Recent Stories
June 6, 2017
Matching Dollar Incentives, Local Entertainment, and Summer Meals for Kids Planned for Season The Greenwood Ave. Farmers Market will reopen for its third season as the safe and inviting community gathering place for residents to have access to healthy, affordable food options, health screenings, and summer fun. Located at 427 Greenwood Avenue, Trenton, NJ 08609 (behind the Trenton Transit Center), the farmers market will be open every Monday, starting June 12 through October 23, 2017, 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm (except holidays). Each week, the market will feature Jersey Fresh fruits and vegetables, tropical fruits, meat, eggs, and bakery items. For the first time this year, the market will offer seafood products, fruit smoothies and ready-to-eat meals from local food trucks. Matching dollars will be provided for residents using SNAP, WIC and SFMNP vouchers. Health screenings, nutrition education, cooking demonstrations and live music will also be included in the weekly […]
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May 15, 2017
Three lucky participants will win a $500 grant to help their community build a Culture of Health. SHARE:
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May 1, 2017
Annual event encourages kids to stay active and keep learning all summer long by Cara Morello Director of Administration/Operations, CCAYMCA On Saturday, April 29, the YMCA of Vineland participated in the annual YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day® free community event to inspire more kids to keep their minds and bodies active throughout the summer. Healthy Kids Day is part of the Y’s national initiative to improve health and well-being for kids and families. The event ran from 12:00-2:00 pm at the YMCA of Vineland and featured activities such as local healthy vendors, an inflatable obstacle course, outdoor games, crafts, swimming, music, giveaways, contests, and more to motivate and teach families how to develop healthy routines at home. YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day, celebrated at over 1,600 Ys across the country by over 1.2 million participants, works to get more kids moving and learning, creating habits that they continue all summer long. […]
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May 1, 2017
Cumberland County’s top health experts gathered to hold a public health equity forum during Minority Health Month to focus on disease prevention and general wellness for its residents. According to RWJF’s County Health Rankings, Cumberland County has been ranked last in overall health standings for NJ, and almost half of its residents are African-American or Hispanic. This forum, themed ‘Bridging Health Equity Across Communities’, was one of three held during the month of April and discussed working together to eliminate health inequality across the state and county. The forum was held on Wednesday, April 12 at Cumberland County College’s Conference Center in Vineland, NJ from 8:30-12:30. Forum attendees heard from NJ Health Commissioner Cathleen Bennett who highlighted the workplace wellness and Healthy Corner Store work by Live Healthy Vineland and Live Healthy Cumberland County. “All of the organizations here work tirelessly to strengthen Cumberland County’s Culture of Health to better […]
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May 1, 2017
It’s that time of year again! New Brunswick Tomorrow (NBT) hosted the first Ciclovia of the year on Saturday, April 23. From 11 am to 4 pm, hundreds of New Brunswick residents took to the streets to walk, ride bikes, and play. Originating in Bogotá, Colombia, Ciclovias have become a community event that helps promote healthy living where people are encouraged to get up and get moving. Since 2013, the New Brunswick Ciclovia has had thousands of residents come out and enjoy fun activities with their families and neighbors. This free event, sponsored by the City of New Brunswick, NBT, Rutgers University and Johnson & Johnson, covered about three miles and included various physical activities for attendees to enjoy. Live music, a water slide, pop-up skate park, and group fitness classes were a few of the fun activities residents participated in. NBT also announced additional Ciclovia dates planned for this […]
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May 1, 2017
The YMCA of Newark and Vicinity is hitting the road and offering free programs for residents across five wards via its newly branded Y on Wheels mobile van. The Y on Wheels van made its initial debut on April 29 during a free, YMCA Healthy Kids Day celebration at Military Park in downtown Newark. More than 400 children attended this annual event. The van provides high-quality fitness for children and youth such as basketball, arts & crafts. The van is also available for local health fairs and block parties. Working with community associations, schools, and organizations, Y on Wheels is one of the ways the YMCA of Newark is reaching out to address key issues affecting community health. “Our plan is to bring programs and services to our people,” said Michael Bright, President/CEO YMCA of Newark and Vicinity. “We have already scheduled 35 events from May through September.” For more […]
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May 1, 2017
It’s graduation time, and the New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids is proud to celebrate two of its public health students who recently worked with the initiative and are graduating this spring. Congratulations Chinyere Eziegbo and Victoria Buhl! Name Chinyere Ezeigbo School Kaplan University Major and Focus Area Master of Public Health Describe the internship (your role) & any accomplishments Primary: Capacity Building Secondary: Healthy Futures As an NJ Campus Compact Collective Impact VISTA member serving Trenton YMCA and the New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids, Chinyere helped implement the following initiatives: A study to inform the improvement of the emergency food system, with a focus on food pantries A city-wide School District Wellness Policy The Greenwood Avenue Farmers Market The Trenton Healthy Food and Fitness Network’s public relations, internal communications, and overall development. During her service year as a VISTA, she participated in tasks that improved the administrative processes […]
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May 1, 2017
Helping others with their health is part of Lisa Lee’s DNA — her father is a retired neonatologist/pediatrician, and her stepmother is a retired OB-GYN nurse. Her grandfather was an herbal doctor who traveled up and down the west coast ministering to Chinese communities. Lee attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts and took its mission— “Not to be Served, but to Serve”—to heart. She also spent summers volunteering in underserved communities: teaching at a Navajo reservation children’s bible camp in Arizona and working as a community organizer in El Cerrito, California, where residents suffered from major health problems resulting from the proximity to an oil refinery. Upon graduation from college, Lee was recruited into a selective management training program at MetLife in the NYC corporate headquarters. Her role enabled her to rotate through four departments before landing in strategic planning. “It was a fantastic opportunity,” Lee said. But something was missing: […]
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May 1, 2017
They say it takes a village to raise a child. Karen Merricks would add that it also takes a camp. In her case, the Frost Valley YMCA, a camping environmental education and conferencing center located in Claryville, New York, and part of the Catskill Mountains. Merricks believes the camp changed her life and the lives of her sons. They spent a weekend at Frost Valley last year sponsored by the New Jersey Partnership for Healthy Kids. The camp’s emphasis on healthy eating and fun outdoor activities in a peaceful, mountain setting energized her and her sons to continue those healthy life lessons when they returned home to Camden. Merricks later returned to Frost Valley as an ambassador, accompanying other Camden families and championing the camp’s wellness philosophy. “When I visited Frost Valley, I weighed 200 pounds, had high blood pressure and swollen feet and ankles,” Merricks said. Merricks has been […]
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April 3, 2017
As the Executive Director of the New Jersey Office of Minority and Multicultural Health (OMMH), Dr. Carolyn Daniels, D.H.Sc., M.Ed., is on a mission—to foster accessible and high-quality programs and policies that help minorities in New Jersey achieve optimal health, dignity, and independence. Since she joined the New Jersey Department of Health in 2011, she and her strong and mighty team of five have focused on the monumental tasks of eliminating health disparities, removing barriers to care and ensuring that cultural, linguistic and health literacy appropriate care is provided to all racial/ethnic groups in the state. April is National Minority Health Month and this year’s theme is Bridging Health Equity Across Communities. “It’s a very exciting time of the year for us beginning with a proclamation from the Governor’s Office,” said Dr. Daniels. During the month, NJ’s OMMH office will join forces with its long-time partners the American Heart Association […]
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