ACTIVATE WEST MICHIGAN
The mission of this community collaborative is to improve the health and quality of life among West Michigan individuals, families, and communities by promoting healthy and active lifestyles. This initiative works to determine community needs, develop collaborative partnerships, promote community involvement, and evaluate program success.
Read below for great resources to help.
Healthy living tips!
Our Focus
Activate West Michigan focuses on the four areas outlined below to positively impact the greatest number of community members with the message of good health.
- Public Policy, which involves city, county, state, and federal advocacy work
- Healthy U, which targets schools in vulnerable communities
- Community, which includes health care facilities, churches and community centers
- Corporate Health and Wellness, which facilitates wellness programs for local companies and their employees
Community programs that have been developed through Activate West Michigan are described throughout the Community Outreach section of this website.
If you have any questions concerning these programs please contact us at communityoutreach@grymca.org.
May 15, 2013 AWM Event – Unlocking Action – The Key to Wellness Success
During this breakfast program we’ll give practical advice, real life examples, and tools to put your plan into action and get real results. Join us along with speaker Dawn Rodman from the Michigan Department of Community Health 4×4 Plan to learn more about how the State of Michigan can help businesses employ resources that positively influence the four identified healthy behaviors: maintain a healthy diet, engage in regular exercise, get an annual physical exam, and avoid all tobacco use and the four measures: body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, cholesterol level, and blood sugar/glucose level.
View Dawn Rodman’s presentaion.
September 2012 AWM Event
Balancing Your One Life- Sheryl Lozicki shares her thoughts on the Activate West Michgian’s September event. How has it impacted your life? Share your thoughts with us!
I had the opportunity to hear Cornell McClellan speak this past week on the topic “Taking the First Step to a Healthy Work/Life Balance”. He has been the personal trainer and fitness consultant to the First Family for the past several years. As the Director of Nutrition and Wellness at Saint Mary’s Health Care and Advantage Health Physician’s Network, his message was like drinking out of a fire hose. Here are the 3 key take-away messages I’d like to share with you:
- “Are you minding your business?” Our nature is to think we are doing well when we “Mind everyone else’s business” getting kids off to school on time, meals made, laundry done, work task list checked and at the end of the day we work more than we live. Burnout happens when we don’t mind our own business, that of nurturing our own body, mind and spirit. 43% of adults respond that they are unhappy with their work-life balance and how it affects their health. The body can be very forgiving so if your busy-ness has your priorities out of balance, your body is waiting for you. Start minding your business today.
- Are you wealthy? Do you feel rich? Your health is your wealth. Your health is composed of your one mind, body and spirit. “The decisions you make about your health either move you forward and sustain life or promote decay”. This was a pretty graphic comment and one that he repeated three times, to drive the message home. How we fuel our body, the frequency with which we exercise, get adequate rest or cope with stress can make us richer or poorer.
- The final message was to help children create a healthy vision of what success looks like. Instead of asking a child “What do you want to be when you grow up?” which elicit the typical answers of doctor, lawyer or veterinarian, ask, “Who do you want to be when you grow up.” What does the best you look like as an adult? How does the adult you now answer this question? Is it time to press your own restart button?
Creating a work life balance is hard, pace your responsibilities as you go through this journey and learn to say no. Mind your business, live rich and make sure you are living your one life as who you want to be.
Also, during our September event . . .
Bryan Nader from Saint Mary’s Health Care asked to share his Pantry Guide as a resource to help you get your home in shape for healthy eating:
