Tobacco Free Workplaces Continues to Increase in Allen County
The Partnership to Improve Community Health Grant (PICH) continues to pursue workplaces to work with our staff to implement tobacco free campus policies. This initiative has been moving forward since 2012 and continues to gain ground as more workplaces partner with us for the goal of creating spaces where air is clean and free from the effects of secondhand smoke. When workplaces partner with the PICH Grant to implement a tobacco free environment, they receive technical assistance, policy examples and staff education to ensure that policy implementation goes smoothly and successfully.
During year 2 of the PICH Grant, which runs from October 1, 2015 to the end of September 2016, six additional workplaces have committing to providing their staff, customers and visitors with clean air. We are pleased to announce these workplaces to the community and appreciate their partnership and support. The workplaces that have joined us this year include: Bath Local Schools, Crosshair’s Lima, NOW Marketing, The Meeting Place on Market, Thin and Healthy Total Fitness Solutions, and Wessler Engineering.
To celebrate the continued success and the increasing number of tobacco free environments in Allen County, a video has been created and released to the community. The workplaces mentioned above were joined by the partners from Year 1 of the PICH Grant to document the accomplishment of going tobacco free. The Year 1 partners are Anytime Fitness, KeyBridge Medical Revenue and West Central Ohio Regional Healthcare Alliance. We are proud of these successes and will continue the work to increase these numbers moving forward. You can go to our website www.ActivateAllenCounty.com to view the completed video.
Along with assisting workplaces in implementing tobacco free campus policies, we are promoting other workplaces and organizations across the county who already have a smoke free policy in place. By providing us with a copy of their policy, we will partner with that workplace to promote their work across the community. We recognize that many people, groups and organizations are working towards a healthier Allen County and we want to acknowledge these efforts in hopes that others take notice and follow suit.
Activate Allen County continues to desire for other workplaces in Allen County to commit to becoming tobacco free. If you or workplaces you know may be interested in learning more about partnership with us, please contact our office at 419-221-5035 and ask for Kayla Monfort or Josh Unterbrink