The American Planning Association - Illinois Chapter (APA-IL) is pleased to announce it has received a $50,000 grant through the Planners4Health initiative to build local capacity for integrating planning and public health. The initiative’s goal is to create stronger, healthier communities.
The six-month initiative sponsored by the American Planning Association (APA) will ensure planners and public health professionals have access to information and resources to help their communities more easily support and implement healthy living choices. The Planners4Health initiative marks the three-year culmination of APA’s $9 million Plan4Health program that works to combat two determinants of chronic disease – lack of physical activity and lack of access to nutritious foods. Funding for the initiative is provided through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Through the initiative, the APA-IL will use the grant funding to broadly share knowledge and resources on building coalitions with public health professionals and more strongly integrating public health into local and regional planning practices. “This is a significant opportunity to enhance local planning efforts to create healthier communities and establish a strong legacy of collaboration between planners and public health professionals,” said Anna Ricklin, AICP, manager of APA’s Planning and Community Health Center. “Through APA-IL’s efforts, even more professionals will have access to best practices and resources to further advance healthy communities.” Through this grant, the APA-IL will:
Identify potential partners;
Leverage existing healthy community initiatives and efforts underway;
Share planning and public health information; and
Bring together key stakeholders.
This is the third grant the APA-IL has received through the Plan4Health initiative. The Chapter has previously partnered with the Illinois Public Health Association (IPHA) to administer grants to Bensenville, Kane County, and Jackson County, Illinois. Information regarding past Plan4Health work in Illinois can be found at http://plan4health.us/plan4health-coalitions/. Visit www.planning.org/nationalcenters/health/planners4health for 2017 program details.
For more information, contact: Courtney Kashima, AICP; pastpres@ilapa.org Roberta Rewers, American Planning Association, 312.786.6395; rrewers@planning.org