7 Important Measures To Rate the Health Of Your Community

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The quality of the health of Americans is influenced by communities in which people live, learn, work, grow and play. Communities can support well-being and help residents make healthy choices easy and affordable. Healthy and safe community environments include those with clean air and water, affordable and secure housing, sustainable and economically vital neighborhoods.

When you ask people what makes a healthy community, the answer is almost always medical care, availability to hospitals & doctors and access to good health insurance.  People who reside in a healthy community feel safe, are well informed, have the power to make choices, have lasting friendships with one another, have strong families, and a sense of purpose and well being in their lives. 

Here are 7 Measures To Rate the Health Of Your Community.

1. My Community's First Visual Appearance: Every resident wants to live in a visually appealing neighborhood. When you drive home from dinner or the movies and pull into your community are you proud of its visual appeal or do you comment on things that may be an eyesore?  A visually appealing community at first glance helps keep property values high and attracts quality buyers into the community.
2. My Community's  Walkability  Can members of your community walk to any of their daily activities, such as work, school, church or the market? The walkability of a community plays a big role in the health of community members and the feel of participating in and engaging in activities with neighbors.
3. My Community's Leisure Activity Areas: Does your community have or does your association maintain common community areas for residents to enjoy such as: sidewalks, a park, bike lanes or bike or jogging trails? Those who live in communities that support walking, cycling and outdoor recreation are far more likely to be physically active, according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a national nonprofit that works to improve the health of Americans. Residents who exercise and spend time outdoors engaging in activities with their families are happier neighbors.
4. My Community's Proximity To Supermarkets or Health Food Stores Versus A Convenience Store: Having a fresh-food or healthy supermarket nearby  helps residents think healthy and make healthier decisions. Healthy eating is associated with a lower rate of obesity, while living close to a convenience store, which usually doesn't sell fresh produce, has been linked to higher rates of obesity.
5. My Community's Environment: Is the area around your home and community relatively free of air pollution and water pollution? Is your community located in close proximity to area factories that could release toxic chemicals, lead hazards and other air pollutants, as well as contaminated drinking water.
6. My Community's Location Near A Major Medical Center: Is your community located near a hospital in case of an emergency? Consider how far you are from your family's primary health-care providers. Though you hope you never need it, how close you live to high-quality health care can have a considerable bearing on your quality of life. Residents who live near health providers are more likely to receive the care they need to stay healthy.
7. My Community's Friendliness: Friendly community members usually cultivate friendships with neighbors. Residents of close-knit neighborhoods are more likely to work together to keep their neighborhoods safe and look out for one another, creating a healthy social environment, than those who live in disconnected communities where neighbors are constantly bickering and fighting.

Organize a Community Shredding Event

Are you looking to host a great spring event for your community?  There are numerous ways community members can come together.

At AMG we not only want residents to be safe we want to protect your financial lives. Protect your community from financial fraud with this great event. 

As you start spring cleaning, are you wondering what to keep and what to shred?  Invite the residents in your community to come on out and get rid of all those sensitive documents. Community Shred-it events help make communities safer places to live.

Save Forever

Keep documents related to major life events – birth, marriage, divorce, and death. Lock securely:

·         Birth certificates or adoption papers

·         Social Security cards

·         Citizenship papers or passports

·         Marriage or divorce decrees

·         Death certificates of family members

Also, keep auto titles and home deeds stored safely for as long as you own the property

Items to Shred:

 Junk  mail and old papers that carry your Social Security number (but don’t destroy your Social Security card), birth date, signature, account numbers, passwords or PINs.

Shred deposit slips and ATM and credit card receipts immediately after you get your monthly statements. Shred used airline tickets, unneeded medical bills, preapproved credit card applications and expired IDs such as driver’s licenses, medical insurance cards and passports.

If you have a one-day paper shredding event you should include specific information (time, day, location, etc.), a sponsor, if any, who residents should call/email with questions, a website, etc.

These events help spread the word about identity theft, which continues to be a serious issue today. Bureau of Justice statistics show that an estimated 16.6 million Americans (17% of people over the age of 16) experienced at least one incident of identity theft in 2012. Also, identity theft cost $24.7 billion (which was over $10 billion more than what all other property crimes in the U.S. cost).

What Gives the Association the Right to Tell Me What to Do?

In a nutshell: the association declaration and state law gives the association the authority to regulate some of what you can do in our community.

Community associations have a governmental component. Like a city or county government, a community association has a charter—called the declaration. The declaration encompasses bylaws, covenants and other documents that give community associations their legal foundation.

These governing documents obligate the association to preserve and protect the assets of the community. To enable the board to meet this obligation, association governing documents also empower the board to make rules and define the process for adopting and enforcing them—within limits. Governing documents also establish parameters for the nature and type of rules the board can make.

State law gives associations the authority to make rules. These are called common interest community statutes, and they apply to condominiums, cooperatives, and property owners associations.

Remember, however, that the board can’t make or enforce any rule that is contrary to the governing documents, local ordinances, state law or federal regulations. Remember also that the board makes rules on your behalf—to protect your investment, your home.

Deadline Extended for the Student Ethics Scholarship Award

The deadline for the Student Ethics Scholarship Award of the Better Business Bureau of Central NC has been extended from March 4 to March 28.

"We want to give students every opportunity to win this scholarship," said Kevin Hinterberger, president and CEO of the BBB. "This extension should take the students through spring break."

Hinterberger also reminded Accredited Businesses that and their relatives are eligible to participate in the scholarship.

"We'd love to have one of our BBB family members win a scholarship," said Kevin Hinterberger, president and CEO of the BBB.

And thanks to BB&T, the scholarships will be substantially increased this year - $17,500 will be available for four scholarships.

"BB&T has made our scholarship something even more special with their gift," said Kevin Hinterberger, president & CEO of the BBB.

The scholarship recognizes high school students who personify high ethical standards.

That gift will allow BBB in 2016 to award one scholarship for $7,500, one for $5,000 and two for $2,500.

Scholarships can be submitted by mail, in person or by going online at:

http://www.bbb.org/greensboro/programs-services/scholarship/

The award is open to any senior attending high schools in Guilford, Alamance, Randolph, Rockingham and Caswell counties and the city of Thomasville. The deadline is March 28.

A winner may plan to attend any accredited college, university, community college, or trade school, with either a two-year or four-year degree program, in a field of the student's choice.

The scholarships are for one year.
Judging will be conducted by an independent panel of judges. Criteria will be based upon leadership, community service, academic achievement and a 500-word essay on an ethical dilemma that the student has faced.

The winners will be announced in the spring.

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