November 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 49

with your core stakeholder group
as you get clear on what you want
your hub to be. Consider spending
time defining the vision and mission
of your hub and identifying
the main goals you'd like to accomplish.
From there, break the goals
into short-, medium- and longterm
objectives, and identify the
resources you'll need to get to each
of those points.
Phase 4: Define Key
Strategies and Develop an
Action, Implementation
and Evaluation Plan
This last phase is your action phase.
Take the time to create clear plans
for achieving your goals, including
timelines,
roles and responsibilities,
and measuring progress. Be
sure to share this plan widely with
your team and stakeholder group
to create transparency and encourage
accountability.
There also are six key considerations
you'll need to keep top
of mind throughout the development
of a Community Wellness
Hub. As the process guide demonstrates,
these factors should be
present and addressed in every
phase of planning.
Centering and Advancing
Equity: When the needs of those
most impacted by inequity are addressed
in both process and product,
you are more likely to achieve
your goals of advancing community
health and well-being for all.
Building and Maintaining Partnerships:
Community Wellness
Hubs do not need to be the direct
provider of all health and wellness
services. Given the many directions
a hub can take, considering the different
types of partners and organizations
that will be necessary or
the key for achieving overall goals
is important.
Advocating: It's important that
elected officials,
external stakeholders
and the public recognize
the essential nature of parks and
recreation and your Community
Wellness Hub, and it all starts
with
telling your story. Providing
updates and information to
decision-makers and policymakers
about the hub - especially the
overall vision, goals and objectives
- will be critical to its success.
Providing Continuous Communications:
Maintaining
continuous,
transparent communication
on hub progress updates, programs
or initiatives, or evaluation findings
is essential. This also is the time to
create space and opportunities for
the community to provide feedback
or advice about the hub.
Evaluating: Having measurable,
focused and understandable metrics
that are related to your hub's
efforts will be critical for understanding
if you are making progress
toward longer-term goals and
outcomes, and where refocusing is
necessary to achieve goals.
Identifying Funding: Securing
and diversifying funding for staffing
and needed resources to support
the implementation of hub
strategies is critical to success and
can help ensure long-term sustainability.
Park
and recreation
agencies
are in the perfect, and incredibly
unique, position to serve as Community
Wellness Hubs that provide
essential and high-quality programs
and services to all members of the
community. By intentionally planning,
designing and implementing
a hub model, agencies across the
country are meeting community
members where they are and catalyzing
health and well-being.
For more on Community
Wellness Hubs, visit nrpa.org/
CommunityWellnessHubs.
Maureen Neumann (she/her) is Senior Health Program
Manager at NRPA (mneumann@nrpa.org).
PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G | NOVEMBER 2 0 22 | Parks & Recreation
49
http://www.nrpa.org/CommunityWellnessHubs http://www.nrpa.org/CommunityWellnessHubs
November 2022 - Parks & Recreation

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