists for:
Dawn
Reckinger, supervisor of OSHII’s Evaluation and Surveillance Unit, has accepted
the position of manager of the new Family Home Visiting Section in the
Community and Family Health Division at MDH.
Since
she began in OSHII about 2 ½ years ago, Dawn has created a strong evaluation
framework for SHIP that has helped us guide our work as well as enabled us to
provide critical and timely information to SHIP grantees and policy makers. Her
last day in OSHII will be Aug 11.
Thanks
to Dawn and her team, the SHIP 4 evaluation plan is fully on track. We are
preparing to roll out an advanced and easy-to-use monitoring system called
REDCap this fall. We are moving forward to refilling this important position in
OSHII.
I
remain committed to keeping the evaluation work moving forward. Together, we’ve
built a strong framework and foundation to continue building upon.
Julie Myhre
Division Director
Office of Statewide Health Improvement Initiatives
Position vacancy announcement for MDH Technical Assistance
(TA) and Training Coordinator – this position is responsible for coordinating
TA and training for SHIP, Community Wellness Grant and Tobacco-Free Communities
grantees. This would be an ideal position for someone with extensive training
and/or adult education experience.
Applications are being accepted for all qualified job
seekers including internal bids and external applicants. The posting is open
from July 28, 2015 through midnight on August 6, 2015. Click here to view the job posting.
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Through Art of Hosting Conversations that Matter:
This training is not for spectators...during this workshop you will learn by observation, experience, practice and reflecting using experiential process:
- To engage in a safe co-learning experience.
- To investigate and support hosting conversations as a core leadership practice for strategic and systemic change.
- To explore collaborative practices.
- Learning new tools to deal with increasingly complex issues.
- To experience a process which helps to engage people with diverse backgrounds.
- To make meaning of the issues concerning your community.
- To take this practice to communities and work with and within those communities to find solutions to problems that concern their daily lives.
- To strengthen your network.
Registration fee: $550 | CEUs Available | Lunches Included | Register here.
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This
Spring, the Minnesota state legislature made changes to the eligibility requirements for
Safe Routes to School grants using state funds.
Please read this information if you plan to apply for future SRTS grant
solicitations. Communities may wish to begin preparing now to ensure they meet
the eligibility requirements if they plan to apply for grants in the fall or in
future funding years. It applies to all future state SRTS grants, but not
federal SRTS grants. (The infrastructure grant this Fall uses federal funds.)
MDH
encourages attending a special pre-conference session for SHIP grantees,
local public health and planning professionals.
Planning and Public
Health - Afternoon Dialogue – Sept 23, Bemidji Time: 1:00-4:30pm
A time to continue the
conversation from the morning session for attendees not registered for
the APA-MN Conference
- This afternoon session also
serves as the NW & NE Regions Making it Better Regional Learning
Meeting: Healthy Eating & Active Living
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Agenda
2015 Minnesota Chapter of the
American Planning Association Conference Sept 23-25, Sanford Center
Bemidji
MDH recommends
attending the conference. It will be a great opportunity to learn more
about the current planning trends and strengthen partnerships to help advance
local SHIP efforts.
- When: 11:30am, Wednesday
Sept 23 through 12pm, Friday, Sept 25
-
Details: Registration &
session information will be released Aug 1 on APA
MN.
Beginning this summer, MnDOT
will be updating the Statewide
Multimodal Transportation Plan (SMTP), the Minnesota State Highway Investment Plan (MnSHIP), and the
first-ever Statewide Pedestrian System Plan (SPSP). The plans are all
part of MnDOT's Family of Plans, which stems from the Minnesota GO
50-year Vision. The vision outlines what Minnesotans desire from the
state's transportation system and identifies key guiding principles that MnDOT
should strive to achieve.
SMTP The SMTP is the state's highest
level plan. It translates the Vision into general policy direction for MnDOT
and other transportation partners. The policy direction from the SMTP guides
the development of system investment plans, the next layer of planning in the
Family of Plans.
MnSHIP The MnSHIP is the system investment
plan for the state's highway system. It translates the SMTP objectives into
fiscally-constrained, performance-based highway investment direction.
SPSP The SPSP is the modal system
plan for pedestrians in Minnesota. It will outline recommendations for
policies, projects and programs that would improve the pedestrian (walking or
rolling) environment at the state, regional and local levels. MnDOT is
developing this plan in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Health.
How to get involved If you've ever
wondered how MnDOT sets its priorities, where transportation funding comes from
and how it's spent, or how projects are selected, these plans are where those
questions are answered. Get involved in the update process and you can help us
set our policy and investment direction. To learn more about the update
process for these plans, as well as other statewide planning efforts, sign up
for the "Planning - statewide updates" email list by visiting the planning site.
