Latest News and Events at the Cleveland County Family YMCA



2007 Annual Report

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Annual Report Page 1 and Annual Report Page 2

Send an email to Shannon Hovis if you would like a rolled version of the
Annual Report for displaying.
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Recently, a delegation from North Carolina YMCA's visited our state representatives in
Washington, DC.

Pictured above is Senator Elizabeth Dole with the delegation.

Pictured with Congressmen Patrick McHenry is Brooks Corder, Cameron Corder and
Paul Vest (CEO of YMCA of Western North Carolina).

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Make your plans now to Join us for the

13th Annual YMCA Community Prayer Breakfast

featuring Dan Cathy,

President and Chief Operating Officer of Chick-fil-A.

New Date!!

Wednesday, May 28th

Since 2001, Dan has served as the president and chief operating officer of Chick-fil-A, Inc., and he has personally challenged himself with upholding Chick-fil-A’s efforts to provide genuine, heartfelt hospitality, and ensuring that customers have an exceptional dining experience when visiting a Chick-fil-A Restaurant. In his quest to provide customers with “2nd Mile Service" (exceeding even the highest expectations of a typical fast-food restaurant), Dan has defined a special role for himself – humbly saying, “I work in customer service.”

The serving line will open at 6:30 am with the program beginning at 7:15 am.  The breakfast will be catered by the local Chick-fil-A restaurant.  Tickets are on sale now for $12 per person or $80 per table of eight. Seating is limited. Tickets may be purchased at the Kings Mountain Family YMCA, Dover Foundation YMCA, Boiling Springs YMCA or Chick-fil-A of Shelby. For more information call the YMCA at 704-484-9622.

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Applications are now being accepted for the Candy Arey Scholarship Fund
through March 31st

To download a copy of the application click here.

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CLEVELAND COUNTY SELECTED FOR NATIONAL HEALTH & WELLNESS INITIATIVE;
ACHIEVE INITIATIVE FUELS COMMUNITY-BASED APPROACH TO COMBAT OBESITY AND CHRONIC DISEASES

CLEVELAND COUNTY, JANUARY 7, 2008 – The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) and the YMCA of the USA today announced that Cleveland County has been selected to become part of the Action Communities for Health, Innovation, and EnVironmental ChangE (ACHIEVE) initiative.  The newly launched ACHIEVE initiative will support local health departments and YMCAs to advance community leadership in the nation’s efforts to prevent chronic diseases and related risk factors. 

ACHIEVE is a partnership between NACDD and the YMCA of the USA.  Its purpose is to bring together local leaders and stakeholders to build healthier communities by promoting policy and environmental change strategies with a focus on:  increasing physical activity, improving nutrition, and preventing tobacco use. 

ACHIEVE fosters collaborative partnerships between state departments of health, local health departments, and YMCAs.  The initiative recognizes the roles of these institutions as trusted community conveners and aims to combine the public health expertise from the state and local levels with the deep and rich experience of the YMCA in providing community support and outreach.  ACHIEVE is funded by the Division of Adult and Community Health within the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

The 10 communities selected to join the initiative will become part of an aggressive social movement that is mobilizing leaders in local communities to respond to the public health challenge of obesity, physical inactivity and poor nutrition.  This movement was inspired, in part, by YMCA of the USA’s Pioneering Healthier Communities (PHC).  So far, 64 communities have convened leadership teams through PHC to make changes in their communities.    

The Cleveland County Health Department and the Cleveland County Family YMCA applied for this program and were selected after a competitive review process. The local health department and YMCA have maintained a healthy relationship within the community, and have collaborated on multiple interventions in which residents of Cleveland County have been able to participate in program opportunities targeting obesity prevention, physical activity, healthy eating, and healthy lifestyles. Examples of this joint Collaboration include: Activate Cleveland County (formerly “Shrinkdown”), the Step One Challenge county-wide walking contest, “Steptember”, the SENSE Program (Sensible Eating, Nutrition, and Self-Esteem), the Asthma Expo, and Healthy Kids’ Day.

“The Cleveland County Health Department is pleased to partner with the Cleveland County Family YMCA to support the ACHIEVE Initiative”, said Denese Stallings, Cleveland County Health Director.  “Promoting healthier lifestyles and supporting healthy communities will help us meet our goal of reducing chronic diseases. Through community collaboration, we can create a synergy that assists people in making healthy choices where they live, learn, work, pray and play.”

“The team-based approach modeled on YMCA of the USA’s Pioneering Healthier Communities, allows communities to provide a cohesive response to the lifestyle challenges facing our nation,” said Cameron Corder, CEO of the Cleveland County Family YMCA.  “By connecting the leaders who can affect change, communities are helping to make healthy behaviors an easier choice, not just the healthier choice.  These improved opportunities for active living and healthy eating are laying a foundation to help reduce the risk of chronic diseases that have taken such a serious toll on Americans.” 

“Cleveland County continues to remain ahead of the curve with obesity prevention and building partnerships for a healthier community for local residents,” said Karma Edwards, Director of Health Education/Health Promotion and Project Coordinator for the Fit Together Initiative at the Cleveland County Health Department.  “It is with great honor and excitement that we represent Cleveland County in this national endeavor to continue in our quest as advocates for healthy lifestyles for our community.”

The 10 teams selected to participate in ACHIEVE are: 

Black Hawk County Health Department and the Family YMCA of Black Hawk County, Iowa; Sedgwick County Health Department and the Greater Wichita YMCA, Kan.; Arcadia County Health Department and the Mt. Desert Island YMCA, Maine; Albuquerque Health Department and the YMCA of Central New Mexico, N.M.; Cattaraugus County Health Department and the Olean Family YMCA, N.Y.; Cleveland County Health Department and the Cleveland County Family YMCA, Shelby, N.C.; Stark County Health Department and the YMCA of Central Stark County, Ohio; Allentown Health Department and the Allentown YMCA & YWCA, Pa.; Harris County Health Department and the YMCA of Greater Houston, Texas; Tacoma Pierce City Health Department and the YMCA of Tacoma Pierce County, Wash.

What’s Next for ACHIEVE teams

Local health departments and YMCAs will immediately begin to compose teams consisting of 10 local leaders.  The teams will include: elected officials; state and local directors of public health organizations; business leaders from various industries; and, leaders of local schools, parks and recreation departments, hospitals, and other community organizations. These teams will convene at an Action Institute in Alexandria, Virginia, in June 2008.  At the conference, attendees learn about evidence-based approaches to affecting change in their communities from nationally known experts.

Karma Edwards, Director of Health Education/Health Promotion at the Cleveland County Health Department, and Jack Clevesy, Associate Executive Director at the Dover Foundation YMCA, will serve as the lead contacts for Cleveland County throughout the ACHIEVE Project. Anne Short, Executive Director of the Alliance for Health of Cleveland County, will serve as the leader and composer of the project’s CHART team (Community Health Action and Response Team). These individuals will be in attendance and represent Cleveland County at the Coaches Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia in February, 2008 and the Action Institute in Alexandria, Virginia in June, 2008.

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