(Boise, ID) – Sixteen Idaho cities completed the Community Health Academy this week, capping off a five-month learning collaborative in which each city earned a $20,000 grant from the Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health.
Community Health Academy is a program for mayors and city officials that helps them learn and understand the city’s important role in building healthy communities. Topics covered in this year’s academy were childcare, civility, early education, communications and branding, designing health communities, food systems, housing, and youth behavioral health.
The 16 cities that completed Community Health Academy are American Falls, Ashton, Bellevue, Bovill, Carey, Driggs, Eagle, East Hope, Firth, Ketchum, Lava Hot Springs, Marsing, Meridian, Newdale, Ponderay and Sandpoint. Each city will use its grant funding to launch or expand a project or program in the city.
“The Community Health Academy is one of our most impactful programs because mayors and staff who attend leave with knowledge, actionable items, and funding to help make transformational change within their communities,” said Courtney Frost, Senior Program Officer, Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health. “The opportunity to learn from experts and each other, as well as build relationships with peers across the state make this program unlike any other in Idaho.”