June 26, 2017
Story Walk Opens at Phillis Wheatley Library
On May 31st, kids, families and neighborhood residents celebrated the grand opening of the interactive Story Walk at Phillis Wheatley Library! The project was one of 50 winners in KaBOOM's Play Everywhere Challenge last year. During the spring, local artist Shawn Dunwoody and Lisa Johnson from Writers & Books worked with kids from the neighborhood to write the story that is now displayed on the sidewalk outside the library. At the event, kids were already having fun being active and playing as they read the story along the sidewalks. The library has plans to update the Story Walk with new stories throughout the year, so keep an eye out for the next one! A big thank you goes out to the Rochester Public Library, the City of Rochester, the Corn Hill Neighbors Association, and Southwest Area Neighborhood Association (SWAN), who worked together to bring this project to life. Thanks also goes out to 13 WHAM and Fox Rochester, who covered the project. The Story Walk is one of many projects that are working to make the City of Rochester a more playable city. To learn more about our PlayROCs campaign, contact Jenn Beideman at jenn.beideman@commongroundhealth.org or 585-224-3151.
Don't Miss Out on Summer Food
Summer in Rochester means there are a lot of great opportunities to enjoy fresh meals and fruits and vegetables.
Foodlink's Curbside Market has released their summer schedule for this year. They have a new truck to help make the rounds this year! With three trucks travelling across the City you can't miss them!
The farmer's markets across the City have all opened for the summer season! Click here to view a list of farmer's markets in the City that accept SNAP/EBT and NY Fresh Connect Checks.
Summer meals will be offered at locations all over the city this summer and are free for kids 18 and younger. On Saturday, June 10th, over 600 kids and families came out to Summer Meals Fest at Frontier Field. Those that attended got to taste test new summer meal menu choices like a Cajun chicken panini, quesadilla with pineapple salsa, and southwest salad. Everyone also had some fun getting active with the obstacle course, games and bounce house that were set up for the event. To learn more about summer meals and for a complete list of locations visitsummermealsroc.org.
Healthy Happenings in El Camino
On June 3rd, about 300 residents came out to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the El Camino Trail with a 5k walk. All proceeds from the event went towards extending El Camino Trail, which includes connecting to the west side of the Genesee River over the Trestle Bridge. Mike Bulger, from the Healthi Kids team, worked with C&C Delicious Market (previously Friendly Mini Mart) to make healthy smoothies for everyone to enjoy after their walk. Ibero-American Action League (IADC) will be hosting "Conkey Corner Play" this summer every Monday-Friday from 11 am-2 pm atConkey Corner Park, so be sure to stop by for some fun! To learn more about healthy communities contact Mike Bulger at mike.bulger@commongroundhealth.orgor 585-224-3171.
SAVE THE DATE: PlayROCs Your Neighborhood 2017
Last year, Healthi Kids had a crazy idea - to partner with neighborhoods across the city to create multiple pop up play spaces on the same day. The event, PlayROCs your Neighborhood, brought together 14 neighborhoods across the city to raise awareness for safe and accessible play spaces for every child, in every neighborhood. What started as a spark, created a movement among our neighborhood partners. This year our coordinated play day is back and bigger than ever! 20 sites across the city including block clubs, libraries, churches and neighborhood associations will be taking part in the event. PlayROCs Your Neighborhood will take place on Saturday, July 15th from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm (times vary by site). Having a place for children and adults to play, walk and bike in their neighborhood was, and continues to be a quality of life issue. Every child, no matter where they live, has the RIGHT to PLAY. Please come out to support and join in the fun at the site nearest you! Click here to view a map of this year's site locations and the fun activities they'll be hosting! To learn more about our PlayROCs campaign contact Jenn Beideman at jenn.beideman@commongroundhealth.org or call 585-224-3151, or visit playrocs.org. If you're interested in volunteering for the event, please contact Jenn, or Hannah at hannah.shippee@commongroundhealth.org or 585-224-3152.