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April 2013
From the Director
Welcome Spring! Just like the seasons come and go outdoors, so
do seasons for coalitions. It isn't unusual for coalitions to have periods of growth and periods of decline and changes in our membership, economy and current community environment have greatly impacted our work in many ways. The Obesity Working Group is gearing up to plan next steps now that the Obesity Summit (which was a huge success) is over.
Our Respiratory Health Working Group finds itself in a bit of a different season - needing to regroup and re-think through its future, focus and membership. We invite members interested in contributing to our discussions on this topic to join us on May 1st at 12:30 pm via phone or in person. We are also considering reconvening our child health insurance work focus. The only constant in the coalition world is change, and we continually adjust our approach and methods to sustain our success.
Healthy Hampton Roads, our new communication campaign to reach the greater community, has taken off on Facebook. We hope you all will join us online for this direct to the public communication approach. As the world goes more virtual so must CINCH. We continue to have a lot going on with our projects: Jump4Life, Swim4Life, Breastfeeding Welcome Here, Business Case for Breastfeeding, Tobacco Use Control, Healthy Portsmouth, and more. Please continue to visit our website as we have posted a lot of new resources such as our faith-based toolkit and breastfeeding advocacy materials.
As we celebrate volunteer week, we want to thank all of you for your ongoing spirit of volunteerism for CINCH. We simply can't do what we do without all of you.
In good health,
Amy
Obesity Summit - March 2013
Over 230 people attended the recent Combating Obesity: The Healthy Hampton Roads Leadership Summit we hosted in March. We were delighted to the have Mayor of Portsmouth, the Honorable Kenneth Wright, frankly discuss his challenge to lose weight and lead a healthier lifestyle. He announced a city-wide challenge for anyone who lives, works, plays or worships in Portsmouth to join him to collectively lose 500,000 pounds in one year! Read more about the kick-off of this challenge below in Get Moving Portsmouth!
We also unveiled the new logo for the Healthy Hampton Roads Movement (HHRM), an outgrowth of our Healthy Portsmouth ACHIEVE initiative. We are starting with disseminating information through social media about healthy eating, physical activity, tobacco-free living, and more to engage people across Hampton Roads to begin looking at how we can collectively contribute to building healthy cities and a healthy region.
 Based on attendees' feedback, we met our goal to provide "hands on", practical information and resources that would encourage attendees to TAKE ACTION to combat obesity and build healthy communities! Visit our website to see attendees' comments and view the dynamic presentations from the summit.
Get Moving Portsmouth!
On Sat., Apr. 27th, over 300 people laced up their sneakers and joined Mayor Kenneth Wright and members of the Healthy Portsmouth leadership team for a day of family fun and fitness to kick-off the Get Healthy, Portsmouth! the Mayor's Health Initiative. This day of fun included: obstacle courses for the little ones; a brisk walk with the mayor; Zumba and over 20 local organizations providing resources and information to help people lead healthy lives.
The mayor is on a mission to get healthy and wants citizens to join him in the challenge to collectively lose 500,000 pounds in one year! Everyone who lives, works, plays or worships in Portsmouth is invited to join in this challenge. He has already started this journey losing 40 pounds since January and even has the support of the commanding officer of the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Rear Admiral Elaine Wagner, who brought more than 25 sailors with her to join the mayor for the walk to kickoff this event.
See the Healthy Portsmouth website for more information. Click here to see pictures from this event.
Featured Volunteer - Matt Herman
Matt Herman is currently managing and coordinating a Housing and Urban Development Grant focused on Asthma in Norfolk public housing through Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS). This grant provides asthma education and remediation to the homes of families with children who are severe asthmatics. He has over eight years of experience in the public health field.
Prior to joining EVMS, Matt worked for the Washington Health Foundation, a nonprofit in Seattle, WA as a Program Consultant on Health Care Access. He also worked as a Health Educator in Newport News, VA assisting low-income individuals on leading healthier lives through smart nutrition and exercise. Matt's main interests include health promotion and addressing public health needs in under-served populations. Matt holds a Master of Public Health from EVMS and a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition from Virginia Tech.
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