The State Partnership for Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity Prevention

Transforming Your Community to Support Health in New Jersey!

Workshop Resource Guide

The organizations listed belowwere invited to send representatives to the Transforming Your Community to Support Healthworkshop held in Hamilton Township, NJ on October 19, 2016 to share resources available throughout the state to promote and support healthy, active community environments. These resources include grants, technical assistance, toolkits, certification programs, advocacy and more:

American Heart Association | American Stroke Association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. Founded by six cardiologists in 1924, our organization now includes more than 22.5 million volunteers and supporters. We fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide critical tools and information to save and improve lives. To improve the lives of all Americans, we provide public health education in a variety of ways: We’re the nation’s leader in CPR education training. We help people understand the importance of healthy lifestyle choices. We provide science-based treatment guidelines to healthcare professionals to help them provide quality care to their patients. We educate lawmakers, policymakers and the public as we advocate for changes to protect and improve the health of our communities. We focus on empowering families, workplaces and communities to build a culture of health through eating better, moving more and creating healthier environments.

For more information, visit or email Courtney Nelson, Senior Director of Community Health of NJ at or call 609.223.3734.

Department of Family and Community Health Sciences (FCHS), part of Rutgers Cooperative Extension, promotes healthy families, schools and communities through education, research and collaboration with outreach in food, nutrition and healthy lifestyles. Our educators are available to provide nutrition education; cooking classes; technical assistance on school wellness policies and programs including Farm-to-School and school garden initiatives;worksite wellness programs; chronic disease prevention and management programs and more. Professional development programs and train-the-trainer programs are also available. FCHS educators serve on a wide variety of county and state coalitions and are an integral part of building healthy communities in New Jersey.

Visit: or contact Dr. Kathleen Morgan, Chair

Department of Family & Community Health Sciences at or call 848-932-3604.

National Association of Realtors® Smart Growth Program provides grants to state and local Realtor® associations to help them get involved in making their community a better place to live. These grants, up to $15,000, are intended to have Realtors® join with other community organizations to become involved in land use and transportation planning projects, including Complete Streets, Safe Routes to School and biking and walking plans. NAR’s Placemaking Grants support the construction of neighborhood gathering places.

Visit: or contact:

Hugh Morris, AICP, LEED AP

Manager, Smart Growth Programs

National Association of Realtors

500 New Jersey Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20001

202-383-1278

New Jersey Bicycle and Pedestrian Resource Center (BPRC) assists public officials, transportation and health professionals, and the public in creating a safer and more accessible walking and bicycling environment through primary research, education and dissemination of information about best practices in policy and design. The Center is supported by the New Jersey Department of Transportation through funds provided by the Federal Highway Administration. The Center’s staff members specialize in bicycle and pedestrian safety, planning and policy; complete streets; open streets (Ciclovia); crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED); bicycle and pedestrian audits, etc.

To find out more, please visit or email or call848-932-2899.

New Jersey Bike & Walk Coalition is recognized by the League of American Bicyclists as New Jersey's statewide advocacy organization working to make roads safer for bike riders and pedestrians. We work with local community advocates who are interested in

starting bicycling and walking projects in their towns; we offer access to resources and advice on running successful campaigns;and, we make connections, build partnerships

and identify best practices that can be shared across communities. We also create and advocate for statewide legislation to make roads safer.

The NJBWC organizes the annual NJ Bike & Walk Summit; the eighth annual summit will be held on Saturday, February 25, 2017 at Princeton University. This is a gathering of over 250 local advocates, health experts, consultants, planners, environmental leaders and others who are interested in making their communities more livable places through biking and walking.

website:

Facebook:

New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute is the only independent, nonpartisan, multi-stakeholder advocate for health care quality in New Jersey. We are committed to improving health care quality and safety, expanding access to good care, and controlling costs for employers and consumers. Our mission is to undertake projects and promote system changes to ensure that quality, safety, accountability and cost-containment are closely linked to the delivery of health care services in New Jersey.

Among the projects we run is the Mayors Wellness Campaign (MWC), a statewide community health initiative in partnership with the New Jersey State League of Municipalities. The MWC gives mayors tools and strategies to champion healthy and active living and to improve the overall health of their communities. When mayors promote healthy living they can drive community-wide change. The MWC gives you the platform and tools you need to make your community a healthier place to live.

