Before an audience of a community leaders, health care providers, and partners, the Horizon Foundation hosted its 2014 annual meeting on October 2nd at the Great Room in Historic Savage Mill. The meeting was a celebration of the collective impact Horizon and its partners have had in “making healthy easy” in Howard County.
One of the meeting’s highlights was the Richard M. Krieg Keynote Address delivered by public health and transportation planning expert Mark Fenton. Fenton’s high-energy talk revolved around what he called the “dual epidemics of poor nutrition and physical inactivity” and the impact our built environments have in fostering these epidemics and declining health outcomes.
Citing numerous studies, Fenton showed how communities that are built to accommodate and encourage daily physical activity can improve the health and quality of life all residents enjoy. He delivered his message with sound reasoning and a dose of good humor, and he also offered a similar presentation that evening as part of the Columbia Association’s Community Building Speaker Series, which you can watch part 1 of above. (Watch Part 2 and Part 3 of Fenton’s speech.)
Horizon President and CEO Nikki Highsmith Vernick shared the Horizon’s perspective on the progress it has made over the last two years addressing the core priorities of our strategic plan. She stressed that Horizon’s effectiveness relies on strong partnerships with grantees and others to achieve our shared goals for the health and wellness of those who live or work in Howard County. To read more stories of our grantees and their impact, see our 2014 annual report.
John Isbister, chair of the Foundation’s board of trustees, presented former-trustee and community health advocate Ann Mech with the Richard G. McCauley Award for Transformational Leadership for her many years of dedicated work to transform our community’s focus on health care delivery, prevention, and wellness.
And finally, the Foundation premiered a new short video feature about the Roving Radish, a true community partnership to make healthy, regionally produced food more accessible and easier to prepare.
See more pictures from the annual meeting here.
