Mason County Public Health received a 3-year ACHIEVE Healthy Communities grant from National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop a community-wide plan, which improves access to healthy foods, opportunities to be physically active, and exposure to tobacco-free environments.  Mason County is one of 40 communities, in the United States, who received this grant.  Our goal is to improve the places where we live, learn, work, and play so that making a healthy choice is an easier choice for the residents of Mason County.    

The first phase of the grant was to assess different sectors of our community to get a baseline of what kind of policies and practices are currently in place to support healthy eating, physical activity, and tobacco-free lifestyles.  We conducted this assessment, between May-August 2011, in different sectors of the community such as:

• Work Sites
• Schools
• Healthcare Facilities
• Community Organizations 
• Community-At -Large - Does the community’s infrastructure support healthy behavior?  i.e.  Is it safe, supportive, and easy for people to be active (sidewalks, bicycle paths, parks, trails, etc.), to eat healthy (access to fresh fruit and vegetables though neighborhood grocery stores or farmer's markets), and to live tobacco-free lifestyles?

After the assessment phase, we identified areas to work on, based on community need and partner readiness, to create a Community Action Plan (CAP).

The second phase of the grant involved implementing action steps to accomplish the CAP goals. Unfortunately, the federal funds were eliminated prior to completing the final year of the grant. The ACHIEVE CAP Outcomes Report highlights what was accomplished in year one of the grant's implementation phase.