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Welcome to HCCA's Newsletter
Volume 2, Issue 16
Newsletter goal: provide local community members with resources to connect with others and improve lives.
This issue's focus:
A Healthier Community And You!
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Move for your life!
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Facts:
The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 80% of
heart disease and stroke, 80% of type 2 diabetes, and 40% of
cancer could be prevented if only Americans were to do three things:
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Board of Directors
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Mary Frances Bartlett
Rebecca West Dick, Chair
Cindy T. Flye
Rob Gordon
Chuck Hays, Treasurer
Bill McKenna
William McPeck, Vice Chair
Kathi Wall
Jim Wood, Secretary
Mark Yerrick
Joanne Joy, Director
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HCCA Towns
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Augusta
Chelsea
Farmingdale
Fayette
Gardiner
Hallowell
Litchfield
Manchester
Monmouth
Mount Vernon
Pittston
Randolph
Readfield
Richmond
Vienna
Wayne
West Gardiner
Windsor
Winthrop
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| SAVE
THE DATE- Upcoming Event!! |
FREE conference
If
your work involves services for women,
you
won't want to miss this:
Healthy,
Wealthy, and Wise?
This conference brings together local,
state and national experts to discuss a series of real-life stories impacting
women in Maine.
The
conference will be offered in two Maine locations:
Friday,
September 11, 2009
Machias,
Maine
Friday,
September 25, 2009
Auburn,
Maine
The
conference is presented in cooperation with the Maine Women 's Health
Campaign and U.S.
DOL/ Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), U.S. DOL/Women's Bureau
Region I, U.S.
DHHS Office on Women's Health Region I
For more information, please contact
Angela Rizzolo @ 617-565-1989 Rizzolo.Angela@dol.gov
or Marian Mehegan @ 617-565-1071, Marian.Mehegan@hhs.gov
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| HCCA
Welcomes Mark Yerrick to the Board of Directors! |
Mark
Yerrick, Chief Executive Officer of the Kennebec
Valley YMCA since June of 2008, was elected to the Healthy Communities of the
Capital Area Board at the Annual Meeting in April held at the Harold Alfond
Center for Cancer Care in Augusta.
His passion has been to coach youth sports
in the area for the past 20 years and he continues to be involved with the
Augusta Babe Ruth League and serves as its Treasurer. Mark's professional
experience includes over 20 years experience in the Healthcare equipment and
facilities maintenance field.
Mark lives in Manchester with his wife, Suzie. They have two
children, Thomas and Ashley, and he also has two stepdaughters, Nicole and
Julie Nadeau.
If you see Mark, be sure to welcome
him to the HCCA extended network of community members, organizations,
municipalities.
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Community
Health Improvement Planning - Update
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Amy, Karen, Joanne and Renee, all HCCA staff members,
have been traveling across our 18 towns for months now meeting lots of
different community members. Many of you
have seen one or more of us at your meeting!
We have been added to existing agendas of many different types of groups
from Afterschool Programs to Chambers of Commerce, Historical Societies and
Health Center Boards, from Fayette to Richmond, Monmouth to Augusta and places
in between. Joan Atkinson
has been a great help in this process!
We have been asking your visions
of a Healthy Community, your health-related concerns, and the assets that you
see in all our communities. We have had
to date:
- 418 participants
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118 males, 300
females
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Ages range from 24
individuals under the age of 18 to 7 over the age of 80
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Representing all 19
towns we serve (18 in southern Kennebec County & Richmond)
Our collaborative vision:
"A welcoming, vibrant,
diverse community that provides stigma-free access so all may achieve their
health goals in a clean, safe, nourishing environment."
Check our website for more information. You can expect a full report to be there in September!!
Representatives of many social
service agencies have also been providing input. We have convened several
meetings to look at community health data such as disease rates and how many
people report they eat well and get enough exercise, what is happening with
substance use and abuse and mental health.
Kala Ladenheim will be helping put together a
report on the numbers that we all can understand! Watch our website in the
Fall! The data
will be on our website for all our partners to access as well.
