When you build a house, you anchor it with a solid foundation. When you build a healthy community, you must start with a base of strong, healthy and happy children.

It all starts here.

So as the Foundation moves towards its long-term vision of building the healthiest community in America, it must spend a lot of time developing the health of our children. The Foundation currently invests a significant portion of its annual grant funding on programs, services and partnerships supporting children.

Governor Crist and Chris Watson

Grant Spotlight

Coordinated Youth Initiative (CYI) programs developed and supported by WPHF are getting state-level attention because Chris Watson, RN, Winter Park High School’s nurse and Healthy School Team co-leader, was hand-picked to join in a roundtable discussion on school health issues with Gov. Charlie Crist and attend his Council on Physical Fitness inaugural meeting.

The roundtable session, held at the Governor’s mansion in Tallahassee, included about a dozen people from around the state. Those attending included principals, physical education instructors, food service managers, as well as registered nurses. Ms. Watson was Orange County’s only representative.

Crist’s session was called “Healthy School Team Successes and Challenges.” He wanted to hear about what the Winter Park Consortium of Schools is doing with healthy school teams and what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to school health, according to Ms. Watson.

In addition, Ms. Watson was invited to attend the inaugural meeting of the Council on Physical Fitness, established by Crist to develop a comprehensive state plan to promote physical activity and good nutrition for all Floridians. The council’s website is www.HealthyFloridians.com

For more information, contact:
Shellene Mazany, LCSW
Program Officer
Email: smazany@wphf.org