Community Strong
Monthly news & updates
November 2020
Issue 11
Community Strong is proud to present the Fall 2020
PHOTO CONTEST WINNERS!
CONGRATULATIONS to the following WINNERS! Here are the first, second, and third place winners. They will have their work showcased at La Belle Vie: The Frenchtown Cafe for the month of December.
View From My Walk Category:
1st Place: Erica Wiley
2nd Place: JoAnn Cepeda
3rd Place: Peter Fairchild
Giving Tuesday provides a way for you to be a part of something bigger than yourself. You can make a serious difference in our community by providing this critical avenue for youth in St. Charles County. CLICK HERE TO JOIN US!
ACTION TEAM UPDATE!
The CRUSH Coalition acts to combat substance use disorder and improve mental health in St. Charles County. As we plot out the upcoming year’s events, Community Strong’s substance use prevention coalition is developing the final pieces of its rebrand including a new central website, flagship pamphlets, and resource cards. The websites structure is mostly designed. The flagship pamphlets will describe the history, strategies, and recurring/special events throughout each year. With the resource cards, we hope to equip our community with information, resources, services for nearly every SUD-related (substance use disorder) question or issue that our neighbors would need- whether you’re directly impacted by SUD or if you’re a concerned friend/family member.

CRUSH is also in early talks with the American Heart Association to implement SPE (Systems, Policy, Environment) interventions in St. Charles County.
The Workplace Wellness Action Team has begun assessing the results of the Certification Program Participants’ employee surveys and shipping its insights to each. Participants can use this collection of ideas and suggestions from our subject matter expert and professionals to refine their wellness programs. This action team will provide ongoing support as needed to each participant as we draw closer to the final reviews of the Healthy Workplace Award applications in March of 2021.
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Chronic Disease Management and Prevention Update:

There are a host of health issues associated with diabetes, and it can be tedious and time consuming to parse through everything you need. The Chronic Disease management and prevention action team is in the process of developing pamphlets with comprehensive referrals to cover any post-diagnosis needs for Type II Diabetes. Ideally, this guide will help reduce stress associated with the tedium while increasing the knowledge/access to locally available and nationally relevant resources, information, and services.

·        Personalized meal planning
·        Heart care
·        Foot care
·        Ear care
·        Eye care
·        Emergency Planning
·        Blood Glucose Management
·        Finding the Right BC Meter
·        Screenings
·        Kidney Care
·        Skin Care
·        Diabetes and Depression
·        Teeth and Gum Care
·        Comprehensive Care Services (DPPs, Education, etc.)

Catching prediabetes (or the risk of it) ahead of time is a crucial catchpoint for reducing diabetes incidence. This action team is also preparing a multimedia campaign to get St. Charles County residents to increase the rates of timely prediabetes and diabetes screenings. This campaign includes redirecting users to a quick 30-second online assessment of prediabetes risk, while emphasizing the ease of prediabetes prevention as opposed to the dramatic costs of letting risks go unnoticed.

CDMP is also in early talks with the American Heart Association to implement SPE (Systems, Policy, Environment) interventions in St. Charles County.
The CDMP action team is a powerhouse of expertise on the subject of Chronic Disease Management and Prevention (CDMP) and a variety of planned strategies and initiatives are in a meticulous research phase. With the remarkable leadership of the team ambassador, Nancy Gongaware, we will likely be kicking-off several research-driven approaches to tackling chronic disease in St. Charles County in the months ahead. CDMP volunteers are genuine, dedicated professionals and consistently offer a great deal of support to Community Strong initiatives generally. Our thanks to them is matched by our tremendous confidence in the sheer scope of impact for upcoming community strategies.
  -- update provided by Thomas Redd, Project Coordinator, Community Strong SCC
Try It You Might Like It
FITNESS CENTERS
An Important Update!

Area fitness centers and health clubs are an important part of many healthy lifestyle regimens. The Division of Environmental Health and Protection monitors the cleanliness of many of these facilities throughout St. Charles County. Health inspectors check the sanitation of equipment, locker rooms and shower facilities. These inspections verify safe and sanitary operations.


Please choose Fitness Center in the Sub Type menu. Then press Submit to view all establishments (in alphabetical order) with a current permit.
How do you want to connect to better health?

Preparing for Healthy Holidays
The crisp fall days let us know that Thanksgiving is getting close. It’s a wonderful holiday for enjoying comforting food and connecting with family and friends. It’s also the first major holiday this season that will feel different because of the pandemic.
With COVID-19 rates remaining high, it’s important to keep our families, our friends, and ourselves as safe and healthy as possible through the coming holidays.

Celebrate safely
Thanksgiving often means a big sit-down meal with close family, distant cousins, and old friends. But a classic indoor gathering also increases the risk of spreading the coronavirus. If just one person has the virus – even if he or she doesn’t feel sick – it can easily spread to others. A safer way to celebrate is to have a smaller Thanksgiving meal just with family members who live together.