“When you have kids, it's risky to buy new things”

“When you have kids, it's risky to buy new things”

A farmers market just for kids lets them try new vegetables without risking a family’s limited food budget. The Food Bank of the Southern Tier runs the Kids' Farmers Market program, which allows kids to "shop" for vegetables of their own choosing. 

Find a free blood pressure kiosk

Find a free blood pressure kiosk

Kiosks that provide accurate and fast blood pressure checks are located throughout Monroe and surrounding counties. This Google map shows the name and location of more than 100 free blood pressure kiosks.

Video: Evolving a culture of health

Video: Evolving a culture of health

Wade Norwood, CEO of Common Ground Health, shares how the High Blood Pressure Collaborative initiatives in doctors’ offices, churches and barbershops and salons have helped residents better manage their health and wellbeing.

Chartbook documents the heavy toll of poverty on health

Chartbook documents the heavy toll of poverty on health

Common Ground Health’s newly updated Health Equity Chartbook uses data analysis from multiple sources and more than 200 data graphs and maps to understand inequities—and to inform efforts to eliminate them.

Fresh herbs at your fingertips can mean less salt in your diet

Fresh herbs at your fingertips can mean less salt in your diet

A teacher of a nutrition class at an affordable living complex helps residents learn how to use fresh foods grown at a community garden at the facility to cut salt and improve their health.

Campaign aims to make streets safer for walkers and bikers

Campaign aims to make streets safer for walkers and bikers

Sixteen local groups, ranging from health organizations to government to cycling nonprofits, have banded together to launch a new community campaign aimed at reducing the number of crashes between motor vehicles and pedestrians and bicyclists. Called Drive 2B Better, the campaign asks drivers to slow down, scan and space their vehicles three feet from bicycles every time they’re behind the wheel.

"Affordability is always the focus": a conversation with Sue Segelman

"Affordability is always the focus": a conversation with Sue Segelman

Earlier this year we sat down with Sue Segelman, the nutrition outreach and education program coordinator at Legal Assistance of Western New York, Inc., to talk about what she sees as our region's greatest challenges to ensuring access to fruits and vegetables for everyone. We also talked about the "programs of promise" that help make fruits and vegetables more widely available.

Neighborhood intersection gets an extreme makeover

Neighborhood intersection gets an extreme makeover

Parsells Avenue and Greeley Street were transformed Sept. 8 as part of the Complete Streets Makeover project, a creative way to test street enhancements that could make neighborhoods roads more welcoming for non-vehicular traffic. 

How clinical data and coaching are driving improvement in high blood pressure

How clinical data and coaching are driving improvement in high blood pressure

 It’s one thing for medical practices to push for better blood pressure rates among patients. It’s another for them to see—with colorful numbers, charts and graphs—whether their efforts are making a difference.  And in large part because of the High Blood Pressure Registry, they are.

Curbside reliably provides the produce customers want. Could local supply meet this demand?

Curbside reliably provides the produce customers want. Could local supply meet this demand?

Lack of access to fruits and vegetables is directly related to higher rates of illnesses in many of our communities. But what if we removed the problem of access as a contributor to these health inequities in our region? Can we use our region’s agricultural abundance to ensure access to healthy food for all residents?

Greenway can improve health and reduce disparities, impact study finds

Greenway can improve health and reduce disparities, impact study finds

A new health impact assessment recommends dozens of upgrades to the Genesee Valley Greenway to help the 90-mile linear park reach its potential as a health resource for Monroe and Livingston counties.

Faith communities provide powerful path to health

Faith communities provide powerful path to health

An innovative initiative in a dozen African American churches has helped reduce dangerously high blood pressure rates among participants by more than 60 percent. Discover how spiritual support for healthy living is making a difference.