River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition

PO Box 86
Rumford, ME 04276
207-364-7408
rvhcc@gwi.net

Welcome to the River Valley in Western Maine

Members

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Aerial view of Rumford Center.

The River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition is a non-profit organization created by local community members who want to make a positive difference in the health and well-being of our communities in the River Valley region. We strive to be a catalyst for community dialogue and actions that are critical to our future. The River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition works with different local organizations and schools, as well as state agencies to implement various health programs, to assess various health risk factors and to evaluate health problems in the community.

Our mission is to achieve measurable improvement in the quality of life in the River Valley towns of Northern Oxford County through coordinated, ongoing community health promotion. The Coalition's definition of health is broad: it includes physical, mental, and spiritual health, economic, creative and recreational opportunities, and a clean environment.

Established in 1997, the Healthy Communities is successor to the Northern Oxford County Coalition (NOCC). The regional Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provided financial support and technical assistance to the NOCC, whose chief concern was environmental pollution.

The River Valley region is comprised of nine towns, Andover, Byron, Canton, Dixfield, Hanover, Mexico, Peru, Roxbury, and Rumford. Some of our programs extend beyond into the neighboring towns of Carthage, Bethel, Milton, Newry, Woodstock, Greenwood, Bryant Pond, Albany, Upton, Stoneham, Stow, Lovell, Sweden and Fryeburg.

The RVHCC carries out its work through three main activities:

Initiatives:
Community-wide projects facilitated by the Healthy Communities aimed at addressing quality of life issues.

Forums:
Healthy Communities sponsored events that bring people together to assess and strategize about our community's priority health issues through summits, retreats, focus groups and surveys.

Networking:
The Healthy Communities can assist through linking complementary projects together, providing technical assistance and offering vehicles for recognition and support.

The RVHCC focuses on five main goals:

╖ааааааа Reward successful programs, nurture fledgling programs, and fill in gaps in community resources through development of new and existing programs

╖ааааааа Raise awareness of the health status of our community, share information and data with community, and update regularly with a focus on measurable outcomes

╖ааааааа Promote and maintain community involvement and ownership of programs and delivery systems

╖ааааааа Ensure the long-term stability and impact of the Coalition

╖ааааааа Become recognized as a clearing house (resource) to help coordinate local efforts and share resources aimed at community health/education

Great Works Internet (GWI) provides the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition with "Free Internet Service" Thank you for sponsoring "Healthy Community" Efforts in the River Valley of Western Maine.

River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition
PO Box 86
Rumford, Maine 04276
phone/fax 207-364-7408
Our General E-mail box:

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