Safe Routes to School E-News
Issue #144: February 2018
Safe Routes to School E-News is a monthly email newsletter published by the Safe Routes Partnership. We are also on Facebook and Twitter. Join us!
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Safe Routes to School February Enews:
- Kaiser Permanente Renews Commitment to Safe Routes
- Walk Audits and Safe Routes to School: NEW Resources
- Safe Routes to Parks - Apply Today!
- Webinar: Volunteer Engagement in Safe Routes to School
- Voices for Healthy Kids 2017 Progress Report
- Coaching and Technical Assistance to Accelerate Change
- Community Partnership Brings Change to Moscow, Idaho
- #MoveEquity Tweetchat Series Returns in 2018
Kaiser Permanente Renews Commitment to Safe Routes
The Safe Routes Partnership is pleased to announce that Kaiser Permanente is awarding a two-year grant of $1.26 million to advance Safe Routes to School initiatives and policy nationwide and in specific regions. The award will support the Regional Network Project, which advances healthy transportation options at the metropolitan level in California and the Northwest, and will allow the Safe Routes Partnership to produce action-oriented engagement materials, training webinars, toolkits, and other resources to help both new and experienced practitioners start and run thriving Safe Routes to School programs. Learn more in our full announcement.
Walk Audits and Safe Routes to School-NEW Resources
Knowing your school surroundings and neighborhood is a good start for any Safe Routes to School program. Jump into Safe Routes to School with tools for conducting walk audits or making a walking route. Want to grow your existing Safe Routes to School program? Use the Walk Audit Toolkit to evaluate your current walking environment or use the Guide to Creating Walking Route Maps for Safe Routes to School to engage more students and staff. For questions about these resources email Hannah@saferoutespartnership.org
Safe Routes to Parks-Apply Today!
The JPB Foundation has provided a grant to the Safe Routes Partnership to fund the Safe Routes to Parks program to increase safe and equitable access to parks. The program will provide training, coaching and technical assistance to support the development of action plans to improve safe and equitable park access in a total of 20 diverse communities across the nation over the next two years. Nationally available resources will also be developed to advance the work and virtually support other communities seeking to implement the Safe Routes to Parks framework locally. Applications just opened for year one and 10 communities will be selected to begin work this Spring. Apply today!
Webinar: Volunteer Engagement in Safe Routes to School
Safe Routes to School programs across the country know that volunteers are the heart and soul of the movement providing support for walking and biking to school at all levels every day of the school year through all types of challenges and weather. But how do programs engage volunteers to ensure smooth running programs? Join us while we talk with practitioners that have developed successful volunteer engagement strategies to boost health and safety in their community through Safe Routes to School. Register here.
Voices for Healthy Kids 2017 Progress Report
The Safe Routes Partnership is a partner in building support for healthy kids and communities through our work with the American Heart Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The initiative has released Making Each Day Healthier for All Children: 2017 Progress Report. The report highlights progress in the advocacy movement, including policy wins and a behind-the-scenes look at campaigns to increase health equity, improve access to healthy foods and physical activity, and improve the places where families live, learn, work, and play.
Coaching and Technical Assistance to Accelerate Change
Each community is unique. Through our individualized technical assistance the Safe Routes Partnership staff can provide strategic support to local, regional, and state program and policy leaders. Once we understand your needs, our expert staff can develop a proposal for work to help guide your policy and programmatic change efforts. Reach out to the Safe Routes Partnership Policy and Program Director Sara Zimmerman sara@saferoutespartnership.org to learn more and get started.
Community Partnership Brings Change to Moscow, Idaho
Moscow, Idaho is a community of 25,000, located eight miles from Washington State with a bike path that connects the University of Idaho in Moscow to the University of Washington. Initially, active transportation efforts were focused more on enjoyment of the outdoors and connection with schools, with little attention paid to the safety component. This started to change roughly 10 years ago when the University of Idaho partnered with the City of Moscow on the area’s Safe Routes to School initiatives – the city took on engineering with the University covering the rest of the E’s. Read their story here.
#MoveEquity Tweetchat Series Returns in 2018
Join peers, partners and new friends as we continue our #MoveEquity tweetchat series on February 28th at 2PM ET.