HEALTHY FUTURES

Link to the Healthy Futures HomePage

What is Healthy Futures? Citizens are seeking meaningful change in domestic violence, teen pregnancy, violent crime and poverty in Kalamazoo County by creating a decision-making process and action agenda open to everyone. A collaborative process built upon reaching conclusions through honest dialogue, and focused on the root causes of the issues.

Healthy Futures invites you to join its Kalamazoo County Community Problem-Solving Initiative.

Back in 1994, HealthConnect initiated an extensive community assessment to gather data and information on the problems and opportunities facing Kalamazoo County. Nine high priority issues were identified by the assessment. In May of 1995, at the Healthy Futures Community Forum, participants selected four of these nine community issues to be the focus of a Healthy Futures Problem-Solving Initiative. These four issues are:

• Teen pregnancy
• Domestic violence
• Violent crime
• Poverty

Using the underlying principle of Healthy Futures and the guidelines of the national Healthier Communities Initiative, Healthy Futures formed four problem-solving teams to facilitate broad community involvement in developing specific action plans to deal with these four issues in Kalamazoo County over the next two years.

The Healthy Futures Problem-Solving Initiative is progressing through three phases: project initiation, project planning, and project action. The initiation phase was begun at the May, 1995 community forum with the formation of the four problem-solving teams and continued through the summer of 1995. Currently the Initiative is in its project planning phase with will run through August of 1996. During this time the problem-solving teams will facilitate:

• building a shared public understanding of each issue;
• reaching a community-wide consensus on the most desirable and effective direction for community action on each issue;
• identifying specific community-wide goals to be achieved for each issue;
• encouraging and supporting individuals and groups to take their own actions toward reaching the goals.

By the end of the planning period the Initiative will have identified specific steps to be taken in Kalamazoo County on each of these issues to build a better community.

Beginning in September, 1996, the problem-solving teams will assist in launching the community-wide action plans for each issue.

Healthy Future's Vision Statement
Healthy Future's Vision Statement in Spanish

Copyright 1998 The Forum of Greater Kalamazoo
217 Monroe Street, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 49006-4434
* (616) 337-7002 * theforum@theforum.org