After collecting feedback from residents for an updated bicycle and pedestrian plan, the City of West Columbia will install bicycle racks in various locations throughout the city. The addition will complement the connectivity of parks, trails, and bike lanes and provide cyclists with a safe way to temporarily store their bicycles.
The City of West Columbia is one of 13 communities that recently received a healthy eating and active living (HEAL) mini-grant from Wholespire, a nonprofit that helps organizations and community coalitions increase access to healthy choices. The mini-grant allows West Columbia to purchase 12 bike racks and install them at locations such as parks, the River District, Triangle City, and other highly traversed areas of the city.
“Over the last several years we’ve worked to expand safe accessibility for bicycles and pedestrians throughout the city. We are thankful for these bicycle racks so that people can ride around town, stop, and enjoy the local parks, businesses, and restaurants, all while never having to get into a car,” said Mayor Tem Miles.
“As an individual who is a recreational cyclist, an occasional bicycle commuter, and a father who enjoys a family stroll through the neighborhood and parks, I see the addition of bike racks for public use in West Columbia as the logical next step to aid both current and prospective bikers to move around town,” says Joel Mathwig, West Columbia resident. “Having a convenient and safe location to temporarily store a bike – whether to enjoy a park, go shopping, get to work – can only encourage more bicycle use and more physical activity.”
The West Metro Bike and Pedestrian Master Plan identify a clear strategy for near- and long-term active transportation projects within the West Metro area. The goals identified by the plan are to:
Complete a connected and accessible network of bike and pedestrian facilities,
Improve safety for all modes of transportation,
Provide a comfortable network that encourages biking and walking for users of all ages and abilities, and
Provide equitable access to bike and pedestrian facilities and cultivate an environment of respect for all modes of transportation.
The City of West Columbia, the Central Midlands Council of Governments, the City of Cayce, and the City of Springdale created The West Metro Bike and Pedestrian Master Plan in 2017 and adopted the plan in 2018.
What do you do when your community doesn’t have a safe place to be active or needs new ways to get nutritious food? You apply for a Wholespire Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL) Mini-Grant. Thirteen communities will receive funding in the coming months for projects that support populations that need community resources like playground equipment, school gardens, and water refill stations.
“These types of resources tend to be barriers for people who want to lead healthy lives but may not be able to afford a gym membership or spend much on fresh fruits and vegetables,” said Meg Stanley, executive director at Wholespire. “We want to change that by assisting communities that truly need help with providing their residents safe places to be active and alternative and affordable ways to access nutritious food.”
Wholespire received 76 HEAL Mini-grant applications, a 111% increase from last year. Mini-grants are given once a year, and funding is limited to up to $5,000 per application. According to Stanley, “The response from communities speaks to the need for local governments and other local entities to take a closer look at the needs and wants of their communities. People want to live healthy lives, but a majority of them don’t have access to healthy choices.”
The HEAL Mini-grants also focus on making communities more equitable and reducing health disparities. Communities, neighborhoods, and schools differ because of location, income, race, and other socioeconomic factors. These factors, in addition to county health statistics, are used in scoring applications, making it a competitive process.
The 13 mini-grant recipients are listed below in no particular order:
City of West Columbia (Lexington County) –Install bicycle racks in highly-traveled areas to increase parking options for cyclists who bike to eat, shop, work, and visit.
Promised Land Walking Track Improvements (Greenwood County) – Build upon a county-funded walking track by installing picnic tables, swings, and trash cans.
Town of Ridge Spring Bike and Park Improvements (Saluda County) – Install bike racks at the farmer’s market to encourage biking and upgrade playground equipment at the local park that encourages musical play and interaction.
Fresh Food Initiative through Education (Beaufort County) – Rebuild existing raised garden beds at Whale Branch Elementary School, create a dedicated outdoor classroom space, and establish a food distribution point on the campus to feed families.
Swing set in rural Fairfield County (Fairfield County) – Install a swing set at Rufus Belton Park, an area with limited play equipment for children.
School Garden for Science and Nutrition Exploration (Clarendon County) – Build a garden at Manning Elementary School to foster science and nutrition education for students and distribute food to families.
Eat Better, Feel Better, Move Better (Georgetown County) – Teach children how and when to plant and care for fruits and veggies through a school garden in The Sunshine Place Daycare’s outdoor classroom.
School Community Active Pathways and Blacktop Games (Oconee County) – Paint an active pathway on Salem Elementary School’s paved walking path and Foursquare courts in the recess area.
F2UEL Up: Food and Fitness Used in Energizing Lives Up (Laurens County) – Create a fueling station for YMCA of Clinton guests that provides free produce, pantry items, and other staples gathered, gleaned, and purchased from local food partners.
Hampton Elementary School Playground Revitalization (Hampton County) – Revive the school playground by installing a multi-climbing unit that gives students an option for physical activity.
Upgrading Basketball Court of Knights Hill Park (Kershaw County) – Upgrade the basketball court, located in Camden, to give young people an opportunity to be physically active while having fun.
The Franklin School Hydration Station (Spartanburg County) – Install water bottle fill stations on the playground for children at the child development center.
Society Hill Community Gardens (Darlington) – Create raised bed community garden plots for low-income families to use and harvest their own fresh fruits and vegetables.
Founder & President, Columbus and Edith Rogers Mansell Foundation
When The Healthy Young People Empowerment (HYPE) Project® began ten years ago, Wholespire knew teens’ potential impact on their communities. What we didn’t completely realize were the impacts The HYPE Project would have on the adult advisors.
