The Town That Takes Its Health Seriously

As a longtime Beachwood resident I am well aware that for a town with just over 11,000 residents there is a lot of good “stuff” going on that is likely pretty much unnoticed outside of the borough.

Among them is an effort spearheaded by Mayor Ron Roma to address health priorities that are a concern of many: childhood obesity, behavioral health and chronic disease and education.

Several years ago the mayor launched a wellness campaign with the focus on programs and events to get residents to buy into a healthy lifestyle and a glance at the town’s website will highlight a wide range of upcoming ones at the Mayo Park Center.

While Move and Groove Dance Fitness Class is for ages 55 and up there’s also Yoga at Beachwood Beach, kickboxing, even a bootcamp.  They have offered cooking classes for kids and adults with the idea to teach healthy food choices and in just four years the Beachwood Tennis Club grew from 9 to 49 kids.

Much of the success and growth is due to Mayor Roma’s wife Geralynn who coordinates the campaign and her assistant Sarah McNabb.

While all of this might have flown under the radar even in Beachwood it has not gone unnoticed by the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute in Princeton.  For the fourth consecutive year their Mayor’s Wellness Campaign has recognized Beachwood for its comprehensive and highly successful community programs which is unequaled anywhere else in the state.

Beachwood earned the distinction of the newly created Healthy Town to Watch in 2014 and the following year was awarded the coveted Healthy Town, one of just two in New Jersey.  The borough did not rest on its laurels and by continuing to grow its programs it forced the sponsoring organization to create a newly established Continued Excellence Award in 2016. The winner: Beachwood.

The winners have just been announced for 2017 and for the second straight year Beachwood has won the MWC Continued Excellence Award for once again exceeding expectations.  In the very near future the town will receive a commemorative sign for its efforts and while that’s nice what Mayor Roma and others really want is to have more and more residents participate in the wide range of programs.

For more information visit beachwoodusa.com