Healthy Lakewood Foundation Updates Community On Their First Year

Sharing notes from small group discussions.

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Over 50 Lakewood residents attended the Healthy Lakewood Foundation’s first community meeting on Tuesday, September 24th at the Women’s Pavilion at Lakewood Park.

The HealthyLakewood Foundation (HLF) was established in September 2018 as part of the master agreement following the closing of Lakewood Hospital. HLF was formed from the Foundation Planning Task Force and through their recommendation to the City of Lakewood and the Lakewood Hospital Association.

The 17 member Board, who represent a diverse array of personal and professional experience, spent the past year creating and formalizing the organizational policies and processes. This work will aid the board in the responsible, sustainable stewardship of $32.4 million in assets that will eventually be available to support health and wellness initiatives in Lakewood.

The community meeting provided an opportunity for Lakewood citizens to hear about HLF’s first year. Board members shared short summaries of specific work, including a financial update, community engagement plans, governance initiatives, and an overview of the strategic planning process.

Attendees also learned about the Board’s ongoing efforts to develop a common understanding of social determinants of health and Lakewood-specific health initiatives.

Throughout the evening, attendees were invited to participate in several interactive elements of the meeting, including facilitated table discussions. These conversations were an opportunity to share stories and insights about the things that support - as well as challenge - health and wellness for individuals and the Lakewood community. Insights from these discussions will help inform ongoing efforts by the HLF board to achieve our vision of a healthy Lakewood.

HLF will provide updates to the community as it formalizes its grantmaking strategy over the next six months.

The HLF Board would like to thank the community and attendees for their support.

To contact the Healthy Lakewood Foundation with questions, please email HealthyLakewoodFoundation@gmail.com.

Kate Ingersoll is the Secretary of the Healthy Lakewood Foundation.