With a $1.25 million grant from the West Orange Healthcare District, the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation will transform its 21 East Plant Street building to include space for wellness education, event activations and a new location for HUBB, an interactive program that connects residents to local health services.

The 5,300 square-foot Winter Garden Heritage Foundation History Research and Education Center — which also houses west Orange County’s historical archive, a visitor center and gift shop, and the Foundation offices — will become the “Healthy West Orange Heritage and Cultural Center at Winter Garden.”

“This is a major step forward in our mission and we are pleased to partner with the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation,” said West Orange Healthcare District CEO Tracy Swanson.

In addition to extensive new branding and educational materials, Swanson said the new space will also become a new physical location for HUBB, a free, online resource center managed by Healthy West Orange that helps people find and connect with nearby health and wellness services and critical local assistance programs. The online program, accessible anywhere at healthywestorange.org/hubb, connects users to free and reduced-cost healthcare services, mental health providers, caregiver resources, food pantries, and housing and employment programs, all located in west Orange County.

“One of the things we’ve discovered is that west Orange County is rich in health and wellness services, but it can be tough to navigate them all, even when you know what you’re looking for,” said Swanson. “We created HUBB to help residents more easily find precisely what they need. The Winter Garden HUBB is the first of several new locations we’re planning throughout west Orange County.”

“Our partnership with the District will help make the center an even more attractive place to visit, learn, engage and enjoy,” said Winter Garden Heritage Foundation Board President Frank Chase. “It gives Healthy West Orange a place to grow, and it also means more people will be exposed to our area’s unique history. In the end, it will create a greater sense of community here, which is what we’re all about.”

The Healthy West Orange Heritage and Cultural Center at Winter Garden is part of the District’s strategy to create branded wellness destinations throughout west Orange County. The District recently announced partnerships to create the Healthy West Orange Wellness Park in Ocoee and the Healthy West Orange Pavilion in Windermere. Last year, the Healthy West Orange Arts & Heritage Center opened in downtown Oakland.