Revitalizing and Enhancing
Hawai‘i’s
There’s nothing simple about taking a simple walk on the
western side of the
For more than 30 years,
Starting Out
In June 2000, a grassroots organization, Friends for Fitness
West Hawai‘i Community Coalition conducted a community-wide survey to examine
the barriers and facilitators to increasing physical activity among
In their survey, they found walking was the most common – if
not the safest – physical activity in
Based on the findings of the survey and the number of respondents (170) who provided contact information indicating interest in participating in planning meetings, Friends for Fitness initiated a community-wide planning effort to revitalize the park. The planning process began with a series of facilitated community meetings where state, county, and elected officials and residents put pen to paper and began the process of envisioning what the park could be. Despite state and county officials informing the group that government funding would not be available for improvements, and some community criticism that the planning effort was “reinventing the wheel;” the group was determined to succeed where others failed over the past thirty years.
The group did not accept funding as a barrier to creating opportunities for physical activity. Community organizations and private businesses offered financial support and other resources to revitalize the park and preserve its cultural and historical significance.
The community planning process yielded a range of ideas – with input from residents of all ages including high school students who became involved with hopes of transforming the weathered asphalt runway into a drag strip. The group utilized “dot vote” methodology to prioritize the variety of ideas and issues to be addressed in the development of the design for the park. Assuming the park would be developed over time, a professional planner drafted a series of conceptual designs well-suited for improvements that could be phased in section by section.
Health Agency Roles
With the completed conceptual designs, Friends for Fitness sought and received funding from the Healthy Hawai‘i Initiative, Hawai‘i State Department of Health to revitalize the walking/jogging path section of the park and to conduct community-wide informational campaigns to promote the path and physical activity in West Hawai‘i. In the summer of 2002, Friends for Fitness and its partners began revitalizing and enhancing the walking/jogging path.
Partnerships and
Support
Partnerships with community-based organizations, local businesses, and countless individuals have been critical to facilitating substantive environmental change. The Hawai‘i State Department of Land and Natural Resources provided needed support and resources. The Rotary Club of Kona provided project leadership, financial support, and coordination of events and volunteers for this project. People’s Advocacy for Trails Hawai‘i (PATH) also provided project leadership and event coordination. The Andrew Allen Charitable Foundation, Wal Mart Foundation, KTA Supermarket, Kona Elks Club, and several individuals provided additional financial support. In addition to direct financial support, this project has benefited from “in-kind” support. Individuals and organizations providing professional services include Soil Plus, Gold Coast Landscape Services, BMS Excavation, Farm and Garden, Kona Irrigation, Kona Rent All, West Hawai‘i Concrete, Mr. Rubbishman, the local newspaper West Hawai‘i Today, and local radio and cable stations.
Resources
Efficient mobilization of resources within the community was a critical factor in this project’s success. Therefore, Friends for Fitness formed a steering committee to insure the project direction remained consistent with the wishes of the community and compliant with the State Department of Land and Natural Resources. The steering committee was responsible for navigating this project through obstacles that arose and for guiding the overall strategy of engaging, mobilizing, and motivating the community around this project. Strategies to engage community participation included extensive outreach to local businesses and media organizations (print, radio, and cable). These highly visible strategies proved to be successful in reaching different sectors of the community thereby creating a symbiotic relationship between the path and the community.
The steering committee is committed to preserving the historical and cultural significance of the area. In keeping with this principle the walking/jogging path was officially named the “Maka‘eo Walking/Jogging Path” which is the original name for the area. Understanding the area from the historical and cultural perspective is important to the group as they make plans to develop the area. A local kupuna (elder) was invited to share with the group the oral history of her ancestral land and told stories of growing up in Maka‘eo.
As progress was made, other members of the community began to contribute to the walking path. A large land developer donated trees. Local companies provided the use of excavation equipment, significantly easing the task of landscaping the area. A local rock wall contractor donated expertise and labor to build a rock wall to frame the entry way to path. A retired teacher handcrafted a sign for the path and built a community display case. In addition there were numerous individual donations of plants, landscaping supplies, and labor. Volunteers expressed their creativity by planting an edible herb garden for path users to pick. Some plants are arranged to spell “mahalo” (thank you) and “aloha.” A volunteer installed a water feature that serves as a sprinkler and a source of enjoyment for all.
Outcomes
The “Wild Walk” contest in April of 2003 enrolled 186 walkers ages 3 – 86 for a 50-mile walking challenge. Corporate sponsorship made the walk possible as well as imparted to the community the importance of the endeavor. The “Wild Walk” contest registration was staged as a large-scale community event promoting the walking/jogging path and the concept of physical activity as fun. Also, activities for children brought families to the event and resulted in parents registering their children to walk in the walking contest.
Another article, “Like All Journeys, It Began with One Step,” featured two residents who walk the path as part of their plan to manage and control their chronic disease conditions. As participants in the “Wild Walk” contest, they were the first to complete logging 50 miles on the path in a one month period.
