At the Foundation for a Healthier West Orange, we believe that through purposeful collaboration and investing, we can profoundly shape the health and well-being of our community.

This fall, as we culminate five full years of impact, our mission remains steadfast: to invest in and champion initiatives that support the health and well-being of West Orange County residents. But this work is not ours alone. We are intentional in our collaborative efforts with business leaders, government officials, faith-based organizations, educational institutions, nonprofits, and healthcare professionals.

The Foundation’s work encompasses the community’s overall health, addressing the needs of everyone from children to mothers to seniors. For instance, in partnership with the American Heart Association, the Westly’s Mile running/walking club will expand to 15 elementary schools this August. Healthy West Orange – the movement fueled and expanded by the Foundation – also recently wrapped up another Splash Challenge, where more than 400 residents logged over 12,000 minutes of water activity – a perfect example of our community’s collective commitment to staying active. Later this fall, we will also celebrate our 8th annual Healthy Selfie campaign and 5K, a tradition that has grown exponentially to more than 1,100 participants last year.

As we look to the fall, we are excited to explore and elevate additional areas of our community’s health, including Black maternal health. We recently relaunched Strong Beautiful Future, a digital campaign that seeks to improve birth outcomes and reduce low birthweight rates among Black mothers and their babies in West Orange.

Across racial and ethnic groups, African Americans in West Orange have almost double the prevalence of babies with low birthweight compared to White and Hispanic women, a trend that is mirrored in national, state, and county-level statistics. In partnership with local hospitals and providers, Strong Beautiful Future empowers African American women between the ages of 18 and 35 with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to overcome some of the barriers they face during pregnancy, improve their health, and increase their odds of having a healthy pregnancy.

We are also looking forward to HUBB’s expansion. Last year, we celebrated our first HUBB Direct in Winter Garden and will roll out at least two additional satellite locations within a year throughout the West Orange community. As a robust health and wellness search tool, HUBB connects residents to local resources that enhance their overall quality of life. In just the past six months, more than 4,200 people have trusted HUBB to connect them to free and reduced-cost programs.

Our success is a direct result of working alongside community members and partners. The collective effort and support from various sectors have been instrumental in driving initiatives forward. Healthy West Orange continues partnering and activating healthy programming at Health West Orange Wellness Park in Ocoee, Healthy West Orange Heritage and Cultural Center at Winter Garden, and the Healthy West Orange Arts and Heritage Center at the Town of Oakland. By working together, we can achieve more significant outcomes and cultivate the healthiest community in the nation.

The coming year will see us build on our successes and invest in new opportunities for growth and impact, especially in enhancing green spaces across West Orange. We look forward to working with Nehrling Gardens, Tucker Ranch and continuing the progress with the Healthy West Orange Trails Connection.

At the Foundation for a Healthier West Orange, a healthy community is our number one priority.

We will continue to engage with our partners, leverage our collective strengths, and innovate to address the evolving health needs of our community. We know that together, with the support of our community, we will continue to shape a healthier, more vibrant future for West Orange County.