Community Wellness

America leads the world in medical research and medical care, and for all we spend on health care, we should be the healthiest people on earth. Yet on some of the most important indicators of well being, like how long we live, we’re not even in the top 25, behind countries like Bosnia and Jordan. it’s time for America to lead again on health, and that means taking three steps. the first is to ensure that everyone can afford to see a doctor when they’re sick. the second is to build preventive care like screening for cancer and heart disease into every health care plan and make it available to people who otherwise won’t or can’t go in for it, in malls and other public places, where it’s easy to stop for a test. the third is to stop thinking of health as something we get at the doctor’s office but instead as something that starts in our families, in our schools and workplaces, in our playgrounds and parks, and in the air we breathe and the water we drink.

The more we see the problem of health this way, the more opportunities we have to improve it. Scientists have found that the conditions in which we live and work have an enormous impact on our health, long before we ever see a doctor.

 RWC 2020 leaders agree that it’s time we expand the way we think about health to include how to keep it, not just how to get it back. 

 Since the adoption of these goals, RWC 2020 has engaged in a number of actions to improve outcomes in four identified areas defined by the Wellness Goals that were adopted in December 2009:

 1.     Increase easy everyday physical activity

 2.     Make healthy food the easy, affordable and viable option

  • Work with community partners to assist local corner store to offer healthy food choices
  • Support school districts as they work provide healthy food choices for students
  • Partner with local health care providers to promote “healthy weight” through prevention education, consistent messages and early intervention strategies

 3.     Build social cohesion and maximize public spaces

  • Support and sustain the growth of school and community gardens

4.      Promote healthy practices in 2020 partner organizations so they serve as models for the community

 Resources

  • Spectrum of Prevention Activities (PDF Document)
  • Wellness Goals (PDF Document)
  • Walk to School Day October 5th, 2011
    Redwood City 2020 has been involved in promoting International Walk to School Day throughout the Redwood City School District for the past two years.  The video below highlights the activities at Hoover Community School for Walk to School Day 2011 which includes San Mateo County Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson joining their walking school bus.

Related links

Contact Information

To learn more about the Community Wellness initiative, contact:

Patricia Brown, Executive Director
Redwood City 2020
750 Bradford Street, Redwood City CA 94063
650-423-2217, pbrown@redwoodcity.org