Springfield Community Wellness Committee to receive Public Health Partnership Award
The Brown County Board Advisory Committee and the Brown County Board of Commissioners is pleased to announce that the first annual Public Health Partnership Award will be presented to the Springfield Community Wellness Committee.
This annual award is intended to recognize and honor the contributions of citizens or organizations in Brown County who devote their time, energy and talents to help accomplish the Public Health mission of bringing people together to create a healthy future for all citizens in Brown County.
Nominations come from any individual or organization, and individuals or organizations could nominate themselves as well.
The committee will be presenting the award at the first Brown County Board meeting in April of each year in recognition of Public Health Week. A reception will also be held at the Brown County Public Health Advisory Committee meeting the second Wednesday of April on an annual basis.
The selection criterion is:
•Leadership — Nominee has demonstrated leadership abilities through work and service.
•Public Health Contribu-tions — Nominee demonstrates originality and innovation in creating solutions to public health problems and has contributed to advancing improvements in the health status of the community through work and service.
•Collaboration — Nomi-nee promotes collaboration and cooperation among individuals, organizations, and agencies.
•Advocacy — Nominee has been involved in preventing disease and disability, promoting health and healthy behaviors, and/or protecting the health and safety of county citizens.
•Role Model — Nominee is respected by peers and is a positive role model for others.
The Springfield Commun-ity Wellness Committee is a well-deserved recipient of this year’s award.
“When the opportunity presented itself to nominate a community group for the Partnership Award for Promoting the Health of the Public the Springfield “Community Wellness Team” immediately came to mind. This team meets every month and tackles a variety of health and wellness issues with the goal of everyone being able to “live better longer,” states Melissa Hoffmann Public Health Nurse, Brown County Public Health.
The Community Wellness Team advocates for their community residents and is always looking for ways to promote health and to make a positive impact on quality of life. The team members do more than just show up at the monthly meetings; they actively contribute and volunteer many hours to various projects. They are able to see the big picture in all they do to make their efforts impactful and long lasting.
The Community Wellness Team has organized a variety of community activities including: free grocery store tours to help community members understand how to recognize healthier options while shopping, community walks along the trail over the summer months and indoor walks at the Community Center over the winter months, winter sledding events, Day of Play events, community wide challenges in the winter and summer, and community wide presentations on a variety of wellness topics.
The community of Springfield has both an Active Living Plan (completed in May 2016) and a Safe Routes to School Plan (completed in May 2017).
“The work that is done to promote health and wellness in our communities is frequently carried out through individuals and organizations in collaboration with the public health department. Brown County Public Health is very appreciative of these efforts and can see that efforts are making a difference,” states Karen Moritz, Brown County Public Health Director. “We cannot make the difference alone, it takes individual and organizational partners along with the community members to create a healthy community.”
The award will be presented at 9:45 a.m. on Tuesday, April 3, during the Brown County Board of Commissioners meeting on the second floor of the Brown County Courthouse at Center and State Streets in New Ulm. A reception will be held on Wednesday, April 11, at 1:30 p.m. in the Brown County Community Services Building in New Ulm.