Working Throughout Sectors to Make Maine Extra Lively
Two former Strolling Faculty Fellows share their distinctive collaborative efforts throughout sectors
By Anne Ball and Daybreak Littlefield-Gordon
Daybreak Littlefield-Gordon and Anne Ball are all the time searching for methods to collaborate between their two traces of work- public well being and financial growth. In 2021, America Walks and AARP Maine introduced the Strolling Faculty to the State of Maine, and Daybreak and Anne had been each accepted into this system. Collectively, they wished to help the statewide Lively Communities Surroundings Working Group (ACEWG), a cross-sector group convened by the state’s Weight problems Prevention Program throughout the Maine Heart for Illness Management and Prevention with no direct funding, that meets to collaborate on how one can make Maine extra energetic and safer for bodily exercise.
This group assists in informing Daybreak’s work because the Weight problems Prevention Program Supervisor and Anne’s work because the Sr. Program Director of the Maine Downtown Heart, the statewide coordinator for the Nationwide Fundamental Road Program, housed at Maine Growth Basis, a nonprofit financial growth group. The Maine Downtown Heart helps downtown revitalization, together with historic preservation, small companies, sound design, path connectivity, wayfinding, downtown occasions, protected streets, and creating locations folks need to dwell and go to.
A New Survey
Anne and Daybreak felt the ACEWG wanted a renewed and revised route for his or her work. It had been just a few years since this group had collected information from their stakeholders or had had funding for direct service programming, training, technical help, or surveys. The final statewide examine focused at identified native Lively Neighborhood Surroundings Groups (ACETS) was in 2020.
Anne and Daybreak believed that the panorama had modified by way of the pandemic and that reestablishing communication by conducting an outreach survey with the stakeholders would yield advantages for persevering with to help their efforts. This would supply an up to date baseline and obligatory information to drive the long run work of the ACEWG. In addition they hoped that casting a wider web statewide to the work to help energetic dwelling was wanted. The survey device was disseminated to numerous stakeholders, together with native ACETS path teams, public well being organizations, transportation non-profits, land trusts, strolling and biking teams and committees, age-friendly teams, and downtown organizations.
Anne and Daybreak pieced collectively funding for the survey by way of their Strolling Faculty Mini-grants, AARP Maine Sponsorship, America Walks Neighborhood Change Grant, and basic working from Anne’s group, Maine Growth Basis. The funding on this work permits the ACEWG to have concrete information and route for future funding proposals responding to what’s wanted in Maine. The responses will inform the long run work of the ACEWG.
Conducting the Survey
Hart Consulting was employed because the undertaking guide to develop the survey and accumulate and analyze the outcomes. The response fee was lighter than hoped however mirrored the outcomes from the 2020 survey. There have been 56 responses from 10 of 16 Maine counties, and the consequences shall be useful. Two-thirds of respondents mentioned that their teams deal with accessibility and age-friendliness so making energetic dwelling accessible and protected for a variety of individuals is a prime challenge for respondents. Another vital takeaways had been that greater than half of the respondents indicated they had been a part of age-friendly teams. Over one-third mentioned their teams had illustration from companies, bicycle-pedestrian committees, and parks and recreation division workers.
Apparently, few respondents indicated that youth or youth-serving organizations are represented of their teams. The ACEWG recognized this as a chance and can look so as to add youth-serving organizations to the group. Particularly, teams are fascinated by studying extra about site visitors calming (nearly half of the respondents), together with bodily design and different measures to enhance security for motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists, all with a purpose to fight rushing and different unsafe driving behaviors. Different priorities are constructing group help and funding sources and selecting methods which are possible and impactful. 85% of respondents are fascinated by technical help from the ACEWG! That claims the ACEWG has their work lower out for them!
Subsequent Steps
What’s subsequent? We’ll determine assets, together with funding, to offer the coaching and technical help we heard the native teams are fascinated by and have to do their work extra successfully. Anne and Daybreak are optimistic that working throughout public well being and financial and group growth sectors opens extra doorways for funding, permitting for broader group engagement and a extra substantial group consensus. It additionally opens the doorways to completely different funding alternatives that one in every of them couldn’t do alone.