Community councils to help shape the health of Kane County
The Kane County Health Department seeks volunteers to participate in Community Councils that will help make the decisions to improve the health of their family, friends and neighbors. The councils will provide the ideas, concerns and opinions the health department will need to shape future programs to benefit all of Kane County.
The Health Department submitted an application to participate in the Healthiest Cities & Counties Challenge and Kane County is among one of 50 communities in the United States to be selected. The Aetna Foundation and American Public Health Association provided Kane County with a $10,000 award to start the challenge and after two years, a $500,000 award will be awarded to the top performing community. There also are four $50,000 awards for runner-up communities.
Kane County's approach will be to initially set up Community Councils in Carpentersville, Elgin and Aurora. The challenge will allow the health department to gather people from all walks of life to discuss ways to improve the culture of health where they live, work and play.
The initial meetings will be held as follows:
• Elgin: 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, at the YMCA, 220 E. Chicago St.
• Aurora: 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, at Prisco Community Center, 150 W. Illinois Ave.
• Carpentersville: 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 15, at the Dundee Township Assessor's Office, 611 E. Main St., East Dundee.
Participation will be easy. Free food and activities for children will be provided and the meetings will be bilingual. Too often people are not given the chance to contribute to the decisions that affect their lives. This will be an opportunity to contribute to the community and help improve the lives of those around them. The health department already has a number of health improvement programs in place so they won't have to "re-invent the wheel."
Let them know if you or someone you know would like to attend by emailing Terry Roman at romanterry@co.kane.il.us or call at (630) 264-7653.
Follow the Challenge using the hashtag #GiveKaneAVoice, and learn more by visiting kanehealth.com/challenge.htm and www.healthiestcities.org.