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Politics & Government

Arlington to Get Piece of $1.57M Health Grant

Community health efforts are going to receive much needed funding from government grant program.

Arlington will receive a portion of a $1.57 million grant awarded to the Massachusetts Department of Health aimed at reducing death and disability through community education and support.

“The grant will be used to help further the Mass in Motion project to fight obesity,” said Lola Omolodun, senior project coordinator at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.

The money will also help aide communities in their tobacco control efforts. Arlington is working with the Brookline tobacco control program to implement smoke-free, multi-unit housing in the community. This will not be new developments, but rather the transformation of existing units into non-smoking homes.

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In a letter to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Arlington’s Director of , Christine Connolly, expressed the town’s eagerness to work with partner communities on the smoke-free housing measure.

The money is expected to be available within the next few months, but budgets must be revised and approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before it will actually be distributed.

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In order to receive these funds, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council worked closely with the state Department of Public Helath to apply for the grant. The groups will remain heavily involved with program coordination and will assist in contract management.

The Community Transformation Grant program was created by the Affordable Care Act in an effort to help communities across the country battle the origins of poor health. Seventy five percent of all health care costs in the United States are related to chronic disease, according to the CDC.

Providing services and programs that may help Americans battle and prevent these diseases from becoming severe may not only improve the country’s overall health, but many experts believe it will lower health care costs in the future.

The grants will run for five years and are aimed and creating sustainable community projects that will remain in place long after the funding has ended. 

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