The checklist is a menu of activities that have worked in other communities. Each item is linked to a Web site page. Download it and type on it. Rank the priority for each item in your community. If you aren’t sure what an activity is, click on the link. The Try This page will come up, to give you info!

Use the Web site for multi-year healthy lifestyle planning!

The Try This Web site is a menu of choices. It’s a tool for people who want to create a healthier community.  The Try This checklist helps you review the possible choices on the Web site. It helps you choose activities that make the most sense for your community and prioritize them into a multi-year plan.

At the same time, the checklist helps you get an overview of what’s already been accomplished. After you compare checklists, you list and prioritize the projects people most want to tackle.  You end up with a multi-year “to-do” list. It can become an “action” backbone for a long-range healthy lifestyle plan for your community.

A Mineral County team brainstorms possible minigrant projects at the conference. As part of the application, each team completes a checklist, then chooses a project.

Here are two different versions of the checklist. They are copyrighted, but we are glad to share them, as long as credit is given to Try This West Virginia.

Click on the blue name and the download-able checklist will come up. Be patient. It takes a few minutes:

(1) The community checklist is particularly handy for community teams or groups that are trying to come up with a long-range plan. Everyone on your team does the checklist. Then you compare lists.

2)  The personal checklist makes it easy for people – students, community leaders, employees – to become informed about a wide range of options a community might choose.

As people go through the checklist, they also learn about a wide range of projects already being carried out in West Virginia. The process stirs hope and pride and fights the myth that “it can’t happen here.”

How to use the checklist:

Fairmont Main Street using the Try This checklist to help launch a Healthy-Fairmont planning process. (photo MainStreet Fairmont)

* Download it into your computer. You can type on it, go through it at your own speed and make notes as you go.

* If you want more information, click on the item listing. A Try This page will come up, full of info and resources about ways to start/expand that activity. If you aren’t sure if an item is appropriate for your community, this is an easy way to find out more and see how other West Virginia communities are doing that activity.

* If you download the checklist, you can work on it awhile, save your comments and priority ratings, then pick up where you left off when you come back later.

Why do it?

* Community checklist: Going through the checklist puts you in better position to make choices that make sense for your community. This is a menu of possible choices that have worked elsewhere. Without such a list,  you’re like a person being asked to order in a restaurant with no menu. Maybe there’s something you haven’t heard of that would be perfect for your community! This is a way to make sure you make informed choices.

* Making a long-range plan forces you to look beyond the immediate project to bigger, longterm goals. Instead of saying “We’re making a community garden,” you might think, “In a bigger sense, we’re increasing our supply of fresh food. We’re building a healthier community.”

In that sense, the person who’s helping start a running/walking group is working on the same goal as the person who’s helping create a farmers market. You’re all building a healthier community.   So it helps for everyone who’s working on that big goal to meet together periodically to coordinate, prioritize, and celebrate progress on your community plan. And tweak it if necessary.

* Individual checklist/ Personal checklist. Students, professionals and interested people will be able to do healthy lifestyle planning more effectively and productively if they are acquainted with a wide range of options and resources. With the checklist, you can quickly and effectively acquire a broad view.

 copyright Kate Long 2015