The King County Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities partnership works to increase access to physical activity opportunities and improve nutrition in the public housing of King County and Seattle. In 2012, for the first time ever, nutrition and physical activity guidelines were attached to contracts between the housing authority and the parks and recreation department for summer youth programming. This will ensure that all youth receive healthy food and engage in physical activity during the entire summer.

The Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities Louisville partnership recently institutionalized its walkability assessment training within the Center for Neighborhoods’ Green Institute. This important ongoing assessment will allow for monitoring and the direction of resources to improve infrastructure and advocate for infrastructure changes.

The D.C. Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities partnership has received support from the D.C. City Council to continue the Park Ambassador program. Once institutionalized at the city level, this program may be able to provide vocational training to community members while at the same time keeping the parks safe and clean.

The Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities Central Valley partnership has recently completed an evaluation of its leadership development training. The training is designed to empower women living in the San Joaquin Valley to advocate for healthy eating and active living improvements on behalf of themselves, their families, and their communities. The evaluation will be used to improve the training and highlight successes and challenges.

The Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities Baldwin Park partnership, People on the Move, will be evaluating the results of two main initiatives. One is their work to improve the quality and quantity of healthy food at corner stores. The evaluation will consist of community members auditing corner stores participating in the initiative. The second is the first street in Baldwin Park to be revised after the passage of a Complete Streets ordinance. Community members will assess both the environment and how individuals are using the new street (walking, biking, jogging, etc.).

The Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities Columbia, Missouri Healthy Environment Policy Initiative (HEPI) partnership participated in evaluation training in October 2011 using with Transtria staff. This training used an environmental audit designed to assess the physical activity environment with specific emphasis on the public transportation system. HEPI is trying to expand public transportation services for underserved residents.

The Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities Oakland, California partnership has been working with Oakland Unified School District to create produce markets that sell healthy fruits and vegetables to youth and family in 25 schools. Oakland is tracking the sales at the produce markets and made a case to the school district to create a position within the Nutrition Services Department for an individual to run the markets. This is a great example of the benefits of evaluating your efforts.

The Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities Somerville, Massachusetts Shape Up Somerville partnership has been working closely with Mayor Joseph Curtatone to improve the healthy eating and active living environments for all in Somerville. Transtria staff had an interview with the mayor during a site visit in October 2011 where he discussed the importance of designing and creating healthy communities.

The Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities Chicago, Illinois partnership participated in a direct observation training to count individuals that are using three different street segments near Humboldt Park. One street segment recently underwent a renovation where a traffic calming device was implemented to reduce traffic speak and create better access for pedestrians and bicyclists to access the park. Two of the other routes are being looked at for similar renovations. The Chicago partnership will be collecting data on the impact of the traffic calming measure in a hope to generate funds to improve the two other routes near the park.