Healthy Roots of Crawford County promoting wellness in the workplace
Sonya Lenzendorf
The Crawford County Board of Supervisors ‘Took the Pledge’ at their February meeting. The board also passed a resolution making a commitment to the health and well-being of county employees.
By Ted Pennekamp
Healthy Roots of Crawford County, an organization that began in 2012, has recently been focusing on a relatively new program designed to get employees of businesses throughout the county to become healthier and happier.
“We would like all businesses and organizations to join our effort to promote healthy living across the lifespan for all residents,” said new County Health Educator Sonya Lenzendorf.
Lenzendorf said community forums have been held and 27 organizations have taken the pledge so far to promote healthier employees. One of the latest organizations to take the pledge was the Crawford County Board of Supervisors during their regular meeting in February. All board members got their photos taken while holding up “I Took the Pledge” signs as they pledged to take steps to make the county’s employees healthier.
One of the concepts is that healthier employees make more productive employees. Healthcare costs for employees should go down as well.
Lenzendorf said there will be an employee wellness team at the county that will highlight healthy activities happening throughout Crawford County and promote work site wellness.
In fact, not only is Healthy Roots continually seeking more businesses to take the pledge, they are also contemplating having some sort of health-related competition between businesses or organizations, said Lenzendorf. It is not yet known what such a competition would consist of, but one idea might be to hold a business total weight loss competition.
Individuals can take the pledge as well, said Lenzendorf, who noted that businesses and organizations can incorporate a vision into their policies and work practices to work toward healthier employees. Individuals can become involved in specific projects or advocate for health in their surroundings.
“We are striving for a broad cross section of community members working to create a culture of wellness in Crawford County,” Lenzendorf said.
She said the vision for Healthy Roots is for everyone to have an equal opportunity to be healthy and focus on community level changes.
The goals of Healthy Roots is to increase access to: active places and spaces, healthy food options, and community resources. Lenzendorf encourages everyone to get involved in some way.
More information
Interested persons can find more information at tinyurl.com/healthyroots. The phone number is (608) 326-0223. The email address is healthyroots2018@gmail.com.
