Denver is full of energized, community-minded individuals and organizations working to make our communities happier, healthier and more sustainable places to live. To encourage and shine a much-deserved spotlight on these efforts, DDPHE hosts the annual Denver Healthy Communities Awards (HCAs).

The HCAs celebrate nonprofits, organizations, projects or individuals working to protect or improve Denver’s natural environment; those promoting food safety and child safety or access to healthy foods and built environments; and those advocating for healthy pets and improving the lives of Denver animals.
 
Nominations will be accepted through Feb. 5 in the following three categories:

Public and Environmental Health Innovation Award

• Recognizes individuals/organizations that employ innovative strategies, processes, or technologies to improve public health and/or the environment in Denver.

Excellence in Compliance Award

• Encourages, recognizes and rewards individuals, companies, and nonprofit organizations that have consistently met or exceeded applicable standards established through recognized best practices, regulation or certification.

Public and Environmental Health Good Neighbor Award

• Recognizes individuals and organizations that have a longstanding commitment to protecting and/or improving the environment; promoting healthy people through improved access to healthy food or healthy built environments; or promoting healthy pets through activities at Denver Animal Shelter or in the community at-large.

Finalists will be invited to attend a recognition event on April 2 in honor of National Public Health Week.

To see past winners or submit a nomination, visit www.denvergov.org/HCAwards.

What does success look like for Denver youth, and what stands in the way of youth health? Those two questions form the foundation of the recently released 2017 Denver Youth Health Assessment, the city’s first report focused specifically on evaluating youth health in Denver.

Published by Be Healthy Denver — a joint effort between DDPHE, Denver Public Health (DPH) and several partner organizations — the 2017 Denver Youth Health Assessment is the culmination of a year-long effort to collect and analyze input from more than 400 youth ages 15 to 25 and 21 youth-serving organizations.

Youth were not simply surveyed, they were directly involved. DPH and DDPHE staff worked alongside nine youth leaders who were instrumental in designing the approach, collecting and analyzing the data, and developing the final report.
 
“Our youth want to become successful, independent and resilient adults,” said Bob McDonald, DDPHE executive director. “All members of our community can read this assessment and take immediate steps to help all youth in Denver pursue a healthy future."

Together, this integrated team of researchers and youth leaders identified four overarching themes affecting youth health in Denver. Essentially, young people feel their overall health is directly connected to being:

The report also highlights the fact that not all Denver youth feel safe in the community, and that many youth experience barriers to overall health. These barriers included struggles with mental health and substance use, exposure to violence, and inadequate access to health care, among others.
 
“Involving youth from the beginning of this process was the key to hearing their voice,” said Bill Burman, MD, executive director, DPH. “It is a complex time to be growing up in Denver, and young people want to play a leading role in making things better.”

For many Denver residents, finding healthy, affordable food options isn’t always easy. Nearly half of low- to moderate-income Denver neighborhoods lack grocery stores, and residents must travel outside of their neighborhoods to purchase fresh, healthy food. Layer on limited transportation options and access becomes even more challenging. As a result, many residents rely on corner stores and other small-scale neighborhood markets.

Since June 2014, DDPHE’s Healthy Corner Stores Initiative has supported small-scale stores in offering and promoting healthy, fresh foods. However, fresh foods are often more expensive than the calorie-dense chips and sodas found in most corner stores. To help bridge these financial and nutritional gaps, DDPHE teamed up with LiveWell Colorado to pilot Double Up Food Bucks (DUFB) in six Healthy Corner Stores retailers.

DUFB is a statewide initiative supported by the USDA that offers a $1-to-$1 match when shoppers enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) purchase eligible items. The match can be applied toward the purchase of Colorado-grown fresh fruits and vegetables. For families shopping at corner stores, this means that $5 spent on chips can result in $5 of free Western Slope peaches. Or, families can purchase $5 worth of staples such as beans and rice and receive $5 of free produce to add to their meal. It’s a win-win-win: families enjoy more healthy food, Colorado farmers make more money, and Denver small businesses thrive.

As one resident commented, “I’m so glad someone is looking out for us to extend our dollars."

Despite initially struggling to find culturally relevant local foods for an established customer based, or distributors selling Colorado-grown foods at an affordable price point, the benefits have outweighed the costs for many participating businesses. Stores that overcame these barriers made an average of $1,200 more each month from produce sales and reported more than 200 new customers using the program.

Each year, more than 6.5 million lost or homeless cats, dogs and other animals enter U.S. shelters — according to the ASPCA – and more than 7,000 of those animals receive care at Denver Animal Shelter. These staggering numbers could be greatly reduced with one simple step: spaying/neutering pets.

February, National Spay & Neuter Awareness Month, is a great time of year to help reduce lost and stray animal populations by spaying and neutering your pet. Denver Animal Shelter veterinary staff performed spay/neuter surgeries on more than 1,800 stray and homeless animals in 2017, and thanks to a partnership with the Denver Dumb Friends League, the shelter also offers pet owners low-cost spay/neuter services for dogs and free spay/neuter surgeries for cats. These services are free through the Pets for Life program for residents in the 80204, 80219 or 80239 area codes.

In addition to controlling animal populations, spay/neuter surgeries have a number of health benefits for animals. Spayed/neutered animals are at lower risk for certain types of cancer and tend to have fewer behavioral problems. These animals are also less likely to roam, which reduces their risk of accidental injuries or fights.

Spaying or neutering your pet might also make them a more enjoyable roommate! Animals that have undergone the surgery are less inclined to spray or mark their territory, behaviors which have been known to ruin carpet and furniture. Spaying female animals in particular can also eliminate the crying and nervous behaviors related to heat cycles.

Finally, reducing unwanted litters (that would otherwise be brought into shelters) makes it easier for homeless animals to receive the care they need and increases their odds of finding forever homes. Find out more and make plans to spay/neuter your pet by visiting our website.