Goals > Goal 3

Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being

Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being

Let’s make well-being a possibility for all ages. This includes healthy lifestyles, preventative care, and modern healthcare services for everyone.

West Central Initiative’s Early Childhood Initiative is a network of parents, educators, businesses, community leaders, faith leaders, and policymakers joined in a long-term effort to prioritize the care and development of young children. The Early Childhood Dental Network and Early Childhood Mental Health Network are two examples of how this work has grown into supportive community systems.

Through Safe Routes to School and other partnerships with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, we lift up pedestrian safety.  When we can walk and roll safely to the places we need to go, our community becomes accessible for all.

We support community funds in their pursuit of their local and global goals.

Since March of 2020, we’ve been working diligently to ensure our region had what it needed to put safety protocols in place and to stay as physically and mentally healthy as possible. This includes grants from our Resiliency Fund for personal protective equipment (PPE) and programs designed to allow much-needed socialization for youth, seniors, and those whose mental health was made increasingly vulnerable by isolation.

Our Early Childhood Initiative networks also secured and distributed PPE to emergency child care providers and other child education facilities when supplies were hard to find.

  • Find socialization groups in your community, including card clubs and elder-care visiting, that provide positive mental health supports.
  • Identify organizations that might help your neighbors with limited mobility, income, and/or social connection get to needed medical services and help them get connected. You might even consider becoming a volunteer driver for your county’s social service network!
  • Plant extra garden produce in the summer and provide it to your local food shelf or senior center.
  • Root for the home team! Support sports teams and other active-living events with your enthusiasm—and participate when you’re able.
  • Watch for cyclists and pedestrians, especially during times kids are headed to and from school.

Explore the map below: More indicators are available to view by expanding that menu at the left. Click on each county to see the data for each indicator.

This information was made available through a partnership with U-Spatial, a department of the University of Minnesota.

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Related Metrics and Progress for: All West Central Minnesota Counties

Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being
Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being
67.7% % of children have completed recommended vaccinations
Needs Work