The New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute named Montclair as one of eight New Jersey “Healthy Towns” for the Township’s participation the Mayors Wellness Campaign (MWC), a program designed by the Quality Institute, in partnership with the New Jersey State League of Municipalities.
Each year communities participating in the MWC complete a comprehensive application outlining the research they’ve done to identify their community health needs, explain how they have organized their local MWC committee, and highlight the actions they’ve taken to make their communities a healthier place to live, work, and play.
The MWC is now in its 12th year. The Quality Institute provides participating communities with a toolkit on how to get started, guidance on how to identify local health needs, and examples of specific actions that other communities are taking to improve health and wellness in their community. The resources and toolkit are available here http://www.njhcqi.org/MWCtoolkit.
“I am thrilled that Montclair has been designated as a MWC Healthy Town for 2018,” said Mayor Robert Jackson. “Our township departments and community partners are dedicated to providing a broad array of opportunities for promoting healthy behaviors. Whether it is physical spaces like parks and parklets, sports or exercise options, access to healthy foods and nutrition information, and plenty of events, celebrations and opportunities for socialization and community engagement, Montclair has an abundance of resources designed to improve the health and wellness of its residents. I would like to sincerely thank the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute for recognizing our great Township.”
The other seven towns earning the 2018 Healthy Town designation are Bergenfield, Chatham, Morristown, Plainfield, Princeton, Stone Harbor and Westwood.
Below are some of the programs Montclair implemented for its Mayors Wellness Campaign:
Montclair’s MWC has focused its programs on “making the healthy choice the easy choice.” In working toward this goal, Montclair has included the following in its programming:
- Lifelong Montclair – An aging-in-place initiative focused on transforming Montclair into an age-friendly environment.
- Employee Wellness Program – Montclair has incorporated several challenges to incentivize municipal employees in leading healthier lifestyles, such as the Maintain Don’t Gain Challenge, Workout 2 Win Challenge, and Friends and Family CPR Challenge with about 120 employees participate.
Aside from employee wellness programs, Montclair has registered over 800 adults and nearly 2,000 youth for recreational activities as part of the Mayors Wellness Campaign.