Web site:

New Jersey Health Initiatives(NJHI) is the statewide grantmaking program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Established in 1987 in honor of the New Jersey philanthropic legacy of RWJF’s founder, Robert Wood Johnson, NJHI supports innovations and drives conversations to build healthier communities through grantmaking across New Jersey. To meet the many health needs of our state’s diverse populations, regions and communities, the NJHI program encourages collaboration across sectors to foster deep relationships committed to long-term change affording all New Jerseyans the opportunity to live the healthiest life possible.

Learn more about NJHI at and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/NJHI_.

New Jersey Healthy Communities Network(NJHCN)brings together local, regional and statewide leaders to support communities in developinghealthy environments where people live, work, learn and play. Network partners--including community grantees and several funders--seek to make a collective impact on community well-being by being mutually engaged, mutually accountable and sharing responsibility for goal-oriented action. Since its inception, the Network’s community grants program has awarded $2 million in small grants to community organizations and local agencies across the state. The current round of grant funding to 43 grantees runs through 2017.

Web site:

Visit our blog and see what our grantees are accomplishing at:

New Jersey Prevention Network’s “GET ACTIVE NJ” program helps communities across New Jersey to create more walkable communities. The program’sWalking Toolkit is filled with best practices, sample policies and linkages to additional national and state resources.“Get Active NJ” encourages municipalities to educate stakeholders on policy options that can help improve community walkability and promote the many benefits that walking can have on their communities. NJPN is currently providing mini-grants to a small number of communities through funding from the New Jersey Department of Health, as well as technical assistance and trainings to municipalities as they move through the policy change process.

To learn more, visit

Toolkit available at: get-active-nj/

New Jersey Safe Routes to School(SRTS), was created and is supported by the New Jersey Department of Transportation with funding from the Federal Highway Administration. The program enables and encourages safer and more accessible walking and bicycling environments for children in New Jersey through education, training, and research. Safe Routes to School projects can involve physical improvements to the environment, as well as encouragement programs to promote more walking and bicycling to and from school. The NJ Safe Routes to School program is a partnership between the NJ Department of Transportation, NJ Safe Routes to School Resource Center at Rutgers University and all eight of New Jersey’s Transportation Management Associations (TMAs).

Visit:

New Jersey Safe Routes to School Resource Center, housed at the Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University, provides services, training, coordination, and technical assistance directly to municipalities, schools, school districts, local and regional organizations and the general public in creating a safer and more accessible walking and bicycling environments through research, education and dissemination of information about best practices in policy and design.

Visit:

New Jersey Transportation Management Associations Safe Routes to School Regional Coordinators

SRTS Regional Coordinators at New Jersey’s eight Transportation Management Associations (TMAs) provide technical assistance and consultation that support a variety of Safe Routes to School projects throughout New Jersey including pedestrian and bicycle education and encouragement events. No matter where you live in New Jersey there is a TMA willing and able to help you start or expand your SRTS program.

  • EZ Ride TMA -

Covers Bergen and Monmouth Counties; urban areas of Essex, Passaic, and Union Counties

  • TransOptions TMA

Covers Morris, Sussex, and Warren Counties; suburban areas of Passaic, Union, and Essex counties

  • Hudson TMA

Covers Hudson County

  • Ridewise TMA

Covers Somerset County

  • HART Commuter Information Services TMA

Covers Hunterdon County

  • Keep Middlesex Moving TMA

Covers Middlesex County

  • Greater Mercer TMA

Covers Mercer and Ocean Counties

  • Cross County Connection TMA

Covers Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, & Salem Counties.

Find your SRTS Regional Coordinator here:

Project for Public Spaces’ (PPS) transportation group offers an array of services that are “Place-Led”. This includes community- and place-led planning, project support for livable streets and transit stops, as well as training to empower communities to continue to do this on their own. A Place-Led approach involves creating a vision -- the recipe -- for a community first and then planning and designing to ensure that streets, transit stops and public spaces provide the right ingredients for that recipe. We also support Healthy Places and Active Transportation, with a long resume of work supporting health departments collaborating with transportation agencies.

Visit:

Email or call 212.620.5660

Sustainable Jersey is a network and movement of 440 municipalities and 736 schools and school districts working collectively to achieve a sustainable future. The Sustainable Jersey nonprofit provides free technical assistance, tools, training and grants to support communities as they pursue sustainability programs. By supporting community efforts to address health and wellness, advance complete streets, support clean air initiatives, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and improve environmental equity, Sustainable Jersey is empowering communities to build a better world for future generations.

For more information, visit or or call 609.771.2938.

New Jersey Department of Health