Welcome to the current hub for information on the Mount Vernon Blue Zones Project™! Please click LIKE on our page at Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Read below to see how you can help, what Blue Zones™ are, how this impacts you, and for links to the Mount Vernon Blue Zones Project’s documentation such as media releases and project updates.
How Can I Help?
We are currently in the running with fifty-four other Iowa communities. On February 10th, ten communities will be selected to share approximately $25 million dollars received as direct support from experts who will assist us in meeting our goals as a community. The assistance will span over five years. They will provide research-based assistance in planning and programming as well as assisting our community leaders in receiving grants.
Here’s how you can help:
- BY JANUARY 31ST: You can help us pop to the top of their application list by either going to http://www.bluezonesproject.com/citizens/signup and pledging your support or by texting BZP to 772937 and answering the three follow-up texts asking your name, e-mail address, and zip code (zip code: 52314). We really want to show a huge jump in our numbers by Monday, January 23rd, though, so it is even better to do this right now.
Anyone 13 or over can pledge their support, so if you have children that age, tell them about the project and help them to pledge. You ARE NOT REQUIRED to be a resident of Mount Vernon! - Click LIKE on the top of our Facebook page in order to stay updated with our progress, events, and the projects we are working in our community.
- Share this webpage to others that you know who live in, worship in, play in, go to school in, or otherwise just love Mount Vernon and want to see it become a thriving, happy, and healthy community.
Even if you don’t share the webpage, stop and talk to your neighbor today about the Blue Zones Project™ and how we, as a community, can help support ourselves and our children to be healthier and happier.
If you want more information on the Blue Zones Project™ read below on what Blue Zones™ are and how it impacts you.
What Is Blue Zones™?
The Blue Zones Project™ is very interested in promoting emotional, physical, and spiritual health. Blue Zones™ (a supporter of the Blue Zones Project™) promotes these health achievements using research based information circling around six “thrive centers” which really showcase how important community is to happiness and health. They also talk about Power 9™ which has simple goal posts like “Just Move” or “Just Belong” to promote a long-lived life.
| “The Blue Zones Community model coordinates strong existing programs, brings in experts to inspire, train and provide innovative best practices, and ultimately organizes programs to provide greater options for physical, emotional, and social health. Read more about specific activities here. Ten communities that demonstrate the greatest passion, interest and ability to bring their community together will receive assistance from national experts to develop and implement a blueprint for making permanent environment, policy and social network changes that transition people into healthier behaviors..” – © 2012 Healthways |
How Does This Impact Me?
A group of Mount Vernon volunteers have selected fourteen initiatives that we think are important in our community and should be supported. This includes:
- Intergenerational mentoring programs (partnering children with our elders in our community)
- Gardening support
- Healthy fit families
- Resiliency support to reduce suicides such as we’ve had in our community
- Peer mentoring
- Supporting a drug free community
- A community wellness center
- Lifetime enrichment programming
- Supporting and creating nature trails and parks
- Providing service learning opportunities.
This is just the tip of an iceberg.
Experts from the Blue Zones Project™, if we are selected as one of the top ten communities, will come in and work with all our organizations and employers, our families, our businesses and recreation departments. They will work with the entire community via our representatives to ensure that they are helping our community to make small, sustainable lifestyle choices that will help us to become a happier and healthier community.
Mount Vernon is a great place to live, work, worship, and just be; however, it can always be better. It’s easier to make those simple sustainable choices when they are actually the easy choice, and the Blue Zones Project™ helps us via funding, research, and expertise to make those healthy choices the easy ones.
Documentation
Media Releases
Initiative Lists and Projects
Have more questions? You can find out more information about the Blue Zones Project™ at their website or you can call me (I am acting as the Community Engagement Director) at (319) 423-9696, e-mail me (jen@emsun.org) or e-mail Mount Vernon resident Mollie Marti who is acting as Mount Vernon’s Program Director on this project and is also heading up the Community Resiliency project via e-mail at mollie@drmollie.com.
Blue Zones Project™ and Blue Zones Community™ are trademarks of Healthways, Inc. All rights reserved.
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