Cathy Breazeale, former director of prevention services at Behavioral Health Services of Pickens County (BHSPC), was one of the first HYPE adult advisors to pilot the new youth engagement program in 2012. We caught up with Cathy for the 10th anniversary to learn about her experiences with The HYPE Project.
What motivated you to become involved in The HYPE Project as an adult advisor? In looking at the program it spoke to me about helping youth understand that the way you perceive food and exercise at an early age can help you in the long run. I’ve never seen a program like this and I was really excited to be a part of it.
When you were the lead adult advisor, what was your position? I was a Director of Prevention Services and I had staff – Tiffany and Ben. I was responsible for looking at the budget and the action plan. When we said that we were going to do something, I made sure that we did it. All of us made sure the youth engaged like they were supposed to. To be honest, when we first started, it didn’t happen that way because it was new to us. We weren’t sure how to make The HYPE Project work on top of our other projects. When you’re meeting for two hours, you don’t have a lot of time to plan community events and work on these types of projects. We had tobacco projects, and alcohol projects and so I was kind of like the person that steered to ensure that we did do what it is we said we were going to do.
Your HYPE Team was composed of the BHSPC Youth Board. What is the youth board? The youth board is a group of youth that are advocates for behavioral health issues related to alcohol, tobacco, and other drug issues. It’s about community. What it is environmentally that they see in their community that they think needs to be changed? They get other youth engaged in their community and on the youth board. They’re also a spokesperson for issues that they were working on. But, they first have to buy into what that is.
After completing their PhotoVoice project, the Pickens County HYPE Team chose to focus on improvements at Haygood Park. They assessed the park and found some concerns:
Pickens County HYPE Team members assessing Haygood Park in Easley, SC, as Cathy Breazeale observes and advises.
No signs posting map and event/rental information
No bike racks
No water to drink
Restrooms need improvements
Dangerous big hole
Poor maintenance and landscaping
Litter and graffiti
Playground
No benches
No shade
No lights
The HYPE team presented their concerns to the Parks and Recreation Department, and they were successful in getting making the park more appealing with landscaping. However, since the completion of their civic action project, Pickens County has made improvements to Haygood Park and it’s being used more by residents and visitors. There’s even a dog park!
Do you remember any of the reactions from the youth about participating in HYPE? Well, negatively they didn’t want to do it. They wondered why we were looking at what they were eating. But, I can still remember the presentation comparing the weight of fat to the weight of muscle. It brought about a conversation. Sometimes, we downplay health because we think small people are healthy and larger people are not healthy. That’s what our brain tells us and so even talking about those particular things — the weight of fat and muscle — brought about a conversation and impacted the youth. Also, I would say 80% of the HYPE team played some type of sport, and so once again, they are thinking ‘I play sports, I’m healthy.’ Uh, but so it did. It brought about a lot of different conversations about those things, but in the end, I believe that The HYPE Project changed behaviors.
Youth used the Community Park Audit Tool developed by Kansas State University and the University of Missouri.
How has your experience influenced the way you work with the youth now? When we hosted a lot of events, we used to always get sodas. But, I always tried to make sure that we had water there. We would tell our event participants that they can drink sodas, but they need to drink X amount of water per day. And so [The HYPE Project] helped. It helped me, personally. I also use [healthy choices] even now at our local church where we work with youth. I just try to give them the things that I know they want, but also put in some of those healthy choices too.
Is there any advice that you would give new adult advisors? Uh, yes. I would advise them to build a plan of action with participation from the youth at the beginning, instead of waiting. I do that even now when I look at grants and proposals to send. Don’t just look at the money. You know you’re on this timeline and it’s happening, and now I gotta do something. When we take that approach, sometimes doing something is something we didn’t put a lot of thought into.
I would also say from the beginning, act like the funding ends in a week. Come up with ideas, several ideas, and then use those ideas to streamline the project within those months that you have to do it. This lets you say, ‘We’re going to do this, or we’re going to do that. We’re gonna add this and I believe that it would be better.’ The project would be better.
If you had another opportunity to lead a HYPE team would you volunteer again? I would, because of the previous statement that I made of the things I’ve learned and even in working with [the Columbus and Edith Rogers Mansell Foundation] and knowing that. Our target group isn’t just teens, but it’s parents with youth ages 5 to 17. So now I know that. That’s our target population.
The HYPE Team assessed all features of Haygood Park, including the volleyball court.
The parents at the beginning will be involved because I’ll get it. It’ll be a balance, even though the youth will be the ones that will do the project. We will let them do the planning of it and then the parents would come in and we have a meeting of the minds so that they can talk about as young people what it is they see in their community and what they feel needs to be changed.
So being a part of something like that, it’s kind of like being able to take the test again. This time I’m going to study. And not just okay, I know it’s a test. I just need to make a 75. I wanna make 100 this time.
Do you have any other thoughts you’d like to share? HYPE is a, uh, it’s a unique program because you don’t hear about healthy living a lot concerning youth. I know we talk about obesity this and that in our states, but HYPE should really be nationally known. I feel it should be.
We couldn’t agree more with Cathy! Several of the Pickens County HYPE Team moved on to college and are starting businesses and careers in healthcare. Many are still involved in their community. And Haygood Park is thriving with recreational sports, squealing children, and happy dogs.