A 3rd Assessment is
being conducted at the Central District Level (Kennebec and Somerset Counties) to
identify the public
health systems, our areas of
"WELL DONE" as well as our GAPS.
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| Fever? Cough or Sore Throat? |
 Did you know that H1N1 Continues to Spread in Maine?
Even though the news media seems to have stopped covering
the "swine flu", Maine is one of 11 states reporting widespread influenza
activity. Most
people with H1N1 are not required to be tested, and their illness is not
reflected in the State of Maine case counts. Counties or regions with no
reported cases yet, may still be affected.
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Many cases have no history of travel or contact with a known
case, and therefore are evidence of community transmission.
Ask yourself and those around you these questions:- Going
to be in a group setting such as at work, reunions, meetings?
- Are
your children going to youth camps and recreation programs?
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- Provide soap/water and hand sanitizer
- Provide
tissues
Remind everyone:
Sneezes can travel 100 miles per hour
and the wet spray can radiate 6 feet.
So...Cover coughs and sneezes with sleeves or
a tissue.
Flu germs can live for hours on
surfaces like hands, doorknobs, etc.
So...Wash hands frequently
The FLU Spreads easily!!!
So...if you have the flu, stay home for 7
days after symptoms begin or until you have been symptom-free for 24 hours,
whichever is longer
Here are a few websites for additional information for:
Women
who are Pregnant who are at high risk from H1N1
What Pregnant Women Should Know
About H1N1
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/guidance/pregnant.htm
Summer Gatherings (family reunions, BBQs, weddings, parties, etc)
Day and Residential Camps
http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/camp.htm
We have a link to updated information on H1N1 on our Home
Page at www.healthycommunitiesme.org
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Gardiner Farmer's Market Leads the Pack!
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 Gardiner Farmers Market Takes Food Stamps.
After winning approvals
from the State Department of Agriculture, US Department of Agriculture office
in Boston, and the City of Gardiner - and the installation of a phone line tied
to a tree on the Gardiner Common by FairPoint, Market -- Manager Ann
"Boo" Hubbard reports "We are very happy that we can make good, fresh food available to a much
wider audience now that we can run a food stamp debit card through an EBT
(Electronic Business Transfer) machine provided by the State of Maine."
the customer buys nifty wooden tokens in $1 and $5 increments with their food stamp debit card from Boo, and then uses them to make purchases at the market. Tokens are also sold to give as gifts.
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Kennebec Rail Trail Honored Nationally
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 The Kennebec River Rail Trail was selected April's Trail of the
Month by the National Rails to Trail Conservancy in Washington DC. The
trail that extends from Augusta to Gardiner along the Kennebec River was
selected because of its diverse scenic views, its natural beauty, and the
connection that it makes among the four communities along the river. A
Board of Supervisors that has municipal representation oversees the maintenance
of the trail and The Friends of the Kennebec River Rail Trial is a non profit
membership based community group that organizes volunteers for trail
work. The Friends also help raise money for specific trail projects and
enhancements. This partnership between the Board of Supervisors and The
Friends has been instrumental in ensuring that the trail remains beautiful and
in excellent condition for all who use it. The read the article featured in the Rails to Trail Conservancy website here.
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| Thank you for your time and attention. Please contact us if we can be of assistance in supporting your southern Kennebec communities' quality of life!
We hope you found the information presented here useful and informative. Please send comments and suggestions for improvement to the contact information below.
Sincerely,
Joanne E.A. Joy, Director Healthy Communities of the Capital Area
Karen Tucker, Project Coordinator
All our newsletters are permission only. You are receiving this because we have an established relationship with you. If you do not want to receive future newsletters, please activate the "safeunsubscribe"link at the end of the newsletter. |
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Karen Tucker
Healthy Communities of the Capital Area towns are:
Augusta, Chelsea, Farmingdale, Fayette, Gardiner, Hallowell, Litchfield, Manchester, Monmouth, Mount Vernon, Pittston, Randolph, Readfield, Richmond, Vienna, Wayne, West Gardiner, Windsor, Winthrop
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