Edible Mountain
At Wheeling's Vineyard Hills
Working to make Ohio County one of the healthiest communities in Appalachia.
Placemaking
Developing Wheeling’s “Edible Mountain” (ie. Vineyard Hills) – its forests and public spaces – while celebrating the rich community history of this hill.
Public Health
A public health initiative that promotes evidence-based best practices within six key focus areas known to improve health and wellbeing.
Mission / Goals / Strategy
Mission: Eliminate the health disparities experienced by Wheeling's urban youth.
Goals: Wheeling’s children will demonstrate marked improvement in physical and mental health by 2025.
Improved physical health, as measured by metabolic health indicators
Improved mental health, as measured by increased resilience indicators
Strategy: Develop an interdisciplinary coalition to engage youth and youth-serving organizations in two ways:
Placemaking
Targeted, public health intervention
Improving the wellbeing of 1000+ kids living in downtown neighborhoods to match those in surrounding neighborhoods will turn Ohio County into one of the healthiest counties in Appalachia.
TEAM MEMBERS
Joe Sparksman, MS, Men of Change
Ava, Chair, Edible Mountain Steering Committee Steering Committee Co-Chair
Siyan, Member, Edible Mountain Steering Committee
Joshua, Never Bored Board
Martha Wright, Laughlin Memorial Chapel Steering Committee Secretary
Dr. Amy Jean Chao, Pediatric Endocrinologist (UPMC) Steering Committee Co-Chair
Rod Lee, Nelson Jordan Center
Rochelle Barry, City of Wheeling Parks and Recreation
Rosemary Ketchum, Edible Mountain
Glynis Board, Ed. M. Grow Ohio Valley
Kate Marshall, Mother Jones Center for Resilient Community
Karen Cox, MS
WVU Extension
Chuck Kleine, Site Development
Danny Swan, Grow Ohio Valley
Oceanna Smith, Youth Leadership Liaison
Molly Check, Oglebay Schrader Center
Healthy Cities and Counties Challenge
"The City of Wheeling, with Fun-Raiser, Grow Ohio Valley, Inc., Operation YURT, West Virginia University School of Public Health Prevention Resource Center, FARMacy, Wheeling Health Right, West Virginia Bureau of Public Health and West Virginia University Extension – Ohio County, is working to create what they call the “Edible Mountain,” a holistic, place-based youth wellness hub that aims to increase access to local food, physical fitness, social connection, and creative exploration.
Edible Mountain builds on years of teamwork and strives to improve the health of Wheeling’s children by marking improvement in physical and mental health indicators by 2025.
This team seeks to create a central location where youth in Wheeling can take part in creative recreation and cooperative education. Youth who participate will not only improve their own health outcomes, but also will influence health across the community by taking the lead on a youth advisory board known as the Never Bored Board. Wheeling’s youth engagement will be transformative in improving the health outcomes of the city’s residents and will focus on local-food-based nutrition intervention, physical fitness, creative play, sense of belonging, unstructured exploration and artistic expression.
Goals:
Improve physical health, as measured by reduced prevalence and risk factors for childhood metabolic disorders
Improve resilience, as measured by reducing the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences?
