A healthy community coalition is a place where people come together to make the community better for themselves and their neighbors.

People work together on local issues that affect health and quality of live, such as:

• Housing and education
• Physical activity and recreation
• Child care and elder care
• Access to dental care
• A safe and clean environment
• Preventable diseases, such as heart disease
• Arts and cultural pursuits
• Transportation
• Healthy eating
• Spiritual and mental health
• Youth and teen safety
• Living tobacco-free

Members of the community decide together which problems to address.

First we get together

Local citizens work together to:

• Decide what health means to their community;
• Study the needs and assets of their community; and
• Set goals to help the community solve these problems.

Then we take action

• Using the goals, the coalition sets priorities and develops a plan of action.
• The whole community works together with the coalition on the plan.
• The coalition reports on successful outcomes to the community.

• Young people
• Local government
• Business
• Civic groups
• Faith communities
• Health and education
• Local newspapers and radio
• Recreational groups and facilities
• Arts organizations
• Grass roots organizations
• Parents
• Farmers
• Neighbors!