The Built Environment Assessment Tool (BE Tool) measures the core features and qualities of the built environment that affect health, especially walking, biking, and other types of physical activity.
The core features assessed in the BE Tool include:
- Built environment infrastructure—such as road types, curb cuts and ramps, intersections and crosswalks, traffic control, and public transportation.
- Walkability—for example, access to safe, attractive sidewalks and paths with inviting features.
- Bikeability—such as the presence of bike lane or bike path features.
- Recreational sites and structures.
- Food environment—such as access to grocery stores, convenience stores, and farmers markets.
Click here for more information.
National
bicycle and pedestrian safety experts and health professionals will connect the
dots between active transportation and health at the fifth Safe Routes to
School National Conference.
Save the date for this essential opportunity to join hundreds of advocates
and supporters from around the country for networking and sharing best
practices, with leading keynote and breakout sessions that will inform and
inspire your work.
Ohio has one of the most dynamic Safe Routes to School programs in the country.
At this conference, you'll see and hear about some of its many
nationally-recognized innovations.
Plus, you'll have plenty of time to network and share with colleagues from
across the country in Ohio's vibrant capital city Columbus, named the 2015
Intelligent Community of the Year.
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Did you know the
Surgeon General’s office offers a series of factsheets about smoking and its
connection to diseases such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease?
There are also fact sheets addressing smoking risks for particular population
groups, such as women, youth, and men and women concerned about reproductive
health. To visit the site, click here.
Legacy, a national public health organization dedicated to reducing tobacco
use, recently announced awards to 38 community colleges through the Smoke-Free
and Tobacco-Free Community College Grant Initiative. We are pleased to let
you know that grants of up to $5,000/year are still available to public
community colleges across the country to support your efforts to advocate for,
adopt, and implement a 100% smoke-free or 100% tobacco-free policy. If you
did not get a chance to apply, now is the time.
The deadline for applications has been extended to August 21, 2015
at 4pm.
- Initial
grants are for one year.
- Upon
invitation, awardees may apply for an additional year of funding at
$5,000.
- Awardees
will receive technical assistance from Legacy throughout the grant period.
For more information including the grant guidelines, frequently
asked questions, and a link to the online application, please visit their website.
The
Surgeon General’s office released a short video which reflects on the progress
made in tobacco control over the last fifty years and considers the road
ahead. The video draws attention to the work that remains to be done to
end the tobacco epidemic. Click here to
view the video and scroll down for more details.
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 No events
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Save the date: SHIP School Coordinators Kick-Off
Minnesota Department of Education- Room CC-13, 1500 Highway 36 W, Roseville, MN 55113 Directions: click here or visit MDE home page as Map quest directs to the wrong location.
With the timeline of SHIP 4 starting in November and school starting in September a convening of SHIP school coordinators will be taking place. This recommended training will provide engagement and implementation skills that are needed to engage existing and new partners in a timely manner. Please note, the agenda with more detailed information is available on Basecamp. Topics to be covered include: SHIP 4 activities, data sources, and a training of trainers in using the WellSat 2.0. Please try to join us for this informative, interactive workshop. This training is intended for local public health staff who will be working with school partners throughout the grant cycle of SHIP 4. If you have any questions, please email Terri.Swartout@state.mn.us . Register here.
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Tribal Grantees - please plan to attend: An Orientation Gathering/Training September 15 & 16 at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Bemidji, MN
Please make your hotel reservations as soon as possible. A block of rooms is being held under the name: MN Dept. of Health for Sept 14th and 15th at the rate of $119.00 +tax per night. Call 218-751-3600 to reserve your rooms.
Click here to register.
First Nations
Development Institute (First
Nations) and the Oneida
Nation of Wisconsin will co-host the Third Annual Food Sovereignty
Summit in Green Bay, Wisconsin, October 26-29, at the Radisson Green Bay
Hotel and Conference Center. At the event, Native American communities come
together to learn from one another in order to promote Native health, wellness
and food sovereignty. This year’s event
will feature three tracks: Applied Agriculture, Community Outreach, and
Products to Market. Click here to register.
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 No announcements
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The dates for a TFC grantee
meeting has been changed to Thursday, October 1, 2015 and Friday, October 2,
2015. It no longer will occur on Tuesday, September 29 and
Wednesday, September 30. Please save the new dates and stay tune
for more information on the location and agenda. If you have any questions,
please contact Pa Khang at pa.khang@state.mn.us.
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