In case you didn’t make it to our Quarterly Community Meeting last week at Broad Meadow Brook in Worcester, here’s a little recap.
A fabulous spread of potluck dishes welcomed about 20 attendees, a mix of folks that we knew and some lovely new faces as well. People were told they could bring their kids and several did. Our youngest attendee was just one year old, who luckily found a friend in 
another young girl, and several teens attended with their parents as well.
Shelley Rodman of Mass Audobon’s Broad Meadow Brook welcomed us and told us all about the wildlife preserve that lies in the southern part of the city. She told us about the trails and their new “Sensory Trail” that is handicap accessible and even set up for the visually impaired to be able to take a safe hike and learn about the preserve.
Colin Novick of Greater Worcester Land Trust then gave us a great overview of all the outdoor resources throughout the city. He gave us a great image of what the city was like in 1900, with very few trees, a lot of industry, and a lot of air pollution. Now, over 100 
years later there are lots of trees and miles and miles of hiking trails all over the city. You can find maps of GWLT hiking trails here or check out the new and growing Hike Worcester website, where all the different trails will be cataloged with maps, regardless of who owns the land/trails! It was amazing to see so many different maps that showed the abundance of parks and trails that exist 
all right here in the city, like the Four Town Greenway map that highlights trails that lead from Paxton into Holden and down in Worcester, or the East Side Trail showing you how you could hike 3.4 miles from East Park on Shrewsbury St. up to Lake Quinsiggamond and only cross 2 streets!
After some discussion and Q&A, we took a lovely walk on the Sensory Trail and saw a whole lot of cute lil frogs down at the frog pond.
And if what you really wanted to know about were the updates on our Working Group and Legislative advocacy – don’t worry, here’s that for you too!
Community Health Improvement Plan
FALPC is leading the healthy eating and active living section of the Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) launched by Worcester DPH earlier this year. The plan calls for expanded access to healthy foods for low-income communities, more opportunities for physical activity throughout the city, a reduced rate of obesity by Grade 1, and an expanded communications plan to publicize it all. We’ve started an Early Childhood Obesity Working Group (first meeting Wed. July 16th at 3 pm, 50 Portland St.!), are working on policy priorities for urban agriculture, are beginning to implement a SNAP communications plan, the REC’s farmers’ markets and Mobile Market have expanded greatly this summer, Mass in Motion is beginning a Corner Store Project, WalkBike Worcester is working on getting more bike lanes throughout the city, more schools with Safe Routes to Schools programs, and more agreements between WPS and local communities for sharing of outdoor recreational areas! Stay tuned for all the updates on this great work!
SNAP Working Group
The SNAP Working Group has decided to put its energy and focus into a long-term communications strategy that will promote the SNAP program and all the good work it does. SNAP gets a bad reputation in the general media because of stories of fraud and corruption that hog headlines. These stories are often full of misinformation, misleading statistics, and rhetoric that puts the blame on folks that receive SNAP benefits. We want to clarify misinformation and be a voice of support for the program, hopefully building public awareness and lawmaker awareness. We’ll be working via print media, social media, radio and television. Keep an eye out for us!
Urban Agriculture Working Group
The Urban Ag Working Group has created a one-pager detailing what we want to see in terms of policy and support in the City for urban agriculture related initiatives. We are hoping to use this one-pager to begin conversations with city officials regarding zoning ordinances or other specific policy language that will help support existing programs and make way for others.
WalkBike Worcester
WalkBike Worcester has been busy! They are/have:
- Working with DPW and WPI to identify “low-hanging fruit” for striping bike lanes on roads to be resurfaced in FY15 construction season (also recently resurfaced roads)
- Participated in a Road Safety audit and design hearing for Lincoln St improvement project (from Marsh Ave near Hanover Insurance almost down to Plantation)
- Invited to be on upcoming mayor’s forum (result of meetings with mayor about Complete Streets)
- Participating in CHIP Violence/Injury Prevention workgroup focused on reducing motor vehicle-related injuries – trying to bring systems perspective
- Submitting testimony in support of Active Streets bill co-sponsored by Sen. Chandler
| Legislation | Current Status |
| Act to Expand Access to Healthy Foods (S.380/H.168) Rep. Linda Forry, Sen. Michael Moore Establishes a flexible financing program to provide support for the development, renovation and expansion of healthy food retailers in underserved communities. | H.168 became H.3504 when it was reported out of the Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Business. It is currently before the House Committee on Ways and Means. S.380 is currently in the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Ag where it is awaiting a hearing date. FALPC provided a letter of testimony in support of H.168. We’re working with others across the state to support this legislation. |
| An Act to facilitate the growth of innovative food enterprises in the Commonwealth (S.348) Sen. Chang-Diaz Creates the Food Innovation Trust Fund within the DAR to provide a dedicated source of financing for local food and farming entrepreneurs, particularly those operating in or serving distressed communities both urban and rural. | This legislation had a hearing recently and we are submitting written testimony. We will circulate our testimony as a template others can use to send in support to the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Ag. Worcester Rep. Mary Keefe sits on the committee – give her office a call! |
$10 million increase to reduce worker caseloads Line Item: 4400-1100 (DTA SNAP Workers).
|
An increase of $8.2 million went to DTA for admin, but not specifically for the SNAP program, and little, if any, will go to SNAP admin. The focus has become on requiring photo ID’s for EBT cardholders which has been made part of the supplemental budget (not yet signed by the Gov.). Our advocacy efforts are now on encouraging the Gov. to veto the measure, which is costly, ineffective, punitive and unprecedented. |
| An Act Relative to Active Streets And Healthy Communities (S.68/H.3091) Sen. Chandler and Rep. Lewis Creates an Active Streets Certification Program to encourage cities and towns across Massachusetts to invest in “Complete Streets” that accommodate all users, including pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit. | This was initially wrapped into overall Transportation Reform, but was then taken out. We have had op-eds published in the T&G and WBJ in support of this legislation. There is an event on Oct. 9th with the renowned Mark Fenton to promote this bill along with Zoning Reform. A hearing is scheduled for July 18th. We’ll be drafting testimony and will share it with you and encourage you to draft testimony as well if you are not able to attend in person. |
| Transportation Investment Act (S.1646/H.D.3119) Sen. Clark/Rep. Farley-Bouvier/SciortinoGuides transportation investment to build a financially stable, safer and more modern transportation system in every corner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Includes funding for gateway cities, such as Worcester, for investments in roads, bridges, WRTA improvements, sidewalks, bike lanes and transit-oriented development. | Again, in support of general transportation reform we wrote op-eds and submitted testimony at the Transportation Bond Bill hearing. A conference committee is working on a compromise between house and senate funding proposals. Statewide effort is now being funneled towards the Active Streets and Healthy Communities bill. |
| Physical Education for Healthy Kids Act (S.246/H.478) Sen. Thomas McGee and Rep. Jeffrey SánchezPromotes stronger physical education programs and increased physical activity in schools. | A hearing is scheduled for Sepetember 12. We will be drafting testimony in support of this and sharing it to encourage others to write testimony as well. |
| An Act to Support the Planning and Development of Sustainable Communities (H.1859). Sen. Wolf and Rep. Kulik Enhances and modernizes the planning regulatory tools for municipal zoning, subdivision control, and master planning to guide local growth, helping cities and towns improve how they design and build neighborhoods to promote long term health benefits. | A hearing was held on May 14th in the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government. We’re waiting for it to get reported out. The Oct 9th event with Mark Fenton is in support of this legislation as well. |
