The Alton Park Development Corporation will graduate Alton Park/Piney Woods residents from the Neighborhood Environmental College on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at the Piney Woods Resource Center located at 701 Hooker Road.
Guest speakers are Mayor Ron Littlefield, City Councilman Manny Rico and Hamilton County Health Department Step 1 Program Manager John Bilderback, with a special message for the graduates from County Mayor Claude Ramsey.
Residents of Alton Park/Piney Woods have been engaged in information exchange, community leadership and community outreach activities in a Health and Wellness Course with a particular focus on "Healthy Eating and Active Living" which helped and encouraged the participants to address and take ownership of their own health and the health of their community.
The residents of AP/PW have been attending class since November of 2009 and the Alton Park/Piney Woods Development Corporation will acknowledge their accomplishments and commitment during a commencement ceremony this Thursday at the Piney Woods Resource Center. The graduating residents will become members of a group of over 300 AP/PW residents to take and complete a course in the NEC.
The Alton Park/Piney Woods community is one of two communities in Chattanooga that is the focus of a grant awarded by the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation to the County Health Department's Step 1 program and and their collaborative partners of Grow Healthy Together Chattanooga (GHTC) as part of the Foundation's Healthy Kids Healthy Communities Initiative.