Grand Terrace On Its Way to Being 'Healthy'

Grand Terrace residents, civic leaders, business owners and engaged neighbors gathered at Azure Hills Church Thursday night, Feb. 26, with a common goal: turn Grand Terrace into a healthier city. Healthy GT, which is sponsored by the Foundation of Grand Terrace, hosted the event and presented information about health throughout San Bernardino County, specifically in Grand Terrace. The night started as various residents piled into Azure Hills Church, greeted by their fellow neighbors, civic leaders and healthy snacks. The night kicked off as the President of Healthy GT, Andy McRae, welcomed and thanked those in attendance for coming out. McRae shared health facts and introduced everyone to Healthy GT’s team including: himself, Sally McGuire, Kacy Carlsen, Dr. Ernie Medina, Yvonne Williams, Claudia Cooley, Dr. Shirley Tan Injo, Manuel Baltierra and intern Ladi Khoddam. "We are so glad that you all are here to help start to plan the future as we think about what makes this city a healthy city and how we can work to improve that," McRae said. As Sally McGuire took the stage, she shared that Grand Terrace is not considered a “healthy city," therefore, she and Ladi Khoddam looked into ways they can help make Grand Terrace a healthier city. She explained that Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga are healthy cities, and have actually been recognized by the White House as healthy cities models. “We want to model healthy cities like these,” she said. One of the first steps the two took was creating a survey geared toward Grand Terrace residents and their thoughts on what they think a healthy city looks like, whether or not they would put Grand Terrace in a healthy category, and the major health concerns they have for the community. They put out the survey about three months ago, according to McGuire. With social media playing an instrumental role in getting the information out, a total of 149 residents took and completed the survey. After briefly informing everyone of the group's goal of encouraging a healthy lifestyle for all Grand Terrace residents through various programs, policies, events and more, they also welcomed comments, concerns, and ideas from attendees. Structured like a public forum, each table was asked to brainstorm for 10 minutes and discuss their ideas and concerns about maintaining a healthy city. Kacy Carlsen, a Grand Terrace resident of over 30 years, shared, “When you guys discuss, don’t think ‘That’ll never happen in Grand Terrace.' We want you guys to dream big!” Prior to the brainstorming session, Ladi Khoddam took the podium to reveal some of the survey's findings. The results included a variety of questions, but most importantly it revealed how healthy residents think Grand Terrace is, and what they thought were the most important health issues within the city, all recorded on an ordinal scale. The most popular response, over 50 percent, said that Grand Terrace was "Somewhat Healthy," with "Healthy" being the runner-up. The major question included what everyone agreed were the top four issues regarding health: healthy eating, violence-free neighborhoods, a clean environment and public safety. "Overall, health does not only include nutrition," Khoddam added.