Creating a Healthy Town through Youth Civic Engagement: Spotlight on Bladensburg, Md.
The small Town of Bladensburg, Maryland, just a quick hop from the nation’s capital, is known for its famous history—the Battle of Bladensburg took place during the War of 1812, where the defeat of American soldiers paved the way for British forces to capture Washington, D.C. However, it’s not a community living in the past. On a recent site visit to learn more about Bladensburg’s Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties (LMCTC) accomplishments, LMCTC staff discovered a community paving the way for future generations to live healthy lives and reach their full potential.
Bladensburg’s Mayor, Walter Lee James, Jr., and Town Administrator, John E. Moss, have a vision for a thriving community and see youth as the core of the town’s future. Just as Bladensburg has focused on maintaining and preserving natural areas and becoming greener and more sustainable in their city practices, the Town is focused on sustaining and nurturing the potential of local youth.
“Youth are the ones that the community will be handed off to in the future,” says Mayor James, and with a shared vision of participatory government, Bladensburg has been persistent in their involvement of youth in the policymaking process. Bladensburg finds healthy living to be an issue bridging the gap between themes of community, economic development and revitalization, and obesity is seen as a major community health challenge to overcome in Bladensburg among both young and old.
The Port Towns Youth Council and Wellness Ambassadors, which actively engage youth in community service and other educational activities resulting in youth becoming responsible, respectful and productive citizens, has recently been a key lever driving policy forward. The Town’s youth use innovative techniques for participation, such as PhotoVoice (a type of participatory photography for social change), community asset mapping, and policy development.
In summer 2013, pedestrian safety and walkability was identified by youths as a key priority to spur active living. With most local schools having a majority of students walking to and from school daily, students have a valuable perspective as some of the community’s most frequent pedestrians. With a city summer camp, youths ages 12-18 worked with city leaders to develop a Pedestrian Safety Policy and learned the skills needed to be involved in the policymaking process. Building on the baseline from Community Assets Mapping Survey (read here) done by the youth in summer 2012 and adopted by the Bladensburg Mayor and Council in September 2012, the final policy suggests ways to incorporate biking and walking into transit systems, and creates pathways for working across agencies on pedestrian safety.
For the final presentation of the policy, which was adopted in December 2013, the Town brought in county council members and state senators. As a culminating event, the youths held a “Walkers Wear White” Pedestrian Safety Rally which included a variety of elected leaders and community members. Mayor James told LMCTC staff that being involved in the policymaking process makes the youth more invested in staying in Bladensburg.
The Town leadership’s actions on walkability and promotion of health and wellness have paired well with the work of youth. “Roads are public space, not just for cars,” said Town Administrator Moss. For Bladensburg, improving walkability, especially on the state highways that run through town, ties in closely with economic development too, as many businesses need good pedestrian access to thrive.
Communications from the town have also sold individuals on a culture of health. Mayor James has spoken with school-aged students about walking and connected it with obesity and health. The Town has achieved a gold medal in LMCTC Goal II: MyPlate, Your Place for their extensive work in promoting MyPlate in the town hall, through the Town’s extensive email list and at community events.
Healthy food access is also a key issue for town leadership and youth, as parts of the Town have been designated as a food desert. Working with ECO City Farms, the Town of Bladensburg and a wide range of partners recently created a residential farm on a low-income apartment complex. The farm produces fresh produce for local residents and the adjacent community. Residents were highly involved in the design and implementation process, and youth from local high schools regularly are on hand to help plant and weed. Through the summer, youth working on the farm experience leadership development, personal growth, and job training.
Bladensburg has partnered extensively with a rich variety of organizations and considers itself a “small town community that is doing big things”—the LMCTC team certainly agrees with that! To learn more about Bladensburg’s accomplishments, contact Town Administrator John Moss at jmoss@bladensburg.net.