Active and Healthy Communities | Vermont Department of Health

Active and Healthy Communities | Vermont Department of Health
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Translations for you
Active and Healthy Communities
Brattleboro
WIC (Brattleboro)
Family and Child Health
Active and Healthy Communities
Worksite Wellness
School Health
Immunizations
Infectious Disease
Community Prevention Programs
Tobacco Prevention
Emergency Preparedness
Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention
Dental Health
When the place where we live makes it easy for everyone to exercise and eat well, fewer people will suffer from injury, cancer, diabetes, stroke, heart and lung disease. Our goal is to help shape our communities to support health and well-being. To do this we:
promote safe, pleasant and accessible places for all people to walk, roll or bicycle
promote use of public transit
ensure access to healthy and affordable food
ensure safe, quality housing
We work with community organizations, municipal and regional planners, schools and health care providers. We begin with conversations to learn what is important to our community. From there, we find ways to weave in health and wellness improvements that fit the priorities of our towns, such as economic development. All Vermonters will thrive when our living conditions help to eliminate differences in health for different groups of people.
Use the
Public Health Data Explorer
to learn about health and wellness where you live.
How We Can Help
There are many ways that the Brattleboro office can help shape a healthier community. We can:
share examples of language that promotes health with cities and towns in order to strengthen regional plans.
provide a Safe Routes to Schools Regional Expert to provide support to schools.
provide public health data and information to inform planning.
provide education about why sidewalks and healthy foods options in local markets are important.
connect you with useful resources and provide examples of similar work done in other communities to help you on your way.
look for funds to help town officials and organizations support health-promoting efforts
Local Highlights
Healthy Foods
We work with community organizations such as
Food Connects
to strengthen our local food network and farm to school programs in Windham County.
We support the
Hunger Council of Windham County
and are involved in the
Out of School Time Subcommittee
that works to increase food access and participation in meals offered during school vacations.
The
Vermont Healthy Community Design Resource: Active Living and Healthy Eating
guide contains information, tools and resources that may be used to navigate the worlds of land use planning and public health.
Safe Routes to School
We work directly with schools to promote
Safe Routes to School
, a program that helps kids safely walk and bike to school.
Brattleboro Coalition for Active Transportation
We support the
Brattleboro Coalition for Active Transportation
, a group of local residents who work to improve walking and biking in Brattleboro. The Safe Streets Committee in Brattleboro meets six times a year and works with the Town of Brattleboro and the Traffic Safety Committee.
Physical Activity
We lead the
Fit and Healthy Kids Coalition of Windham County
, which works to foster practices, programs, and policies that engage the community in raising fit and healthy kids. This coalition meets monthly.
Our staff serve on the
Windham Regional Commission Transportation Committee
, which serves to review and evaluate transportation policy recommendations to support the development of safe and efficient transportation in Windham County. We collaborated with the Windham Regional Commission to develop
trail resource guides
for both walking and snowshoeing. The Windham on the Move program received funding to provide snowshoes to many area libraries to increase access to outdoor winter activity for local community members.
We collaborate with
RiseVT
to amplify opportunities for families and youth to participate in physical activities.
Planning for Prevention Primer
Our staff works alongside a number of Windham County Substance Abuse Prevention Coalitions and the Windham Regional Commission, and together they created the Planning for Prevention Primer. The primer serves as a reference document for towns as they revise and rewrite their town plans and provides particular guidance and information on how to incorporate language around substance abuse prevention and the principles and practices of healthy community design.
3-4-50 Prevent Chronic Disease
What does 3-4-50 mean?
3 behaviors
– lack of physical activity, poor diet, and tobacco use – lead to
4 chronic diseases
– cancer, heart disease and stroke, type 2 diabetes, and lung disease – that are the cause of more than
50 percent of all deaths in Vermont
.
This understanding inspires us to take action. Communities that are built to support physical activity, safe walking and biking, use of public transportation, and easy access to fresh foods are essential for good health.
See how Vermont Cities & Towns support health
Related resources
Active Living and Healthy Eating
- Vermont Healthy Community Design Resource
Examples for Creating Healthy Communities: Physical Activity, Healthy Eating, Tobacco, Alcohol & Drug Abuse Prevention
- Vermont Healthy Community Design Resource
Complete Streets: Guide for Vermont Communities
- to assist towns with examples
3-4-50 Prevent Chronic Disease
Physical Activity & Nutrition in Vermont Communities
Health in All Policies Scorecard
Environmental Health in Vermont
Chronic Disease in Vermont - Data
Learn More
Physical Activity & Nutrition in Vermont
Trail Finder
VT State Parks
Free Falls Prevention Resources
Hunger Free Vermont
Safe Routes to School
CounterBalance
- a campaign directed towards the tobacco industry’s influence on youth
Contact Us
Shyla, Public Health Prevention Specialist
802-251-2108
[email protected]
Last Updated:
February 5, 2026