Press Release

Beverly Leaders Look to Create Healthy Living Policies 

Beverly leaders look to create healthy living policies

Beverly Citizen

Katrina Powell

Apr 25, 2012

A group of Beverly leaders are working to formulate policies that would promote healthy living in hopes of creating a community that is focused on eating right and exercising regularly.

Last year, the Greater Beverly YMCA applied for the Pioneering Healthier Communities grant from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to help with this effort. In October 2011, the YMCA was selected to receive the $64,000 grant - which is spread out over three years. The Y was one of only 10 groups chosen across the nation to be awarded the funds.

According to the CDC, the grant is intended to be used to help community groups create and implement policy changes in municipalities and schools that encourage citizens to take certain steps towards being healthier. It is also important that the changes be sustainable, the CDC says.

Judith Cronin, executive director of the Greater Beverly YMCA, explained that those policies can be anything from increasing the amount of time for physical activity during school to building bike trails in the city.

Since receiving the grant in October, the YMCA has partnered with Beverly Hospital and brought several local leaders and organizations on board, such as state Rep. Jerry Parisella, Mayor Bill Scanlon, City Planner Tina Cassidy, City Councilor President Paul Guanci and Councilor Jason Silva, Superintendent Marie Galinski, the School Committee, the Parks and Recreation Department, Beverly Bootstraps, the Beverly Chamber of Commerce and the city's Health Department.

"What's key in implementing the grant is to convene a leadership team of community leaders in Beverly that share the vision of healthy living for Beverly," said Cronin.

Gerald MacKillop, public relations manager for Beverly Hospital, said he is incredibly impressed by the commitment to this project from city and school leaders.

"This initiative is something we are all passionate about," he said. "Beverly Hospital is 110 percent committed to seeing this initiative through. We have taken a leadership role in the effort because we believe that a difference can be made, and at the end of the day we feel it is the right thing to do and support. We are going to set the bar high and we are going to be bold."

Cronin explained that selecting Beverly Hospital as a partner was a logical choice.

"Beverly Hospital has always been very supportive of the YMCA's initiatives over the years," she said. "And I truly believe that this is a great opportunity for preventative care, and I think that the hospital would agree."

MacKillop explained that the hospital shares a similar thought process.

"I totally agree with Judith," MacKillop said. "This is an extremely unique way to look at prevention and preventative care. Creating policies and default options are a great way to address chronic disease prevention … chronic disease is a burden. Half of U.S. adults suffer from a chronic disease and seven out of 10 U.S. deaths are caused by chronic illness. The frustration for many is that many chronic diseases are preventable."

Instead of implementing a policy right away, the CDC recommends that grant recipients focus on getting organized, becoming more educated and brainstorming during the first year of the grant. Cronin explained that the group has been busy in all three areas in the past few months. Members of the group recently traveled to Kansas City, Cronin said, to talk with leaders from communities that have received the grant in years past. The group also attended a seminar at the CDC in Washington D.C. in March.

"We learned a lot about the successes of other communities who have had this grant in the past," Cronin said.

The group came home with many ideas for policy change based on what other communities have done, Cronin said. In one community in Kentucky, leaders worked with low-income corner stores to ensure that the businesses offered fresh fruit and vegetables to their customers for purchase instead of cheap food that is not healthy. In Washington, one group implemented a policy requiring restaurants in their community to include nutritional labels on their menus. Even one idea came from a community close to home. In Attleboro, Mass., leaders used the grant money to build bike trails for public use.

"We're still in the idea phase of the grant," Cronin said. "But our line of thinking is trying to establish a policy change in the city and school sides of Beverly. We want our policy to have the greatest impact on our community."

"This is going to take time," MacKillop said. "But the team is committed to this effort beyond the three years of the grant. The process works, but it takes time to evolve."