Mt. Vernon

Lead agency

Westchester Community College

Contact person

Shelley Garnet

Shelley.Garnet@sunywcc.edu

CFAA Team

Westchester Community College Mount Vernon Extension Center, Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services, City of Mount Vernon Office of Aging, Mount Vernon Department of Recreation, Mount Vernon Youth Bureau, Mount Vernon Board of Education, Visiting Nurse Services, Mount Vernon Health Coalition, Lower Hudson Valley Perinatel Network, Wartburg Adult Care community, American Cancer Society, Mount Vernon Community That Cares, Teen Aware, Free Teens, Mount Vernon Hospital, Boys and Girls Club

Stage of development

Implementation-year 2

Community concern(s)/issue(s) addressed thru CFAA initiative

• A myriad of health issues from high blood pressure to childhood obesity
• Understanding what a healthy lifestyle is comprised of and how to live it
• Overlapping and/or competing services
• Lack of an effective method of communicating the range of services available
• Lack of coordinated strategies to better utilize limited funds and access funding.

Key strategies used to address issue(s)

• Coalition of agencies formed to address issues of duplication
• Intergenerational website in progress to faciliate communication of events and information/referral services
• Poster Contest to announce community wide project
• Intergenerational cooking classes that focus on nutritious meals

Major activities planned for this year

• Mount Vernon †A Healthy Community Website  (IN PROGRESS)http://www.wwkids.com/wcc/mt_vernon/partners/united.html 
• To Your Health Cooking
• Mount Vernon Health Challenge for All Ages

What do you hope will be different because of your CFAA work?

We have already seen a difference- several agencies were doing similar work, with limited resources. By joining our network of partners we have started to have more coordinated planning and the programs offered have an intergenerational focus.Our goal is to have one message in the community regarding wellness and easy access to services for all Mount Vernon residents of every age.