Article submitted by Jamie Fleury, Staff Writer at The Pilot News
Linda Yoder, Co-Chair on the Health and Wellness Committee for Marshall County Crossroads, presented the Blue Zones Project to the Bourbon Town Council during their regular meeting in July.
Yoder, who is also the Director of the Marshall County Community Foundation and United Way, emphasized that the Blue Zones Project focuses on health and wellness.
The goal of the committee is to take a comprehensive approach to encourage people to make healthy choices and enable them to do so.
According to Yoder, Indiana ranks 39th out of 50 in the state on some health factors. Marshall County has slipped to 64 out of 92 counties on some health factors. Problem areas include high diabetes, high obesity, and high smoking rates. “All of those things put our population at risk.”
Yoder said those factors are alarming and that our life expectancy is decreasing as opposed to increasing.
Without change, the cost of healthcare is going to increase exponentially totaling millions of dollars.
The Blue Zones Project is evidence-based, measurable and inclusive. Over 70 other communities have embraced the Blue Zones Model and have seen improvements.
The project looks at policies, people and places to make changes that will improve access to health and wellness for residents.
None of the recommendations for policy changes are forced; they are suggestions.
People are encouraged to find their purpose and connect with others, a critical component of overall health and wellness.
Establishing places including restaurants and grocery stores that offer healthy food options and increasing walking trails, an initiative already embraced by Marshall County through Stellar and Regional Cities, help increase access to improved health factors.
The project is anticipated to catalyze more economic development, healthier workforces are more productive. Projects that focus on health and wellness also increase access to additional grant funding.
The full Blue Zones Transformation will take three years and eight months with a cost of $6.1 M.
The Marshall County Crossroads team has selected the Blue Zones Project as one of three major projects to submit as a county for Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI) Grant funding.
$1.22 M will be applied for from the READI Grant, which will require local funding in the same amount. Each municipality in Marshall County, along with the County, has been asked to support the project with 25% of their allotment of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. The ARPA doesn’t have to be the source of funding, but provided the benchmark for the request by the Marshall County Crossroads Team.
The Town of Culver and the City of Plymouth committed 25%. The Town of Bremen committed 10%. The Marshall County Council and Marshall County Commissioners have not confirmed a commitment at this time. Yoder will be approaching the Commissioners during their regular meeting before the 1st of August.
The ask from Bourbon is $91,777; equal to 25% of their estimated ARPA funding.
The Town of Bourbon will consider the request.
