Orlando Organization Awarded $100,000 in Community Grants

Did you know 60 percent of a person’s life expectancy is driven by factors outside of the doctor’s office? Our personal choices, behaviors and actions, as well as our social and environmental factors, determine our overall health. The Aetna Foundation as part of the Cultivating Healthy Communities initiative, recently announced $100,000 to the city of Orlando. Cultivating Healthy Communities is designed to promote healthy and active living, strengthen health equity and advance innovations that make it possible for people to have more healthy days.

The East Central Florida Regional Planning Council was awarded the grant for their Cycles and Sprouts project. This project is dedicated to using urban agriculture and bike repair activities to teach healthy life and vocational skills to the youth in Orlando's Holden Heights neighborhood using an experiential curriculum.

Teaching will take place in two attractively repurposed shipping containers, strategically located on vacant sites, therefore positively enhancing and activating the physical and social environment. While this project focuses on youth, individuals of all ages and abilities can participate and achieve health benefits through purpose-driven exercise and meaningful occupation.

To learn more about the Cultivating Healthy Communities initiative, please visit: https://news.aetna.com/news-releases/the-aetna-foundation-helps-improve-the-health-of-25-communities-nationwide-through-more-than-2-million-in-grants/.