January 12, 2011

Welcome/Introductions: As an icebreaker, the group shared any goals/resolutions for the new year. Many people shared physical activity goals, and Shape Up SF and our partners have many opportunities to support those goals like the Walking Challenge, Kaiser Permanente’s Half Marathon and 5K Fun Run, Rec and Park and YMCA programming, Bike to School Day, etc.

Present: Christina Goette (SFDPH), Gloria Thornton (Anthem Blue Cross, Childhood Obesity Task Force), Megan Petrich (SF Health Plan), Ellen McCarthy (SFRPD), Jane Packer (YMCA), Lara Sallee (Kaiser Permanente), Nancy Leung (Kaiser Permanente), Perry Lang (Black Coalition on AIDS), Lynn Breger (SPUR), Rubin Glickman (PAC), Jeffrey Betcher (Quesada Gardens, BV Footprints), Tracey Patterson (SEFA), Rebecca Buzolich (CHDP/WIC), Ana Validzic (SFDPH), Jason Serafino-Agar (SF Bicycle Coalition), Yete McMahon (SFDPH), Amy Portello Nelson (DCYF/SUSF), Michelle Loya Talamantes (CARECEN), Fernando de la Pena (CARECEN), Michael Bennett (BVYMCA), Tim Lennon (PEEF CAC), Kathy Fleming (SFUSD), Marianne Szeto (SUSF)

Shape Up SF Updates

1. 2010 Year in Review – is available for download on www.shapeupsf.org on the homepage as well as under Resources and Research.

2. The Healthy Meal Incentives Ordinance passed, which links meals with toys to nutritional standards, essentially eliminating the sweetened drink in those meals. Research shows that the one food linked to overweight/obesity epidemic is sweetened beverages.

3. Future of Shape Up SF –there have been many changes in City Hall, and changes within DPH as well. Barbara Garcia is the new Director of Public Health and has expressed her commitment to prevention. She has reorganized the department to ensure that chronic disease prevention work continues, and restored the Population Health and Prevention Branch. Barbara is an ally of our work.

In light of all these changes, Shape Up SF has examined our work and for 2011, will focus on key areas where we have developed momentum. This work continues to build on our strategic plan and the recommendations out of our policy analysis.

Shape Up SF will continue with our 4 strategies: awareness/education, programs/events, policy/advocacy, data/research. Literature shows that awareness and education is not enough. We know we need to exercise more and eat better, but doesn’t mean we do it. To that end, we must focus on other elements – programs to motivate people, policies to support healthier environments, and data and research to back up and evaluate the work we are doing.

Shape Up SF will focus on three main areas:

1. Increasing physical activity through:
   1. Safe Routes to School – a very robust initiative that aims to incorporate physical activity into daily life and that will help inform infrastructure changes in the environment to enable people to walk/bike safely to/from school. Funding through 2013 and working with UCSF to apply for NIH funding to continue baseline study over the next 6 years.
   2. Walking Challenge – a program that motivates individuals to be more physically active. Recognized by the National League of Cities as a model program to increase physical activity.
   3. PE – funded by the California Obesity Prevention Program to conduct an assessment of current state of PE and to hold a Forum in August sharing the findings, research, and recommendations to raise the value of PE and to support SFUSD in meeting state requirements.
2. Increasing access to healthy foods through:
   1. Southeast Food Access (SEFA) Working Group – focused for 4 years to increase access to healthy food in southeast sector.
   2. Food Guardians – a project of SEFA mobilizing residents of BVHP to educate, advocate, and promote SEFA’s three pillars.
   3. Citywide Youth Food Programs – DCYF ensures that youth across the city have access to nutritious meals through Summer Lunch and After School Snack program, as well as nutritional guidelines for their grantees.
3. Decreasing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages through Rethink Your Drink and related policies.

Shape Up SF will continue to participate in other networks such as the Food Security Task Force, the SFUSD SNPAC, the Child Obesity Task Force as appropriate. We continue to support Sunday Streets, but don’t organize or play as large a role as we did in 2008.

Q – Where does policy decision making happen? How do policy decisions filter to other parts of work?

A – It depends on the area. If it is not related to a specific collaborative, we take it to our Steering Committee. SEFA and SRTS have a collaborative body that would make decisions.

