Healthy Tusc advocate aims to improve the community through improvements that promote physical fitness

  • By Kyle Valentini
  • January 24, 2014
  • 397
Healthy Tusc advocate aims to improve the community through improvements that promote physical fitness
                        
Gabriel Riggle of Gnadenhutten took the job of Healthy Tusc advocate last October. A 2004 graduate of Indian Valley High, Riggle earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Otterbein University in 2007 and his juris doctorate from Pace University School of Law in 2010. Healthy Tusc is a countywide consortium founded in 2009 to address the alarming obesity epidemic in Tuscarawas County that currently is 34 percent. The advocate position is possible through funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. As an all-volunteer organization, Healthy Tusc sought a funded position to advance and follow through on community initiatives, especially changes to local public policy of which Riggle is well versed. “I had knowledge and training in public policy from undergraduate study and law school,” Riggle said. “Finally, serving as the AmeriCorps volunteer for the Mud Run Watershed provided experience in community engagement.” Riggle’s mission as Healthy Tusc advocate is to help Tuscarawas County residents take personal responsibility for their health by making it safe and fun for them to do so. Safety improvements like improved sidewalks, crosswalks, and bike lanes and recreational improvements like increased access to bike trails, hiking trails and boat launches will benefit residents. Riggle has been asked to focus on public policy known as “Complete Streets.” Complete Streets are those that are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users including pedestrians, cyclists, wheelchair-users, and cars. “The lack of safety and connectivity for pedestrians discourages people from actively traveling around the community, increasing sedentary lifestyles, and contributing to the current obesity epidemic,” Riggle said. “Increased physical activity is necessary to improve the health and quality of life of residents, reduce the burden on public health institutions, and attract businesses looking to minimize employee health care costs. The ideal outcome would be for governments at the state and local level to adopt formal guidelines for infrastructure projects, ensuring that all road users are considered from the initial planning stages through construction.” Riggle encouraged local residents to attend council meetings. “It is not just the government that needs to pay attention. Private action can make an impact as well,” Riggle said. “Everything needs to be maintained,” Riggle said. “When existing infrastructure is maintained and repaired, ask they include improvements like wider sidewalks and crosswalks so people can get around on foot or bike safely.” Our streets and sidewalks have not always been so dangerous according to Riggle. “We used to build wide sidewalks with a barrier to the street that included trees and plants,” Riggle said. “In the last 50 or 60 years we just stopped. The wide adoption of the automobile and the massive public support for the highway system distracted us away from neighborhoods. There is no way people could have known the development of the highway system could lead to the current health problems of today. They were engineers, not social scientists.” One of Riggle’s short-term goals was to improve the curbs around the Tuscarawas YMCA so they are easily accessible to all. Keith Lands, executive director at the YMCA agreed curb cutouts would be included in future renovations to YMCA sidewalks. Riggle wants more bike racks in the community. He is working with schools and other organizations to make it happen. “The Historic Canal Dover Association (HCDA) is seeking to place bike racks at various community locations in the city of Dover, including Warther Carvings Museum, J.E. Reeves Victorian Home and Carriage House Museum, and by the Tuscarawas River,” Riggle said. “I suggested Healthy Tusc may be able to help them acquire the racks Michael Ernest, owner of the Quaker Cinema in New Philadelphia, expressed interest in a bike rack at his business, as has the Tuscarawas Valley Farmers Market.” Riggle is organizing Walk and Roll, a series of public meetings to be held in various locations around the county in April to allow public input and to share information about upcoming events like the international Bike to Work Week May 12-16. For more information about Healthy Tusc or Complete Streets, contact Riggle at healthytusc@tuscymca.org.


Loading next article...

End of content

No more pages to load