GRAND FORKS – A community health initiative in Grand Forks is being revived with new collaborations and a deeper understanding of residents’ needs.

Live Well Grand Cities is a coalition of Grand Forks residents and leaders, including public health workers and business owners, leading outreach and policy projects. The effort started a couple of decades ago under a different name, but organizers said it stalled during the pandemic.

Shilo Previti, director of advocacy for the coalition, said it has regained its footing and is promoting healthier lifestyles through efforts such as food skills classes and community gardens.

“We also support a couple of traditional Indigenous native plants gardens throughout town,” Previti said. “There’s different specialty crops. Some of those have traditional Indigenous uses that we’re able to learn from different knowledge keepers in our community.”

The coalition was involved in Grand Forks recently becoming the first North Dakota city to achieve Blue Zones certification. The designation comes through a national partner bringing together worksites, schools, restaurants and other local entities to help make healthy living easier and more accessible. To secure the designation, selected neighborhoods recorded improvements in various health metrics over a three-year period.

Recent formal estimates indicate more than 66,000 people in North Dakota experience food insecurity. Organizers said Grand Forks is not immune to the challenge, despite recent community health improvements.

Beyond resources, Previti stressed one barrier is convincing people to work constructively with others when they already have a solution in mind.

“Which things are you going to do and which things are you going to be most effective doing, and which things am I going to do and which things am I going to be most effective doing?” Previti said.

Previti noted some interventions originate in Grand Forks but organizers also look at what is working in other towns and cities. If they see multiple effective programs in another location, she added, they will consider merging similar programs in Grand Forks in hopes of reaching more people.

Support for this reporting was provided by the philanthropic foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York.