Tallulah – One universal consensus between residents is that a fitness center in Graham County is desperately needed.
Donna Stephens agrees – and is looking to make the dream a reality.
Appointed as the new local health director March 2, the county native began her May 1 presentation of the 2023 Community Health Assessment by noting two major priorities that the report says needs to be addressed: mental health and substance abuse, as well as obesity and heart disease.
While mental health/substance abuse might seem like an obvious issue, obesity/heart disease not only goes hand-in-hand, but also is a problem that people often fail to see behind rose-colored glasses.
At the May 1 health board meeting, Stephens said the health department has been working with Great Smokies Health Foundation Executive Director Brian Huskey to secure a grant, which would allow Graham County to construct a fitness center and eliminate the need for residents to visit facilities in neighboring Cherokee or Swain counties. Graham County Schools is also partnering with the health department to help secure the grant.
She told the board that the current plan is to use the location of the former Green’s Foodway on Tallulah Road, which sits next to Huckleberry Bakery.
“This would be a great location for the residents of the county,” Stephens told The Graham Star on Monday. “Our goal would be to have a large training area for the gym equipment, a large education room for health education and community projects, another room for special projects, and men’s and women’s locker rooms.”
A fundraiser will soon be launched for the center, with Stephens stressing that the project is still in the preliminary planning stages. A cost for renovation has not been determined, but Stephens said the county would be applying for the Cannon Foundation Grant (based in Concord) to help offset the cost.
The Graham County Health Assessment – conducted by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute’s School of Medicine and Public Health – was just released and notes that Graham County ranks 65th out of 100 North Carolina counties in “health outcomes” (25-50 percent) and is in the lowest percentile of “least healthy” counties across the state (0-25 percent).
Additionally, Graham County is ranked higher than the state average of 17 percent in adult smoking; right at the state average for adult obesity (33 percent to the state’s median of 34); and 24 percent in physical inactivity, as compared to the North Carolina of 22 percent.