4. Safe Routes to School

1. Bike to School Day will be April 7, 2011. In preparation, SRTS coalition is promoting its annual poster contest, open to every k-12 student in SF. The theme is “My Family Bike Ride.” Entries must be submitted by February 11. Download the poster contest guidelines at www.sfsaferoutes.org.  In 2009 – 460; 2010 – 1000. In 2010, we anticipate 3,000 participants. Kids will get a bag with bike resources like bike bells and lanyard etc.
2. Baseline study with UCSF- one of the goals of the SRTS Coalition is to create a prioritization system to reach out to SFUSD. A journal article provided a methodology to set up a prioritization system. The missing piece was how students were getting to and from school. SUSF partnered with UCSF and found funding to conduct a baseline study. Timing was critical because this fall, the student assignment process is changing and where a child lives will play a more prominent role. The data will serve as a baseline study and we will get additional funding to collect the data as it rolls out over the next 6 years.

UCSF went to 72 out of 73 elementary schools and surveyed kindergarten and 5th graders.

• about 25% walk
• less than 1% bike
• about 10% take yellow bus (but that is changing next year)
• About 10% take city bus
• 52% in family car alone
• 3% carpool

Over 35% live over 2 miles away from school which makes walking and biking unrealistic for them.

For every 10% increase in percentage of students eligible for free or reduced meals, the proportion of students:

• Walking increases by 4.4%
• Biking decreases by 0.3%
• Taking a family car decreases by 5.6%
• Carpooling decreases by 0.4%
• Taking public transportation increases by 2.8%

Nik Kaestner, Director of Sustainability for SFUSD wrote a grant to secure at least one bike rack at every SFUSD school.

Jason Serafino-Agar – The SF Bicycle Coalition has a Connecting the City campaign to create backbone routes for cyclists that are safe and comfortable for people 8 to 80.

Lynn Berger – how are we sharing all the successes? What’s the media plan?

Jason – – SRTS does media events for Bike to School Day and Walk to School Day, but we could be more coordinated with our efforts.

Jeffrey Betcher – Asset mapping is a growing trend. Quesada Gardens Initiative is using Google maps pro to map assets and is happy to integrate other data into their map to share with the community.  Will data reflect how local schools and SRTS will change quality of life? Does violence go down? Does social cohesion go up? Department of Environment is looking at metrics of social cohesion. UCSF will be applying to NIH to secure funding for the next 6 years and we’re currently developing research questions. Ana will send that suggestion to UCSF.

5. Physical Activity Council (PAC) Policy Recommendations

The California Endowment funded the PAC’s analysis of barriers to PA. Dr. Susan Zieff, Professor of Kinesiology at SFSU, conducted 21 interviews, a document review, and with the PAC developed policy recommendations to increase opportunities for PA. We are excited that out of those Rx, we’re able to act on a number of them – PE, SRTS expansion, joint use activation, developing a pedestrian strategy. Thank you to members of the PAC who were key to making this work possible – Chuck Collins, Peter Albert, Diane Aranda, Rubin Glickman. The policy brief serves as a road map for us to continue our work as it relates to PA. Since the PAC was an advisory body to the Mayor, with his departure, the PAC will go dormant. It’s up to the new Mayor to reconvene, but in the meantime, Shape Up SF will continue to move the work forward.

6. PE Advocates (PE-A)

PE Assessment – UCSF has been working with SFSUD PE department and will be collecting data using the validated SOFIT tool March-May, and interviews with principals and PE teachers, and will have preliminary data by our forum in August.

PE Forum – Letter to superintendent, curriculum committee, administrators informing them of our work and are developing strategy for follow up. Article in Journal of PA and Health on engaging school governance leaders to influence PA policies indicates that we’re on the right track. We have a signed MOU by John Ratey, author of SPARK, to be our keynote. Fundraising efforts headed up by Patrick Heryford, YMCA, and Susan Roberts, former ED for Girls on the Run. We are currently seeking endorsements and would love to add your logo to our growing list of supporters. Contact Marianne at Marianne.szeto@sfdph.org if interested. www.shapeupsf.org/PE for more details.

7. Walking Challenge: February 28 – May 6, 2011

1,016 mile goal for the team. Registration begins January 24.

The Team Leader Orientation will be on January 31 from 3:30-5 at 1390 Market St.,, Suite 900 in The Mint. The orientation is not mandatory and is recommended for new team leaders. Participants will receive team leader toolkits. Amy will provide weekly newsletters with resources to be physically active and is seeking folks who could contribute writing blurbs for the newsletter. There are no goodie bags this year. Instead, we ask teams to come up with a kick off event on February 28. Teams that have an event will receive an incentive pack with coupons, gift cards, etc. Jane Packer may be able to arrange discounted YMCA memberships.

