Happy New Year from Health First Wisconsin!

As we look ahead to a new year and a brand-new legislative session, Health First Wisconsin is excited about the challenges and opportunities that we face.

Like many of you, we have an ambitious agenda for 2013. Our New Year’s Resolution is simple: we resolve to continue our work to advocate for policies and changes that improve health where it starts – in our homes, workplaces, playgrounds, schools and parks.

In 2013, Health First Wisconsin aspires to make Wisconsin a place where the healthy choice is the easy choice. We are committed to making sure that every single person – from Kenosha to Platteville to Beloit to Superior to Marinette and everywhere in between – has an opportunity to achieve their best health.

We know that our challenges are tremendous – despite record-low youth smoking rates, tobacco still remains the leading preventable cause of death in Wisconsin. Our state is plagued by alcohol misuse and we have the highest rates of high-risk drinking in the nation. And we spend a reported $1.5 billion annually on obesity-related medical costs.

At Health First Wisconsin we don’t dwell on these statistics. Instead, we use these numbers to inform decision-makers and empower our work. Every single day, we are working hard to promote effective, common sense policy and environmental changes that will reduce the burden of commercial tobacco on our state, curb alcohol misuse, and make meaningful strides to combat obesity.

In 2013, Health First Wisconsin will:  

• Continue the fight against Big Tobacco by working to protect the state’s investment in comprehensive tobacco prevention and control efforts that help smokers quit and stop kids from using tobacco in the first place.
• Further protect youth from tobacco products by making sure that all tobacco products – especially the candy-flavored junk targeting our kids – are taxed fairly.
• Continue to support tribal communities in their efforts to go smoke-free and reduce commercial tobacco use.
• Work to curb alcohol misuse and change Wisconsin’s destructive alcohol culture by continuing to build a strong, statewide coalition on alcohol policy.
• Encourage Wisconsinites to change our permissive attitude toward underage drinking by eliminating loopholes in drinking age laws.
• Help communities reduce drunk driving by advocating for Wisconsin to join many other states in allowing local law enforcement to use sobriety checkpoints if needed.
• Expand our work to stem the rise of obesity in Wisconsin by promoting healthy food systems and physical activity.
• Support Farm to School programs that invest in the local economy and ensure our kids are eating healthy and can achieve academic success.
• Promote healthy and active communities starting at our schools and government buildings.

We have ambitious goals, but we are confident that with the help of our partners and supporters across the state, 2013 will be a banner year for the health of Wisconsin.

Together, we can move the dial on Wisconsin’s health and work to make our state the healthiest in the nation.

Stay tuned for more details and updates on our progress by checking back here, liking us on Facebook and signing up as a supporter. 

Join the movement to Transform Wisconsin

The tremendous burdens of obesity and tobacco on our state are well-known. Earlier this week, the CDC released new data showing that more than a quarter (27.7%) of Wisconsinites are obese, and the national costs related to obesity are staggering. A separate study released this week underscored the importance of promoting smoke-free living, reporting that nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke outdoors experience significant, lingering health effects.

By joining the Transform Wisconsin movement, you have an opportunity to do something to reverse these trends and improve the health of your community.

Transform Wisconsin is a new statewide effort that seeks to improve the health of our communities.  It is founded on the idea that health doesn’t happen in the doctor’s office – it happens where we live, work, and play.

At its core, Transform Wisconsin is about solutions.

In late July, the Transform Wisconsin Coalition awarded 30 grants, totaling $6.6 million over the next 26 months, to diverse community organizations across the state. Transform Wisconsin Coalition leaders, local grantees and community members gathered to announce the news at American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, Stoney Acres Farm in Athens (near Wausau), Emerson Elementary School in La Crosse, the North Beach Gazebo in Racine, and the Eastside YMCA in Green Bay. 

Twenty-four communities are receiving an Impact Grant, which will focus on one of three key areas: expanding smoke free environments to include apartment buildings, strengthening farm to school programs so Wisconsin students have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, or increasing physical activity for kids by promoting and implementing open gyms between schools and community agencies.

In addition, six communities are receiving a Transform Wisconsin Grant, which will focus efforts on all three key areas. In total, the projects will reach over 2.6 million people in Wisconsin, or about half of the state’s population. 

Transform Wisconsin is an unprecedented opportunity for individuals and communities to come together to improve health through innovative and effective local policies.

We all agree we want our kids to be safe and healthy. Together, we can – and we will – transform Wisconsin to a place where kids eat fresh, local fruits and vegetables at school; community members use schools for physical activity; and everyone has an opportunity to live in smoke-free housing.

Through Transform Wisconsin, communities across the state will improve health by making it easier for all residents to make healthy choices.

Everyone has a role in solving obesity and preventing chronic diseases. We invite doctors, teachers, farmers, and people in communities across the state to come together to find solutions that work for Wisconsin.

We need you to join the Transform Wisconsin movement! Visit www.transformwi.com today and sign up to receive updates or volunteer for a project in your community.  

You Can Help Transform Wisconsin

Earlier this week, we launched Transform Wisconsin – an exciting effort to help Wisconsin communities become healthier.

Every person in Wisconsin has the right to breathe smoke-free air and have a healthy and safe place to live, work and play. The bottom line is that living in healthy communities makes it is easier for everyone to make healthier choices, like eating more fruits and vegetables and being more physically active.

To move us toward healthier communities, Transform Wisconsin is offering competitive grants to non-profit and local government groups seeking to promote active communities, smoke-free living and access to fresh, local foods.

Transform Wisconsin will bring together parents, farmers, landlords, schools – and people like you – to find innovative solutions to improve the health and quality of life in communities across the state.

From May 1-June 15, local governments and non-profit organizations can apply to receive Transform Wisconsin grants. Potential applicants can also sign up and participate in a webinar on Tuesday, May 8th at 10am to learn more about the grant application process.

Transform Wisconsin is built on the idea that when we invest in communities, we invest in health and make lives better. We have a tremendous opportunity to make the kinds of changes now that will benefit our health for generations to come.

Want to join the movement? Follow TransformWI on Facebook and Twitter and be sure to visit the website for updates and the opportunity to vote for your favorite project proposals in the coming weeks.

Together, we can Transform Wisconsin into a place where everyone can access fresh fruits and vegetables, breathe smoke free air, and have safe places to play.

That will be a beautiful thing.