North Long Beach, Los Angeles County
About Us
HEAL Zone | Link to HEAL Zone Fact Sheet
The Coalition for a Healthy North Long Beach (Coalition) is a community collaborative focused on advocating for the health and wellness of North Long Beach residents throughout the city. The Coalition is open to all residents, City departments and community organizations that have an interest in the well-being of the North Long Beach community.
Currently, the main focus of the Coalition is the North Long Beach HEAL Zone Initiative, a multi-year grant funded by Kaiser Permanente. The Initiative is designed to help make healthy choices accessible to more people in underserved communities through environmental changes that are sustained by policies and enhanced by education and promotion.
Strategies | Link to Cross Site Strategies
The Coalition Steering Committee guides the phases of the HEAL Zone Initiative and provides leadership and coordination in the development and implementation of the North Long Beach HEAL Zone Community Action Plan strategies (CAP). The Coalition Steering Committee also helps engage the community in the CAP strategies and activities, and ensures that resources are directed appropriately. The goals of the strategies are to:
1. Reduce calorie consumption
2. Increase consumption of healthy foods and beverages (e.g., water), and
3. Increase physical activity.
Partners | Link to Partnership Structure
The Coalition Steering Committee is a network of community partners (funded and non-funded) including representatives from City departments, the Office of 9th District Councilmember Steven Neal, the school district, community-based organizations, and representatives from HEAL Zone area neighborhood associations. While Steering Committee meetings are focused on the main CAP partners and stakeholders, they are open to all. The Coalition meets quarterly to discuss progress and gather community input for the CAP, and to bring the community up-to-date on relevant issues
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CalTrans Announces 2018-19 Grant Awards
Caltrans announced the 2018-19 Fiscal Year Transportation Planning Grant awards. A statewide total of 180 grant applications were received that requested approximately $51 million. Of these applications, 99 transportation planning projects were selected for grant awards, totaling approximately $28.87 million. Cities of Anaheim, Lancaster, Long Beach, and Ontario all received grants for various projects totaling over $1.5 Million.
In the HEAL Zone, "the Uptown Long Beach Neighborhood Mobility Enhancement Plan will capitalize on progress made during the City's Land Use Element update, to make Uptown more livable, resilient, healthy, and connected. The planning process will build community capacity to identify and develop solutions in a sustainable manner via a neighborhood empowerment framework that addresses safety and eliminates barriers to active transportation. It will be informed by youth, community input, demonstration projects and technical reports related to housing, infrastructure, and access/connectivity. The project will generate a prioritized list of infrastructure projects and programs, conceptual designs, and financing strategies for the City to complete."
To learn more about the CALTrans grant, click here.
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Anaheim YMCA Participates in North Long Beach Walk Audit
After dropping their kids off at school, Grant Elementary parents in North Long Beach quickly made their way to a bungalow on campus to participate in their school walk audit. They eagerly shared stories, ideas, and suggestions for ways to improve safety, walking, and biking opportunities for their families around the school. Javier Gonzalez, HEAL Coordinator from Anaheim YMCA, was amongst the participants and said, "it was important for City public works staff to be present throughout the meeting to respond to resident questions and concerns." Coalition for a Healthy North Long Beach in partnership with Rye Baerg from National Safe Routes to School Partnership organized the walk audit on January 24th. For more information, contact Shawna Stevens.
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North Long Beach Kicks Off Houghton Park Fitness Loop
Department of Health and Human Services and the Coalition for a Healthy North Long Beach held the Houghton Park Fitness Loop Kick-off and Walking Workshop to increase opportunities for physical activity in the North Long Beach area. The Loop is the first of its kind in the City of Long Beach and is a partnership with the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Marine. It is approximately one-half mile and is marked by community friendly fitness signs in English and Spanish, various exercise moves, and a QR code for mobile devices that links participants to an instructional video. For more information contact Shawna Stevens.
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PhotoVoice Exhibition
Held North Long Beach HEAL Zone Photovoice Exhibit on Friday, Jan. 4th, as part of “First Fridays” in Long Beach. The exhibit was presented as an art show and 13 photographers (community residents and organizational partners) displayed their work.
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Soul Food Junkies Documentary Screening
Hosted documentary screening of award-winning film “Soul Food Junkies” with film maker Byron Hurt on Saturday, Jan. 19th. 60 community members were in attendance and participated in a Q&A session after the film with the film maker and a Long Beach Health Department Registered Dietician.
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First Farmer’s Market Opens In North Long Beach
Residents and workers in North Long Beach have their first farmer’s market thanks to the Kaiser Permanente Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) Zone Initiative announced last year. In cooperation with 9th District Councilman Steven Neal and the Coalition For A Healthy North Long Beach, the market opened July 25 at the corner of Artesia Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue. Managed by Greener Good Farmer’s Market under the direction of Jorge Rivera, the market is open every Wednesday from 3 to 8 p.m., featuring items such as fresh fruit, vegetables and hot food.
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Ninth District Trains Captains On Creating Healthy Neighborhoods
Continuing efforts to provide a healthy, safe community in north Long Beach are underway, with the Ninth District Council office’s free “healthy community” training for district captains, as well as the public.
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Rapido Long Beach Market Gets Health-Conscious Makeover
Rapido Long Beach Market is the first of six markets going through corner store conversions in the North Long Beach community. The refrigerator has been delivered and the floor plan has a new "healthy corner." Large posters inside the store draw customers to the fresh produce and groceries. The City of Long Beach Department of Public Health, Network for a Healthy California, residents, and youth are working together to provide the support and resources to create a successful healthier food retailer.
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Twelve HEAL Initiative Youths Shine at Statewide Conference
Hollywood High School, Long Beach, Ontario and Riverside youth participated in the California Center for Civic Participation (CCCP), a statewide Youth Advocate Network for Sustainable Communities (YANSC) conference in Sacramento from May 20 - 22. The mission of CCCP is to empower youth to be vital participants in decision making processes at all levels.
The youths had the opportunity to present to an audience of statewide policymakers at the State Capitol on their top priority strategies in the areas of transportation, land use, food access and education. They also met with their local representatives to provide perspective on the strengths and challenges their communities face to create healthy active environments for residents. The youths will work with the HEAL Initiative partners to recruit new members and meet regularly to work on issues in their communities.
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Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Riverside Join California's Bicycle Friendly Community Program
The Bicycle Friendly Community Program (BFC) provides incentives, hands-on assistance, and award recognition for communities that actively support bicycling. A Bicycle Friendly Community welcomes cyclists by providing safe accommodation for cycling and encouraging people to bike for transportation and recreation.
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North Long Beach, West Ventura, and Lancaster Create Safe Routes to School
HEAL Zone partners and residents are walking in their neighborhoods with clip boards and cameras. Why, you may ask? To survey the conditions of their neighborhood streets to ensure children have safe walkways to school. The Safe Routes to School National Partnership is collaborating with the City of Long Beach Department of Public Health and Ventura Department of Public Health to engage the community in walkability assessments. The resident findings will help decision makers prioritize community capital improvement projects in the Zones.
North Long Beach HEAL Zone's walking club residents conducted a walking audit of Star King Elementary School and the surrounding neighborhood. West Ventura HEAL Zone residents completed a walkability assessment at the newly inquired Kellogg Park and the DeAnza Academy of Arts & Technology. Antelope Valley Partners for Health is working with school and community champions to pilot Walking School Bus programs in the HEAL site schools.