New project encourages Baldwin and Ludington residents to get active in their own neighborhoods

January 15, 2021

Summary: New wayfinding signs in two northwestern lower Michigan communities are encouraging public housing residents to get out and walk routes in their neighborhoods, as part of a greater effort to promote physical activity and healthier lifestyles. In September 2020, temporary lawn signs marking the designated routes were placed outside Lawndale Apartments in Ludington and the Baldwin Housing Commission in Baldwin

Challenge: Residents of Lake and Mason counties, where Baldwin and Ludington are located, experience many barriers to physical activity. Many residents lack transportation to get to parks or outdoor recreation areas that offer walking, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Public infrastructure, such as pedestrian crossings and sidewalks, is often lacking, hindering the ability for people to walk safely. While Ludington has a downtown walking route for tourists, it lacks similar pathways for its residents. Lawndale Apartment residents have to cross a busy five-lane road to access some services on the other side.

Solution: District Health Department #10 (DHD#10), which serves 10 counties in northwestern lower Michigan, created signage for a 20-minute walking loop that extends around the Baldwin Housing Commission complex, and for a 12-minute loop at Lawndale Apartments. Through a SNAP-Ed grant from Michigan Fitness Foundation (MFF), DHD#10 is working to make community changes that encourage walking. DHD#10 is using MFF’s Promoting Active Communities (PAC) online tools, which help communities assess how their policies, programs, and infrastructure are supporting or hindering active living. It also gives them feedback and planning tools to make changes that support active living.

The work focuses on improving health for residents living in public housing in Lake and Mason counties, which serves low-income residents and senior citizens. One of DHD#10’s SNAP-Ed program goals was to develop and initiate a policy, systems, and environmental change project to expand access to physical activity and encourage residents to be active.

DHD#10 and a team of community partners used the PAC online tools to pinpoint areas of strength and places for improvement. Based on results of the PAC online tools, the community teams planned to take action and provide wayfinding signage with cues for ways to be more physically active in the communities. Permanent signage and other infrastructure improvements are costly, so DHD#10 is focusing on the temporary wayfinding and route markers to encourage people to move in their own neighborhoods.

“There are many factors that go into people leading active lives. It was a quick win that we could do the walking signs during COVID season. We can’t really gather like we used to. There are things right in our backyard or in our neighborhood that we can do. We can have a COVID-friendly strategy,” said DHD#10 Public Health Educator Katie Haner.

Sustaining success: DHD#10 and its community partners want to look beyond the goals of their SNAP-Ed program and see what else can be done in their communities to promote physical activity. DHD#10 has also received MFF funding to continue their work in 2021, with a focus on neighborhoods in Big Rapids, Ludington, and Manistee. By using MFF’s PAC online tools and applying those learnings, they have gained a deeper understanding of the barriers to active living in their communities and now have best-practice solutions to overcome those barriers, setting the stage for broader collaborative efforts in the future. This work is aligned with SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework Indicators MT6, ST8, and possibly other sectors of influence indicators depending on community coalition decisions.