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The Savannah Tribune • Wednesday, August 19, 2009 - 7
SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY NEWS
Strengthening Our Rural Roots and Voter
Participation Keys to Community Development
Nutrition Wellness Delays
Nursing Home Placement
Covenant VII members (1-r): Wilson W. Moran, Angelisa Savage-Bryant, Dave Kelly, Chester Dunham, Chairman,
Mike Jones, and Pat Gunn.
The Hungry Club
Forum of Savannah,
Inc.(HCFS) heard from two
more of the community-wide
study groups involved in an
examination of Tavis
Smiley's The Covenant With
Black America. The presen
tations, which will be com
piled into a local publication
in the late Fall, were the fea
tured offering of the HCFS'
monthly breakfast
Roundtable and Open
Forum, held on August 1,
2009, in the Multipurpose
Annex of the West Broad
Street YMCA.
Longtime longshore
man Chester A. Dunham,
Head of the local chapter of
the A. Philip Randolph
Institute, is chairing the
Covenant VII Study Group,
that includes Wilson Moran
and Dave Kelly, associated
with the Harris Neck Land
Trust; Pat Gunn, associated
with the Southern Rural
Black Women's Initiative,
and a local Gullah-Geechee
Culture preservationist; busi
nesspersons Mike Jones,
Davita Capers-White and
Angelisa Savage-Bryant;
Ben Kennedy of the
Kennedy Farm in Cobbtown,
GA; and community activist
Sidney Adkins. The focus of
this dynamic preliminary
report centered on heritage
and cultural preservation,
land retention and develop
ment and political empower
ment are keys to the future
prosperily of African
Americans in the South and
the nation in general. To par
ticipate in this on-going
study, contact Chester
Dunham at 507-9944.
The Covenant VI Study
Group offered up a hard- hit
ting , thought provoking
presentation on "Claiming
Our Democracy." The focus
was on the on-going need for
the Voting Rights Act (VRA)
and all of its accompanying
protections, meanings and
interpretations.
Chaired by Gwendolyn
Glover, HIE Project
Manager, Coastal Health
Chatham County Moves Ahead with
T Green f Plan
By Eric Curl,
Savannah Morning News
Chatham County offi
cials have not forgotten about
a plan to become the "green
est" in the state; much of the
work is just occurring behind
the scenes.
"They have been very
responsive," said Larry
Miles, a member of the
Chatham Environmental
Forum, a group of communi
ty volunteers that crafted the
plan.
Henry Lewandowski,
the county's director of mos
quito control, has been meet
ing with the forum's various
committees to go over the
goals, Miles said.
One big step the county
is taking is figuring out how
much energy it consumes,
said Pat Monahan, assistant
county manager. Once that
base value is established, the
county can work to meet
reduction goals set in the
plan, Monahan said.
The county is aiming to
achieve Partnership for a
Sustainable Georgia's bronze
status in the next few months,
Monahan said.
Bronze status is the entry
point for most applicants to
Sustainable Georgia, which
was established by the
Georgia Department of
Natural Resources in 2004 to
encourage environmental
stewardship among govern
ments, businesses and organ
izations.
Some of the recommen
dations of the plan - such as
the ordering of hybrid diesel-
electric buses for Chatham
Area Transit - have already
been implemented, but many
will take more time,
Lewandowski said.
Many of the goals are
expected to be cost-effective.
The up-front costs may be a
little more expensive, but the
county will end up saving
money in the long run,
Lewandowski said - citing a
plan to replace traffic-light
bulbs with LED bulbs, which
supposedly last longer and
use less energy.
Lewandowski has been
coordinating with department
heads since the plan was pre
sented to commissioners on
Feb. 27. So far, their reaction
to implementing it has been
positive, and Lewandowski
said his initial apprehension
toward achieving the many
goals is fading.
"The more I'm getting
into it and breaking this thing
into more doable steps, I'm
very excited about it," he
said.
County Commissioner
Pat Shay, who is now serving
as the environmental forum's
chairman, said he is pushing
the group to become more
active in the county's long-
range transportation plan and
in water resource planning as
Atlanta starts looking for
ways to replace the water
extracted from the
Chattahoochee River and
starts to eye the Savannah
River instead.
The forum's plan was
also adopted by Tybee Island,
and is expected to be consid
ered for adoption by the
Savannah City Council on
Aug. 27.
JN MEMORY OF
ftjmiry Rpnafrf-Manzenee 'Smith
OCTOBER 11. 1949-AUGUST 15,2006
THREE YEARS NAVE PASSED RONALD
SINCE GOD CALL ED YOU HOME
TO HE WITH HIM [NHEAVEN
AROUND THE SNOW WHITE THRONE
WE OFTEN SIT AST THISk OF YOU
WHEN u are .all alone
FOR MEMORY IS THE 0MY THING
THAT GRIEF CAN TFT I ITS OWN
\0 ONE KNOWS OF THE SADNESS
ONLY THOSE WHO HAVE LOST CAN TELI.
OF THE GRIEF THAT IS BORNE IN SILENCE
FOR THE ONE WE LOVE SC) WELL
GOD KNOWS HOW MUCH WE MISS Y0L
NEVER SH ALL YOl'R MEMORY F ADE
LOVING THOUGHTS SHALL ALWAYS W AVDER
TO THE SPOT WHERE V OL WERE L A ID
FOREVER ]N OUR HEARTS
YOUR CHILDREN, GRAND CHILDREN,
MOTHER (MRS. ABB IE SMITH), SIBLINGS,
OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS
See Hungry Club, page 16
All
Copy is
Due By
F riday,
4pm
Results from a study on
the impact of a Georgia
Department of Human
Services (DHS) Division of
Aging Services (DAS) nutri
tional wellness program
reveals older Georgians are
staying in their own homes
longer before having to enter
a nursing home.
Since state fiscal year 2007,
nursing home placements for
older adults involved in DAS
nutrition programs have
been increasingly delayed.
In state fiscal year
2008, for example, older
adults avoided nursing home
placement an average of
three years longer than older
adults not involved in the
program.
“What this really means is
that good nutrition is a major
factor in keeping older
Georgians healthy and more
independent,” said Maria
Greene, director of DAS.
“Our nutrition programs pro
vide healthy meals to thou
sands of seniors across the
state. Since there is a direct
link between poor nutrition
and chronic health problems,
providing older adults access
to fresh produce and healthy
foods can seriously improve
their quality of life.”
The results of the study
are part of the Performance
Outcomes Measurement
Project (POMP), a federal
initiative that measures the
effectiveness of Title III
services, including nutrition
programs, for older
Americans.
The study measured the level
of “food insecurity” experi
enced by participating older
Georgians. Food insecurity
refers to the limited or
uncertain availability of safe,
nutritious foods.
The POMP study found
that 11.5% of participants in
Georgia were experiencing
food insecurity.
The Division of Aging
Services provides a variety
of services to older adults to
address this issue, including
nutrition screening, prepared
meals, nutrition education
and a Farmer’s Market pro
gram that makes fresh, local
ly grown produce available
to seniors.
For more information
about the Division of Aging
Services nutrition programs,
call 1-866-552-4464.
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