Building Healthy Communities: The Sandhills Family Heritage Association Youth/Senior Project Spring Lake, NC Support for this project was provided by the University of North Carolina Center for Urban and Regional Studies and the North Carolina Physical Activity Policy Research Center (NCPAPRC, 2008)

Research methods, such as PhotoVoice and field interviews, were used to explore relationships between health issues (such as diabetes) and land use, from the perspective of community members. Community members decided to conduct intergenerational interviews themselves.

Youth and seniors worked together to interpret the data from the PhotoVoice project. Participants discussed the meaning of a “healthy community”

The Spring Lake Farmer’s Market: An asset to the community’s health, environment, and economy… The Farmer’s Market is viewed as a place to buy nutritious food that supports the local economy, but most importantly it preserves the community’s land and its history.

The Spring Lake Farmer’s Market Residents had to work with city officials to change zoning ordinances and obtain a permit to open their Farmer’s Market

Traditional dance and other activities are held at the Farmer’s Market….

Photovoice researchers receive Certificates of Completion at the final session to celebrate learning from each other. Several participants reported that this helped them to prepare college application essays, and increased their confidence in interviews.