A new program is seeking to turn Benton Harbor residents into community leaders so they can help make their neighborhoods healthier.
The Community Leadership Academy, organized by Be Healthy Berrien, just launched its first class at the Corewell Health Center for Wellness. Be Healthy Berrien Director Dawn Marie Smith tells us this first cohort consists of 13 community members of varying ages who wanted to learn how they could make a difference. For ten weeks, they’ll be attending sessions led by the United Way and Corewell to discuss teambuilding and leadership.
“The academy offers the knowledge, the structure, and the support for these residents to turn their ideas into meaningful actions that ultimately will strengthen the neighborhoods,” Smith said.
Smith says the cohort will be tasked with developing a project that could result in more healthy neighborhoods. They’re thinking about things like access to better food options and recreation.
“They’re going to go out and do neighborhood assessments and they will come back collectively and determine how they want to work together on a project. So they are the gatekeepers of what that project will look like.”
In the first session, participants learned about how neighborhood design, food access, and walkability impact community health. Smith says they’ll determine just what their project will be because they’re the ones who live in the neighborhoods affected.
The cohort will meet each week for about two and a half hours to continue training.
Smith says they’ll form another academy cohort next year with a focus on Niles and Buchanan.
You can follow the academy’s progress at BeHealthyBerrien.org.
