(Chelsea Update would like to thank Amy Heydlauff for the information in this column.)
On May 1, Chelsea-Area Wellness Foundation (CWF) turned five years old.
The original, trail-blazing group of board members, more than half of whom transitioned from the Chelsea Community Hospital Board of Trustees onto our Board of Directors, invested a huge amount of time and intellectual energy in determining how we could truly make a difference in wellness with the investment returns from the $25 million left to us by Chelsea Community Hospital when they merged with St. Joseph Mercy Health System (SJMHS).
They understood wellness as a big idea. And those original board members wanted our impact to be great. They decided to stir the pot, take initiative and favor innovation. They started by pondering which resources existed and which ones didn’t.
The original group of thinkers knew CCH and their partners from SJMHS had a good handle on the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Recognizing this reality along with our contractual requirements to stay out of the business of health care delivery, this smart and dedicated group of leaders experienced their ‘ah-ha’ moment early on.
Prevention is the key, they decided. We could influence and impact the environment in which our population lives, their personal behaviors and cultural factors impacting health. Our decision was to prevent or delay chronic illness.
CCH already started us down that road when they also gave CWF the Chelsea Wellness Center (CWC). As the ‘flagship’ wellness center, CWC has been influencing the culture and personal behaviors in Chelsea and surrounding communities for over 12 years.
Before we even hit our 2-year anniversary the BOD made another major, innovative decision. They realized there are smart people in our communities – many who care and know at least as much about local wellness needs as we do. We wanted to find a way to engage those people in the aggregate instead of in silos. Thus was born 5 Healthy Towns (5H).
Handing responsibility for determining how half of CWF’s spending would occur over to other people was bold. Time will tell if empowering the local population benefits all. So far it’s been worth the extra work required to catalyze committed volunteers. Ideas like Stockbridge Wellness Center, fitness classes for the disabled, kid’s summer camps with a wellness theme, wellness themed 5 community reads, increased walking and biking to school, intergenerational and school gardens and monthly healthy senior meals are just a few of the many creative and impactful ideas bubbling up from our community coalitions. We look forward to increased, joint visioning by these coalitions.
We are asking all of you to hold our feet to the fire. Don’t let us get comfortable or begin to play it safe. As they say, if we always do what we’ve always done we will always be what we already are.
Join us, while we innovate, learn from mistakes, empower, encourage, partner and prove we are the healthiest five towns, not just in southeast Michigan or even Michigan. Let’s become the healthiest five towns in the entire Midwest. Then we’ll show everyone else how it’s done.
The Chelsea-Area Wellness Foundation is a tax-exempt private foundation governed by a volunteer board of directors. The foundation serves the populations included in the school districts of Chelsea, Dexter, Grass Lake, Manchester and Stockbridge.
CWF will grant funds for projects dedicated to creating a culture of wellness and sustainable improvements in health.
