ABOUT GET ACTIVE AND STAY ACTIVE HOWARD COUNTY
On Sunday, June 5th, we celebrated 10 weeks of Get Active Howard County at Healthy Howard Day. Thousands of individuals throughout Howard County attended this event----more importantly, they participated! Healthy Howard Day is more than a health fair and it's more than a celebration. It's a "roll up your sleeves", get active, high energy event to show everyone what Howard County has to offer. But just as important, it's a call to action for everyone of us to Stay Active!
Stay Active Howard County is a year round FREE community-wide physical fitness and wellness initiative designed to support Howard County in becoming the “fittest county” in America. The primary goal is to increase awareness of healthy lifestyle habits and to motivate people to participate in 30 minutes or more of moderate physical activity for at least five days per week. Individuals are encouraged to form or join a business, school or community team.
Teams can be any size. Once your team is signed up, you will have the ability to participate in the many free events that are being offered across the county by our partners, activity sponsors and wellness professionals. The calendar continues to be updated and expanded to include a broad range of wellness activities, opportunities for health screenings, health education workshops and more. Visit www.stayactivehowardcounty.org and check out the calendar. All year round we encourage participants to track their activity minutes, learn from our weekly wellness communications and participate in the many wellness related opportunities happening throughout Howard County.
We are available to talk to you, or your group or organization, to show you how easy it is to get started. This is a great way to intensify a current wellness program, or help you get a wellness program started. Many groups have expressed that their biggest obstacles to starting a wellness program are time and money. Stay Active Howard County is FREE and we can provide all of the simple tools, communications and even activities! Time and money should never be an issue!
PARTNERS AND SPONSORS
We Promote Health, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, coordinates Get Active Howard County (GAHC) and Stay Active Howard County (SAHC) with a grant from the Horizon Foundation and in partnership with the The HC Public School System, HC Health Department, Healthy Howard, HC Chamber of Commerce, HC Recreation and Parks, HC General Hospital, HC Citizen Services, HC Library, The Villages of Columbia, Univ. of MD Extension Services, HC PTA, Columbia Assoc., Y of Central MD, Howard Community College, Tai Sophia Institute, American Cancer Society and the Horizon Foundation.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Individuals are encouraged to form or join a business, school or community team. Teams can be as small as a family, and as diversified as a school class or faculty, a business or sales team, a soccer team or social club.
Once signed up, each participant will have their own unique password, a physical activity tracker and access to a community-wide calendar. Each team has a team captain who will have special tools to communicate with team members. Team captains receive weekly communications to help them keep their teams motivated and engaged. Community partners and activity sponsors offer year round opportunities; most of them free. Individuals can participate as little or as much as they want. Stay Active Howard County is about helping individuals build regular physical activity and healthy lifestyle habits into their lifelong daily routine.
HISTORY
In 2003 the Columbia Association, working with the American Cancer Society and a growing number of community and government partners, expanded on the American Cancer Society’s “Active for Life” program. While the original concept included the ability for everyone to track their activity minutes, CA and its partner organizations added a calendar of wellness activities and made them available to all participants throughout the 10 week period. Get Active Howard County is unique in that it is powered by the collaboration of individuals and organizations throughout our community who are working together to offer wellness opportunities, in the broadest sense, to every individual that lives, works or plays in Howard County.
MISSION
Get Active Howard County, in support of the Healthy Howard initiative, strives to encourage schools, businesses and all Howard County residents to live healthy lifestyles through increased physical activity and healthy living.
VISION
To make a visible, measurable difference in lifestyle standards in schools, workplaces and throughout the Howard County community.
Questions: info@stayactivehowardcounty.org