Fort Dodge is on its way to becoming a healthier community. Dr. Leland Kaiser, a noted health futurist, facilitated a community conference that was cosponsored by Trinity Regional Hospital and the Catherine Vincent Deardorf Foundation on September 23, 1996. The purpose of the conference was to begin a community-wide initiative for building a "healthier" community.

Dr. Kaiser spoke about the new broader definition of health. "Health is an outcome behavior; it happens when everything is working in the community. There is a direct relationship between health, education, law enforcement, welfare, transportation, housing, economic development and cultural and recreational activities," he said. "The future is about communities that own their disease, poverty, ignorance and crime and are therefore empowered to transform these negative elements into positive qualities of health, economic well-being, insight and moral citizenship."

Together, the three words that compose this name affirm the concept of the effort. Community means broad-based and inclusive of the entire community. Action represents the primary purpose of the project, which is to take action on community issues. Network signifies that this initiative will serve as a community-wide network, which will work with existing community organizations and agencies to develop a synergism and a shared vision for positive community action.

Defining a healthy community depends on how we look at ourselves and our community and what vision, if any, we have for the future. For some, it is about personal health. For others, it is about economic opportunity. For most, it is about quality of life.

While definitions of a healthy community vary and the characteristics of every community are different, there are common themes and concerns: economic security, community vitality, educational opportunity, environmental integrity and commitment to the welfare of future generations. Creating and maintaining a healthy community involves the willingness to change and strengthen a community's ability to plan for the future and to take advantage of opportunities, rather than falling victim to larger forces and trends.

Building a healthier community is an attempt to grapple with the issues and problems that concern us most. It is about forging new coalitions and partnerships to address our deeply held convictions and taking control of the future.

In years past, the traditional community, which was created through the family, extended family and interconnected networks of community life, provided a web of inter dependency and mutual obligation in which citizens gave and received support. Family and community were the fabric of society.

Today, in our high tech, highly mobile society, we seem to have lost our sense of community and responsibility for our neighbor. Our communities are disengaged, many of our families are broken and our youth lack support. Many of our neighbors and friends have no direction or stability in their lives, and their future is dim.

The time has come for us to reweave the networks of inter dependency wherever and whenever we can, especially at the face-to-face grass roots level where the fabric of society is woven. America's greatest asset has always been its people. Communities that invest in their people, children and families, by equitably providing education and opportunity, are far more likely to prosper than those that do not make such investments.

By recognizing that economic, social, environmental and spiritual goals are integrally linked and developing new affiliations and coalitions that reflect this interrelationship, Americans can regain a sense of control over their lives, their future and their hope that each generation will have greater opportunity than the last. Trust can be restored, hope can be expanded and people can find ways to lead healthier and more prosperous lives in harmony with their neighbors.

A very powerful and important movement is underway in America today to restore the institutions and values of civil society and to revitalize the American ideals of self-government, citizenship and community. Initiatives to build stronger, healthier communities are springing up all across the country, motivated by deep individual and public concern for the disintegration of our cities and towns, economic stagnation, civic apathy and degradation of social and moral values.

This movement reflects the growing acknowledgment the long-term solutions to many of our country's most pressing problems must be and will be devised and implemented at the community level. Americans want to take back control of their lives but are frustrated by the lack of response from federal and state government. There is a new realization that results will only come by action at the local level. Communities throughout America are demonstrating that it is possible to shift from conflict and competitiveness to collaboration and cooperation when citizens find common values to guide community action.

We must realize that no set of policies, no system of incentives and no amount of information can substitute for individual responsibility or counteract apathy. Information can provide a basis for action. Vision and ideas can influence perceptions and inspire change. New ways to make decisions can empower those who seek a role in shaping the future. However, recommendations will be meaningless unless individuals acting as citizens, consumers, investors, managers, workers and professionals decide that it is important to make choices on the basis of a broader, longer view of their self-interest; to get involved in turning their choices into action; and, most importantly, to be held accountable for their actions.

The Community Action Network is not a Trinity Regional Hospital program, it is not the steering committee's project and it is not an endeavor that starts today and ends by the year 2000. The Community Action Network is an ongoing initiative of the Fort Dodge community that involves coming together to build a common vision, to take ownership in our problems, to identify long-term solutions and to take collaborative action to resolve our problems. It is investing our time, our talent and our resources to build a healthier community and a positive future for our youth, our families, ourselves ... our community.