8. SEFA

Tracey Patterson will be supporting SEFA as lead staff and coordinating the Food Guardian (FG) program. FG are 1 year into program and looking forward to leadership roles and community outreach. They will be finalizing the healthy retail food standards and developing a community resource guide. The healthy food retail standards are based on standards from other areas. Redevelopment agency will be looking at the standards to determine how they will loan money to stores in the redevelopment areas.

9. American Heart Association 2020 Task Force

AHA is forming a task force around chronic disease prevention and Christina Goette will be serving on the task force. AHA released the recommended daily intake of added sugars (9 tsps for men and 6 tsps for women).

Member Announcements

Nancy Leung – Kaiser Permanente’s 2011 Half Marathon (and 5K Fun Run) is February 6, Superbowl Sunday at 8 AM.  Sports Basement is leading fun runs leading up to the race. Open to all ages. You must pre-register. Visit www.kp.org/sf for more details.

Rebecca Buzolich, CHDP – brought a fact sheet with 2009 CHDP data that includes BMI percentiles and rates of overweight and obesity. This data gets sent to state and used in federal rates. Data show that 1 out of 3 preschoolers or school children are overweight or obese

Perry Lang, Black Coalition on AIDS, is part of the Wellness Network and shared three programs:

1. stress reduction – all classes free. Contact mmathews@bcoa.org for more info.

2. grief workshop – free and lunch will be served. Contact communityorganizinig@bcoa.org for more info.

3. caring for your family – free. Contact mmathews@bcoa.org. Space is limited so RSVP.

DPH is working in collaboration with HERC, Bayview YMCA, BCA to increase health and wellness in their neighborhoods.

Bayview Footprints will be launching walking tours in the heart of BVHP to address pedestrian safety and health issues. There will be a faith tour, gardens and environment tour, youth active spaces tour, social history tour, and art tour. Opportunity to highlight walks for Walking Challenge.

CARECEN is hiring a Spanish speaking community health worker. They will need to attend a 10-wk paid training re: diabetes, healthy eating, exercise. Orientation January 13 at 6pm and on January 18 at 9 am. Application process easy.

There will be 8 Sunday Streets events this year and with the exception of the kick-off in March, will be moving to the second Sunday of each month from April-October. SF Bicycle Coalition handles volunteer coordination. Visit www.sundaystreetssf.com for more info.

Ellen McCarthy, Recreation and Parks Department is the Adaptive Recreation Programs Coordinator and has a general survey of interest for Adaptive Recreation (such as art, sports, urban adventure, music, gardening, cooking, etc). If you have any feedback, please contact her at ellenmccarth@sfgov.org.

Importance of Branding – by Jane Packer, YMCA SF

It’s easy to forget public perception of our organizations. In 2009, YMCA brand was named most valuable nonprofit brand in the US. BUT it was known as a “swim and gym” and the social service and community work wasn’t known at all.

Developed a new brand centered around:

1. Promise – what is your organization’s rallying cry?
2. Values – key concepts to describe employee behaviors within organization.
3. Voice – five key terms to articulate what you do in the community.

Important to simplify complex messages in ways that are meaningful to communities you serve.

Public Education Enrichment Fund (Prop H) Overview - Kathy Fleming, SFUSD PEEF Program Administrator and Tim Lennon, Co-Chair, PEEF Advisory Committee

Passed in 2004, provides funding for 3 broad areas:

1/3 to SF First 5 for preschool support

1/3 to SLAM (sports/libraries/arts/music)

1/3 other general use – discretionary and has supported student support programs, academic support program, PEEF infrastructure, translation services.

Tim Lennon, Co-chair of PEEF Community Advisory Committee

CAC consists of parent volunteers, principals and district employees who are appointed by members of school board.  CAC provides input to BOE and gets info from community on effectiveness of their funded programs.  Tonight is their first community meeting at Burton High School, and they will have students present. Meetings are open to public. 3-4 community meetings monthly. These meetings are promoted through Parents for Public Schools, PTAs and to schools in the area.

Shape Up SF can post scheduled meetings through shape up website and listserv.

PEEF will expire in 2014 and we will need to look to residents again for funding. It is not a parcel tax but comes from the City’s general fund. These public meetings is part of the campaign to start gathering support. There are five openings on the CAC Roster. Contact Kathy if interested. CAC meets monthly for 2 hours and provides dinner.

Shape Up SF’s PE-Advocates are interested in staying involved with the PEEF CAC and would like to share the findings from our research and invite CAC to participate in the PE Forum. There are lots of opportunities to connect.