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Porter County launches health and wellness initiative

A new initiative aims to improve the health and wellness of Porter County residents, starting with county employees. The PoCo Wellness Connection was officially launched during last week's county commissioners meeting.

Commissioner Barb Regnitz put together a group of representatives from multiple county departments, as well as health care providers, to come up with ideas. "Health and wellness doesn't necessarily have to be you running a marathon," Regnitz said. "It can be just getting out — social wellness, emotional wellness, physical wellness."

Some ideas include setting up employee walking clubs, along with volleyball or cornhole leagues at the county administration building courtyard. The PoCo Wellness Connection would also promote existing programs already being offered, like the Health Department's programs to quit smoking and the Purdue Extension Office's tips for healthy eating and growing vegetables.

Regnitz said employees can use their existing online wellness portal to track their progress. "We're going to be able to create leader boards and have competitions, and so it'll be cool from the employee perspective," Regnitz added.

The eventual goal is to expand the PoCo Wellness Connection to the entire community.