UGA, North Central Health District, and Georgia Hi-Lo Trail Collaboration Gathers Data to Create Active Routes to Everyday Destinations
Despite sweltering temperatures, community members came out in large numbers to attend the Washington County Chamber of Commerce Back-to-School Kickoff on July 26th. The joint initiative to engage Washington County residents in mapping a healthier, more active, and better-connected future included asking them to mark everyday destinations on local maps and identify safe routes for walking and biking.
The community mapping event represents a collaboration between the Georgia Hi-Lo Trail and two CDC-funded health initiatives: the Georgia High Obesity Program (G-HOP), a partnership between the UGA Colleges of Public Health, Environment and Design and UGA Extension, and the Supporting Health Initiatives & Nurturing Equity (SHINE) program operated by the North Central Health District of the Georgia Department of Health.
Multi-Agency ‘Better Together’ Approach
“Better Together is part of our organization’s ethos. This event demonstrates how public health goals and transportation infrastructure can work together, and it reinforces the importance of community partnerships.” explained Georgia Hi-Lo Trail Executive Director Mary Charles Howard. “When the Georgia Hi-Lo Trail is built, it won’t just be a recreational amenity—it will be a vital piece of health infrastructure serving these communities for generations.”
Howard spent the day engaging with residents about the benefits of the trail. “We are extremely fortunate to have this opportunity to work with UGA Senior Lecturer Donnie Longenecker and undergraduate assistant Sophia Wright along with the SHINE team’s Morgan Scott, Karen Ebey-Tessendorf, and Hamdy Inusah. They guided community members through the mapping process and collected community feedback on destinations and existing conditions for walking and biking in both Sandersville and Tennille.” Howard noted. “Hearing directly from residents as they shared their experiences and first-hand insight about how to connect key destinations was invaluable. We need to know what they are thinking because this trail will serve as critical infrastructure connecting people to their daily destinations—schools, work, shopping, and more —while promoting healthier lifestyles in rural Georgia communities.”
Additional community input sessions are planned throughout the region as the multi-agency partnership continues gathering resident feedback to inform both trail development and broader community health initiatives.
Community-Driven Data Collection
The first step in the process was to have residents indicate everyday destinations on a community map. Residents shared their local expertise about road conditions, identifying which streets feel safe or unsafe for walking and biking. This community-generated data will be integrated into a Geographic Information System (GIS) and combined with proposed Georgia Hi-Lo Trail routes, ensuring the trail design through Sandersville and Tennille reflects actual community needs and travel patterns.
Community Partnership Model
With the Sandersville and Tennille segments of the trail quickly progressing and Washington County a target for the CDC G-HOP and SHINE health initiatives, the partnership is an obvious benefit for everyone involved.
The contiguous trail system that will eventually connect Union Point to Tybee Island aligns with the CDC’s “Active People, Healthy Nation” initiative and provides “active routes to everyday destinations.”
Part of a $57 million national CDC initiative, the G-HOP program is a collaboration between the UGA Colleges of Public Health, Environment and Design and UGA Extension. G-HOP supports communities working to increase access to healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity, offering technical expertise and guidance to ten qualifying counties throughout Georgia. Like G-HOP, the SHINE program, which received over $1 million in CDC REACH funding, is supporting Baldwin, Hancock, and Washington Counties to increase access to healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity, especially for those at highest risk of chronic disease.
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