Ontario, San Bernardino County
About Us
HEAL Zone | Link to HEAL Zone Fact Sheet
The Kaiser Permanente HEAL (Healthy Eating Active Living) Zone Initiative is designed to help combat obesity by making healthy choices accessible to more people in underserved communities across Southern California. The Ontario HEAL Zone will empower residents to lead healthier lives through environmental changes that are sustained by policies and enhanced by education and promotion.
Strategies | Link to Cross Site Strategies
The strategies address the following goals:
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 Healthy Ontario Collaborative is a partnership between public, private and non-profit community-based organizations and volunteers who are working together to make Ontario a healthier community. The goal of the collaborative is to empower the HEAL Zone community to take ownership of their health through policy and systems change which will make the healthy choice the easy choice.
-
Ontario Approves Smoke Free Parks Ordinance
The City of Ontario City Council unanimously voted to approve an ordinance for Smoke-Free Parks on July 17, 2018. The Ontario HEAL Zone Teen Action Committee (TAC) presented the initiative at the Recreation and Parks Commission Meeting in 2017 to abolish the use of tobacco, electronic cigarette devices, and marijuana in public parks throughout the City at all times. The prohibition is enacted in order to preserve the public health, safety, and welfare of the residents, as well as the environment of the city of Ontario. City staff along with members of the TAC will be unveiling a public awareness campaign to educate the community of this new ordinance.
To learn more about the Smoke-Free Parks Ordinance, click here.
-
Ontario Community Garden Celebrates One Year Anniversary
The Ontario community garden, "Huerta del Valle," celebrated its one year anniversary of producing locally grown organic crops on April 5th with dancing, food, and agricultural demonstrations. The collaboration between Pitzer College and the City of Ontario, part of Kaiser Permanente's HEAL Zone Initiative, offers families in Ontario access to fresh food that is also rich in nutrients.
Approximately 45 families currently harvest their own vegetables and fruits using organic fertilizer created in the same garden. The garden counts on the support and assistance of volunteers and gardeners. For more information, read the full article or contact Arturo Levine.
-
Mural in Ontario Promotes Healthy Eating
Susan Phillips was looking for a way to promote the ongoing work at Pronto Market to provide fresh, affordable produce to the city. That's when she thought about Pitzer College professor Jessica McCoy and her mural painting class. Maggie Shafran, a senior art major at Pitzer, designed a 10-foot-by-70-foot mural, "Journey to Pronto Market," focusing on the relationship between local farms and the Ontario market. "The city was great," she Phillips, assistant professor and academic director of the Pitzer in Ontario Program. "They were fantastic, they were responsive, and they were excited. Partly because of their dedication to the HEAL Zone. They are really supportive in ways that (are) stretching the city - they are having to rethink their basic principles." To read the full article click here. For more information contact Susan Phillips.
-
Pitzer College and City of Ontario Sign 10-Year Land-Use Agreement
The Pitzer in Ontario (PIO) program finalized a 10-year agreement on April 5 between Pitzer College and the City of Ontario for use of a three-acre parcel of land located directly west of Ontario's Bon View Park. The agreement stems in part from Ontario's Healthy Eating, Active Living (HEAL) Zone Initiative. The land will be used by Huerta del Valle, an emerging organization of Ontario residents who will operate a large-scale community garden and create educational programming, events and an on-site urban production farm.
Link to Article
Link to Huerta del Valle Website
Link to Huerta del Valle Facebook
Link to Huerta del Valle YouTube Video -
Ontario Kicks Off HEAL Zone and Features PhotoVoice Presentation
Members of the community joined the Mayor and City Council to celebrate the launch of Ontario's Healthy Eating, Active Living Zone (HEAL) at De Anza Community Park. The event featured several booths and activities which helps promote the HEAL initiative. "Health is a state of mind. People often think of health as a medical clinic," said Mayor Paul Leon. "I'm excited of launching this program and helping people with opportunities for health and healthy eating and exercise."
-
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.