On Thursday, July 18, Special Olympics Missouri (SOMO) received designation as an official “Healthy Community!” SOMO is now one of 19 organizations internationally recognized by Special Olympics International (SOI) with this distinction. This is a huge accomplishment for SOMO.
The Healthy Community grant is comprised of a three-year grant cycle in which SOMO will receive $50,000 annually for three years by striving to meet six criteria presented by SOI. In year one, SOMO fully met all six criteria distinguishing SOMO as a Healthy Community. Criterion five states that 20% of athletes in our geographical focus area have to be enrolled in on-going 6- 8 week health & wellness programs. Unlike other states, because of the Training for Life Campus, SOMO slated the geographical area as the entire state. Most states and international programs just have a smaller urban or rural focus group, making this an even greater accomplishment for Missouri!
This means that SOMO had to have a minimum of 978 athletes in on-going health & wellness programs during year one. In 2018, SOMO had 1,005 enrolled in on-going 6-8 week heath & wellness programs.
SOMO also has to provide at least three Healthy Athletes screening disciplines per year with a minimum of 150 screenings within the geographical area. In 2018, SOMO fully met these criteria with 1,457 screenings provided. SOMO worked diligently to make sure that athletes not only had access to screenings, but were also linked to follow-up care through the referral program. SOI indicated that most programs do not fully meet all criteria until year two or year three, and that becoming a Healthy Community in year one is extremely impressive.
