Jumpstart Grants

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Active Living By Design (ALBD) awarded one-time grants of up to $10,000 to six communities to support their active living initiatives for one year. Funding began on Oct. 1, 2004 and was supplemented with local matches of $10,000. These grants were offered on a “by invitation” basis to the top Active Living By Design grant finalists that were not chosen as one of our 25 community partnerships. This small amount of grant funding is intended to jumpstart their active living initiatives and support the continued expansion of the active living movement.

While these communities did not receive dedicated support from ALBD, project directors and other key partners participated in ALBD Learning Network activities.

Communities

Charlottesville, VA

Lead Agency:      Alliance for Community Choice in Transportation
Community:      Charlottesville, VA
Project Area:      Charlottesville, VA; population 45,049.

Project focuses on conducting qualitative research and social marketing techniques to enhance the perceived appeal of public spaces and increase use of spaces and programs for physical activity.

Key Activities:

  • Conduct and compile research results from four focus groups
  • Develop a social marketing campaign encompassing realistic changes and communication strategies to increase the appeal of public spaces
  • Prioritize identified policy and physical changes to public spaces that can be shared with decision makers
  • Seven partners, including parks and recreation, planning commission, trails foundation, hospital, bike advocacy organization; three partners are coalition-based organizations.

 

Washington, DC

Lead Agency:     Washington Regional Network for Livable Communities
Community:      Washington, DC
Project Area:     Washington, DC’s Downtown Ward 7, a historically African American neighborhood in Southeast DC.

Project focuses on developing and promoting a friendlier walking environment around Downtown Ward 7 and the Minnesota Avenue Metro station.

Key Activities:

  • Enhance interdisciplinary active living partnership
  • Conduct public outreach and education to engage stakeholders in fostering a safer and more walkable environment
  • Implement community workshops to inform development of a model Pedestrian Overlay code
  • Implement model Pedestrian Overlay code
  • Develop a plan to secure additional funds
  • Three primary partners, including Marshall Heights CDC and the Washington, DC Office of Planning.

 

San Francisco, CA

Lead Agency:     Chinatown Community Development Center
Community:     San Francisco, CA
Project Area:     Chinatown, San Francisco, CA

Project focuses promoting active living in a very dense, ethnic community, identifying alleyways as unique opportunity for physical activity.

Key Activities:

  • Hold regular meetings of partnership and individual partners
  • Renovate two alleyways and promote use
  • Hold monthly cleanups of alleyways
  • Hold weekly exercise classes for senior citizens
  • Provide community input to pedestrian master plan
  • Implement phase 1 of streetscape improvement plan
  • Assess bus stops for safety and accessibility
  • Advocate for connectivity among alleyways via crosswalks
  • Develop handbook of rec opportunities accessible by transit
  • Implement ped safety outreach program in elementary schools
  • Promote importance of active lifestyles with Chinese media
  • Continue aggressive fundraising (many grants in process)
  • Ten partners, including community association, public health, parking and traffic, public works, commercial corridor task force.

 

Philadelphia, PA

Lead Agency:     To Our Children’s Future With Health, Inc.
Community:     Philadelphia, PA
Project Area:     The Haddington neighborhood in West Philadelphia, an economically depressed area that is home to 22,368 residents.

Project focuses on conducting an active living assessment in the community and implementing a variety of targeted active living programs focused on walking and biking.

Key Activities:

  • Enhance active living focus of existing health services and nutrition subcommittee by creating a work plan to guide efforts
  • Conduct focus groups to better understand attitudes, barriers, opportunities and preferences related to physical activity; use results to develop a service delivery plan for the community
  • Develop and coordinate pilot project to promote walking/physical activity at three after-school programs
  • Conduct 12 community bike rides
  • Provide nine-week urban gardening program/club
  • Provide mobile market, focusing on nutrition with elderly
  • Provide regular health screenings
  • Nine-year collaborative includes 75 members and five subcommittees.

 

Jackson, WY

Community:     Town of Jackson. Jackson, WY
Project Area:     Teton County, WY; population of 18,251 and 3 million visitors annually.

Project focuses on implementing an active living media campaign, bike and walk to school and work programs and a public land active access program, and updating an existing pathways plan for bike, pedestrian and trail systems.

Key Activities:

  • Develop subcommittees and engage additional partners
  • Implement Be Today’s Solution media campaign for 2005
  • Initiate a bike and walk to school program for Jackson Hole
  • Implement and bike and walk to work program with businesses
  • Implement a public land active access program with national park
  • Update pathways plan for bike, ped and trail systems
  • Continue efforts to seek and secure additional funds
  • 17 partners, including health and public health, bike/ped, parks, recreation, mayor, architecture, education, chamber of commerce.

 

San Diego, CA

Lead Agency:      City of San Diego
Community:     San Diego, CA
Project Area:     The historic core of San Ysidro, a largely Hispanic neighborhood in San Diego, CA that is a formally designated redevelopment area.

Project focuses on developing a pedestrian pathways master plan as part of the Model Villages initiative to integrate active living and health into land use decisions.

Key Activities:

  • Develop a pedestrian pathways master plan that focuses on creating safe linkages between five schools and a new library
  • Conduct community outreach activities and workshops that address walkability, health and safety
  • Use experience as model to future development strategies
  • Six partners, including community and walking advocacy groups, public health, local schools.