News

Healthy Savannah and the YMCA of Coastal Georgia are inviting community members, church and health ministry leaders, community service providers, and others interested in health equity to consider joining its Community Health Advocate (CHA) training program. An upcoming training session is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10.  This is the fourth CHA training class that has been offered since the project launched last summer. The program is funded through a supplemental grant from …

Healthy Savannah is funding a series of community, faith-based events to help spread awareness and information about Covid-19 and flu vaccines. One of those events took place on Saturday at Greater Gaines Chapel AME Church, which hosted a back-to-school block party. Community members could come for games, food, school supplies or to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. Jasmine Williams, the Young People’s Division Director at the church, said that she wanted this event to encourage kids …

Healthy Savannah released the results of its annual community health survey which included responses from over 230 people. According to the Healthy Savannah 2021 report, residents purchased more healthy food items over the past three years. Armand Turner serves as the physical activity program manager at Healthy Savannah. He said the team is looking into home-delivery options for nutritious food and SNAP participants based in response to the community interest from the survey. Residents also …

Food insecurity is described as “the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient amount of affordable, nutritious food.”  In 2019, one in eight Georgians was considered food insecure. From 2020 to 2021, an estimated one in six children in Georgia was food insecure. Healthy Savannah is taking a closer look at the issue in the Savannah and Chatham County area, and what can be done to address it.  “I think the biggest thing …

Savannahians want more community-based solutions that promote healthy food and physical activity where they live, work, and play. The findings of a year-long survey conducted by Healthy Savannah were revealed at its CDC Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Stakeholders’ Meeting on Aug. 19. About 40 stakeholders were in attendance, representing Savannah and Chatham County organizations committed to elevating the health and wellness of the community. The event was held at the Vaden …

Healthy Savannah is asking for your input on nutrition and food insecurity in the area. Tonight they held their first of several meetings to discuss a “Food Policy Council.” They say the initiative isn’t new in Chatham County, but they are working to re-establishing it after it dwindled in the past few years. They are looking for the council to become a more community-led in order to be more effective and inclusive. See it on …

The goal is to not just make walking as easy as putting one foot in front of the other. But to make it easy everywhere. “When we have community members who depend on walking and biking to get to their everyday life activities like going to church, going to the store, going to school, then we want those people to have the infrastructure in their communities to do so safely,” Armand Turner said. Healthy Savannah …

Healthy Savannah has announced that it has received the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 2022 REACH Lark Galloway-Gilliam Award for Advancing Health Equity Challenge. The award recognizes extraordinary individuals and entities whose work has contributed to advancing health equity. Thamara Labrousse from Live Healthy Miami Gardens (Florida) was the individual award recipient. The REACH Lark Award is presented to individuals and organizations that have engaged with the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community …

The Coastal YMCA and Healthy Savannah are working together to implement the R.E.A.C.H Grant or Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health provided by the CDC to help lift up communities of color. Armand Turner, the Physical Activity Program Manager for Healthy Savannah, is leading the effort to encourage physical activity in the community. He said that the first step to promoting more activity in the community is creating safer pedestrian and bike zones. See …

The “Activity-Friendly Routes to Everyday Destinations Neighborhood Plan” is administered by the YMCA of Coastal Georgia and Healthy Savannah through funding from the Centers for Disease Control’s Racial & Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant to address barriers to safe, active transportation and physical activity in priority neighborhoods by identifying and tagging areas of streetscape concern. An initiative focusing on creating safer places to walk and bike within Savannah neighborhoods is seeking additional communities …

Healthy Savannah and the YMCA of Coastal Georgia are inviting the community to join the conversation about lessons learned from COVID-19 at an information and listening session on Thursday, June 9. The event is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Kingdom Life Christian Fellowship, 425 W. Montgomery Cross Rd. on Savannah’s southside. The session will gauge the current COVID climate and provide a look at the future after the pandemic, along with a platform for questions …

Healthy Savannah and Ashford Tea Company are brewing up something special. The two organizations are introducing a new product to Savannahians called “Health Equi-Tea™️” The new tea will be introduced to celebrate Healthy Savannah’s 15th anniversary on Monday, May 16, at the Ashford Tea Company. The process that led to this partnership between Healthy Savannah and Ashford Tea Company grew out of a shared commitment to instilling a culture of health in Savannah and building …

Healthy Savannah celebrates its 15th anniversary in May. “Healthy Savannah is an established organization with a long history and strong future ahead”. Healthy Savannah was formed as the Healthy Savannah Initiative in 2007 by the Savannah mayor at the time, Otis Johnson. Mayor Otis Johnson realized the importance of acknowledging the ways in which health disparities in our cities lead to chronic health issues and set about creating an organization that would instill a culture …

April 11, 2022 – Six local stores are now participating in the Corner Store Initiative to make healthy food choices the easy choice in small retail stores that are often the only source of food in some of Savannah’s low-wealth neighborhoods. The program experienced challenges during the COVID pandemic, but is now beginning to thrive and new incentives are being introduced to entice more retailers and their customers to get on board. Healthy Savannah has …

Every Tuesday for the past two years, “we meet up, and we walk,” says Armand Turner of Healthy Savannah. A pretty simple concept born out of a pretty complicated time. “When we started this, it was really just a way to stay connected through the start of the pandemic and it has actually survived longer than we ever thought it would,” said Turner. Tuesday celebrating two years, walking two miles, every Tuesday. Watch now on …

March 7, 2022 – What started as a simple way to get out of the house at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic is gearing up for a big milestone. Healthy Walk, a grass-roots initiative to explore Savannah area trails and walkways, will celebrate its two-year anniversary on Tuesday, March 22. Healthy Savannah and the YMCA of Coastal Georgia are inviting the public to join them at 7:30 a.m. for a walk on the Truman …