Grant Funds Fuel Health Initiative

After 26 years as a physical education teacher, coach and small business owner, Miller is the new coordinator for the Statewide Health Improvement Program in Waseca and Le Sueur Counties.

“I like challenges and health related issues,” he said. The two-year SHIP program makes him feel like he’s taking on a new team or a new challenge, similar to coaching, he said.

The vision includes tobacco-free parks, playgrounds and beaches, connecting people with cessation services to help them quit smoking, and implementing breakfast promotions, healthy lunches and snacks and farm-to-school initiatives.

The program is the result of a joint application submitted by the Community Health Board of Waseca and Le Sueur Counties, which was funded and now needs planning to be successful, according to Waseca County Public Health Director Cheri Lewer, Community Health Administrator for SHIP.

Together, the counties will receive a two-year $407,000 grant, one of 39 grants totaling $47 million awarded statewide. The money will be used to fund implementation of the counties’ goals.

The Community Leadership includes public health departments in both counties, public schools in Waseca, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva, and Waterville-Elysian/Morristown, county commissioners of both counties, Waseca Medical Center, Brown Printing Company, City of Le Sueur Parks & Recreation Department, and Waseca Community Education.

For six months, the Le Sueur-Waseca Community Health Board has worked towards implementation of systems changes around obesity and tobacco use and exposure.

Hiring Miller as the coordinator was the first step in the process.

The second step was to choose interventions to reduce obesity and reduce tobacco use.

After months of planning, implementation of the SHIP interventions began April 1. Miller is looking for community members and organizations to be part of setting up the programs and a leadership team to serve in small groups for each intervention.

“Our goal is to make it easy for the public to be healthy,” said Miller.

To begin, Miller is asking residents to complete and return one of the 400 random surveys that are being mailed April 19 in Waseca County. The surveys are going to 30,000 households in 19 counties in Southwest and South Central Minnesota.

The survey is sponsored by the Statewide Health Improvement Program and all local public health providers in the region, conducted by Wilder Research of St. Paul.

It will ask questions about the residents’ nutrition, physical activity and tobacco use and will be used to determine current health status and barriers to good nutrition and physical activity. Information gathered from the surveys will be confidential and will be combined into a summary to be available in July.

The results will guide the selection of interventions that could reach 47,500 residents in the Waseca-LeSueur area.

Secondly, he is looking for community members and organizations to serve in small groups or apply for mini grants.

“The best thing is getting the community involved,” Miller said. “Without their support, it won’t be successful.”

Contact Miller at 507 835-0686 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Ruth Ann Hager is at 507- 837-5446 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .