City Life is Moving Bodies (CLIMB) - a project of the Community Research Group - is a northern Manhattan community-based initiative founded on the belief that safe parks and neighborhoods are essential to community health, and that all communities, regardless of socioeconomic background, are entitled to access to safe parks and neighborhoods. Our purpose is to combat the problems of gang violence, drugs, obesity, sedentary lifestyles and displacement by creating a sense of neighborhood and park ownership within our communities. Since its inception, a consensus group formed by representatives from community-based multi-service agencies, city agencies, local businesses and interested residents have informed the direction of the project.
Utilizing a shared leadership model, members of the consensus group have identified projects and received the support of the collective to carry them out.
CLIMB offers a framework for comprehensive, multi-level interventions that address health problems (i.e. obesity, asthma, HIV prevention) at the individual, family, neighborhood and city levels.
Individual - create new programs (i.e. workplace walking groups, senior strolls) or enhance existing ones (i.e. add a physical activity to component to an existing prenatal program).
Family - family strengthening programs that incorporate outdoor/park related activities (i.e. families engaged in trail maintenance, festivals).
Neighborhood - Tenant organizing and or other activities that brings groups such as churches or schools together and promotes stewardship of the land (i.e. “adopt a street/park”). Engage local vendors to offer healthier food options (i.e. CLIMB combo = salad + ½ sandwich + water bottle + fruit).
City - Trail building by working in conjunction with Parks Department and other agencies to highlight existing/create signage identifying multiuse trails (i.e. walking, biking, rock climbing, and dog walking). Link the parks and nearby street grids (i.e. identify safest routes/intersections, create “green corridors” to connect neighborhoods, parks and the river).
No comments:
Post a Comment