Healthy Savannah seeks to make Savannah a healthier place to live, work, and play. We lead and support a culture of health by creating an environment that makes a healthy choice an easy choice. Our goal is to promote equitable opportunities for residents to engage in physical activity and consume a nutritious, balanced diet. We implement policy, systems, and environmental change and collaborate with 200 community partners to institute cultural change.
Our Mission
To lead and support a culture of health in the Savannah area by:
- Building a collaborative network that identifies and shares resources
- Collecting and disseminating information
- Promoting best practices and supporting innovative programs
- Advocating for effective policies
Our Work
Healthy Savannah and the YMCA of Coastal GA are partners in a five-year, $3.4-million grant from the CDC. We’re in year two and working on three initiative areas:
- Nutrition, including breastfeeding support, building healthy food banks and pantries, and supporting healthier faith communities.
- Physical activity and active transportation.
- Strong links between communities and clinical care.
Mayor Van Johnson announced the formation of the Racial Equity and Leadership Task Force in July 2020. It will investigate disparities in Savannah and use data to identify, prioritize, and tackle inequities.
The group is led by Healthy Savannah founder and former mayor, Dr. Otis Johnson. Healthy Savannah/REACH Executive Director Paula Kriessler and Lizann Roberts, director of the Coastal Georgia Indicators Coalition, will serve among the other distinguished task force members, many of whom are Healthy Savannah/REACH partners.
Work on Tide To Town progresses steadily. The Truman Linear Park Trail, which makes up about 6 miles of the 30-plus mile citywide loop, consists of city and county portions. The county’s 3.3-mile segment should be completed by the end of 2020. Once completed, this section will stretch from Lake Mayer to Jenkins High School on the north side of DeRenne.
Expect to see work begin on the Police Memorial Trail within the next three months or so. Construction on the rest of the city’s segment should begin around June 2021. If all goes according to plan and the necessary funding is secured, that part is expected to be completed in December 2022.
Our Successes
The Faith and Health Coalition is a network of faith-based organizations (all faiths) partnered with local health-promoting agencies to encourage better health for these close-knit communities.
Live Healthy In Faith: A Faith Community Guide to Promoting Nutrition and Physical Activity is a toolkit produced by a devoted team in north-east Georgia to help communities bring health awareness and promotion into faith settings.
We are approaching the 10-year anniversary of Savannah going smoke-free! Healthy Savannah worked with the Breatheasy Savannah campaign to pass Savannah’s Smoke Free Air Act of 2010. The City of Savannah is now a place where we can all work and play and not worry about the harmful, deadly effects of second-hand smoke.
In 2020, Healthy Savannah received statewide recognition from the Healthcare Georgia Foundation.
The Foundation’s Joseph D. Greene Community Service Award was created to honor individuals, nonprofit health organizations, and community collaboratives for improving the quality of health and healthcare of those they serve. Our Award for Collaboration acknowledges the work and success of our coalition leadership.
Our People
Healthy Savannah is now accepting donations on Facebook! That means you can give directly or start a fundraiser to support our work in health and health equity. Facebook will show your friends that you gave, which helps us reach more people.
You can also donate 0.5% of the purchase price of your items when you use Amazon Smile and designate Healthy Savannah as beneficiary.
To learn about other ways to support us, visit our Donations page.
Healthy Savannah brings together a network of 200 public and private community organizations. We are proud to work with each and everyone and continue to grow every day. Find out who Our Partners are or reach out to see how we can work with your organization to produce positive change for our community.
See the Meet the Board page to learn more about our team.
Healthy Savannah is operated by a diverse group of dedicated volunteers. For information on how you too can help, Contact Us!
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