In January of 2004, Friends for Fitness organized a
Corporate Fitness Challenge to engage local businesses to support the path and
to encourage employers to promote physical activity and better nutrition at the
worksite. In addition to presentations
at worksites, the corporate challenge was promoted through radio, newspaper,
and on the local cable show Living in
In their effort to sustain the corporate challenge as an
annual community event, Friends for Fitness convened a focus group in September
2004 to seek feedback and suggestions from participants on ways to improve the
challenge. Suggestions included lengthening
the challenge from
In January of 2005, Friends for Fitness organized the second Corporate Fitness Challenge. This challenge was 6 weeks long. Fifteen teams with six participants per team representing the Kona Elks Club, Hawai‘i Electric and Light Company, Hawai‘i Community Federal Credit Union, HPM, Lowes Hardware, Hualalai Regency, American Savings Bank, Soil Plus, West Hawai‘i Today, and a group of school teachers walked a combined total of 5,182 miles and lost a total of 165 pounds. Prior to the start of the challenge, participants were surveyed about their physical activity and eating habits. Participants exercised for at least 10 minutes on an average of 3 days during the previous week and the mean number of minutes exercised per day was 50 minutes. The majority of participants (66%) rated their health as “good” on a five point scale ranging from poor to excellent. This event raised $4800 towards the revitalization of the path.
Evaluation of the environmental change includes walking counts[1] to estimate the number of path users, number of community organizations and individuals participating in creating the environmental change, and tracking in-kind donations. The major outcome of the environmental change is to increase the number of path users by 20%.
Graph 1:
Graph 1 summarizes the walking counts from January 2003 through January 2005. The walking count data shows dramatic but consistent drops in the number of walkers during the month of June, which may be attributed to the hot summer weather which is exacerbated by the proximity to a black top asphalt runway and its location in the middle of a lava field. The ocean breeze provides occasional relief from the heat, and it is anticipated that the new trees will provide more shade along the path as they mature.
Graph 2 compares the January data for 2003 to 2005 and shows a 24% increase in the number walkers from 582 in 2003 to 721 walkers in 2005.
Obstacles
The major difficulty with implementing the environmental change has been navigating through state and county agencies/regulations for approvals/permits for renovations. To succeed in working through this difficulty, the group invested considerable time to build and nurture relationships with the government officials and maximizing the visibility of the project. Current ownership of the park resides with the State Department of Land and Natural Resources. The land is scheduled to be transferred to the county Department of Parks and Recreation in 2006 until the transfer is completed Friends for Fitness must continue to work with the two government agencies.
Lessons Learned
Aside from the aforementioned fundraising events, it is the smaller routine activities that prove to be essential to the overall success of the environmental change. Community volunteers provide all the labor required to maintain the path, which includes watering the plants daily, clearing the fountain grass around the path, pruning trees, weeding, clearing debris, crushing lava rock, amending the soil, etc. One Saturday each month is designated as Malama Aina (caring for the land) Day where volunteers from the community come together to work on larger landscaping projects at the path. The group created a recognition program to publicly acknowledge individuals and businesses that support the path by publishing a picture with a brief description of the individual’s contribution in the West Hawai‘i Today. For the past two years, Hawai‘i County Mayor Harry Kim has declared a “Malama Aina Community Cleanup Day” to acknowledge the volunteers.
The group has demonstrated its ability to harness the power
of the network. In an 18 month period
(January 2003 to June 2004) they raised an additional $43,000 through in-kind
donations (public relations, marketing, media, irrigation and landscaping
supplies and services, prizes and incentives, trees and plants) and other
grants. A youth group from Solid Rock
Ministries consistently contributes resources towards this effort. Local businesses continue to sponsor events
in support of the path. Makae‘o has
benefited from non-local sponsors as well.
On
Enhancements and Modifications
Since the inception of the environmental change in 2001 at
Makae‘o, with funding support from the Healthy Hawai‘i Initiative, Hawai‘i
State Department of Health, Friends for Fitness has: 1) created and published a
walking map and a Fun Fitness Resource Guide for the West Hawai‘i community; 2)
created a website (www.friendsforfitness.org);
and 3) mobilized the community to revitalize the walking/jogging path at the
old Kona airport. Path users walking
this landscaped path may rest on benches, stretch on stretching posts, do sit
ups on a sit up bench, drink fresh water at a drinking fountain, or read about
upcoming physical activity events and nutrition tips at the display case. The par course equipment (including
Conclusion
This project is a model public-private sector partnership for creating sustainable environmental changes to increase access to safe places for physical activity. Through the leadership of a grass roots community coalition, the community took responsibility for revitalizing a neglected walking/jogging path while promoting the health benefits of physical activity. The group continues to provide the leadership necessary to sustain the environmental change and is working with the local electric company on seeking grants to install solar powered lights.
Contacts
|
Name: |
Carol Matsuoka |
Heidi Stromberg |
|
Title: |
Community Outreach
Coordinator |
Executive Director |
|
Organization: |
Hawaii Department of Health |
Friends for Fitness |
|
Address: |
|
|
|
Phone: |
(808) 586-4526 |
(808) 324-0232 |
|
Fax: |
(808) 586-4491 |
(808) 324-0232 |
|
E-Mail: |
carol.t.matsuoka@doh.hawaii.gov |
heidiho@verizon.net |