All HCPH offices will be closed on December 12, 2024 from 11am-1pm.
REACH
In 2023, Hamilton County Public Health received REACH funding from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to prevent chronic disease in Hamilton County. We use these funds to support safer biking, walking and rolling routes, better access to healthy food, and healthier early care and education settings across our communities.
Our approach to healthy living starts with the bigger picture. This grant allows us to create lasting change by improving policies and the social and physical environments where people live, work, learn, and play—making healthy choices easier for everyone.
What is Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change (PSE)?
Our ability to make healthy choices is affected by the policies, systems, and environments we are in. Through organizational policies and changes to the physical environment, we can create more supportive environments and reach more people, which leads to more sustainable change.
Active Routes to Everyday Destinations
Communities can encourage physical activity by designing neighborhoods that are easier and safer to move through. Creating active-friendly routes means connecting sidewalks, bike lanes, and public transit to everyday destinations like homes, schools, grocery stores, workplaces, and parks.
Hamilton County Public Health works with communities to improve active routes by helping communities with planning, resources, and partnerships. Together, these efforts make walking, biking, and using public transit safer, more convenient, and more accessible for everyone.
Promotion and Access to Nutritious Food
Making nutritious food more available can improve overall health. Healthy food environments are created by using food service and nutrition guidelines in settings where food is served, sold, or distributed, such as food pantries, worksites, community organizations, and public facilities.
Whether you are part of a charitable food program, a workplace, or a community group, there are many ways to help increase access to healthy food in Hamilton County.
Food donation and distribution resources
We work with charitable food systems, like food pantries, to promote Healthy Eating Research (HER) Nutrition Guidelines. Additionally, we work with businesses and other local organizations to increase healthy food options and encourage the use of Food Service Guidelines for Federal Facilities. All of these efforts increase the availability of healthy food options.
Hamilton County Public Health supports community efforts to increase access to healthy food across Hamilton County in partnership with Green Umbrella. This includes helping partners organize food drives, establish Little Free Pantries, and make other changes that strengthen and support local food systems. We also connect community members, charitable food programs and partner organizations with tools and guidance, like our food pantry donation guidelines, to help promote healthier food environments in pantries, worksites and other community settings.
Fruit and vegetable voucher incentives
What we eat plays a big role in long-term health and preventing chronic disease. Hamilton County Public Health helps people with limited resources access fresh fruits and vegetables by increasing the use of vouchers through programs like Produce Perks and Family Fruit and Vegetable Vouchers. To learn more about these programs or find ways to promote them in your community, visit Produce Perks Midwest.
Early Care and Education (ECE)
Hamilton County Public Health partners with licensed early care and education providers through the WeTHRIVE! Early Care and Education Initiative to help children, families, and providers establish healthy habits. Areas of focus for this initiative include nutrition, physical activity, farm to early care and education, breastfeeding, oral health, and decreasing screen time.