Playing Smart changelabsolutions.org | kaboom.org 35 Hernando, Mississippi Population 10,580 Development pattern Low-density city Population density 936 per square mile Median household income $43,217 Partners involved State of Mississippi City of Hernando Hernando Public Schools One private landowner Mississippi has an obesity problem. More than a third of adults in the state are obese, and both the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation named Mississippi the most obese state in the country in 2010. The state’s feeble economy makes it challenging to address these issues. Many communities can barely afford to create walking trails or athletic fields, much less indoor play spaces that can be used year-round. State economist Darrin Webb recently told state lawmakers that Mississippi will probably be struggling financially through at least 2014, due to unemployment resulting from the loss of manufacturing jobs, plus a high state debt. With more than a quarter of the population under 18, the state faces a challenge: promoting physical activity with limited financial resources. Joint use agreements offered one solution. In 2010, Mississippi gave grants to 20 communities to encourage them to create joint use agreements that would open public schools to the community after school hours and on weekends. The program was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through its Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative. “Many of our communities don’t even have a park or a walking trail or a gym, especially in rural Mississippi,” says Shea Lewis, the state health department administrator who runs the joint use agreement program. “Even many of our bigger towns don’t have a gym. So communities have been really excited about this initiative, and they’ve embraced it with open arms.” The timing couldn’t have been better for the city of Hernando. The city started a youth basketball program in 2008, and had a handshake agreement with Oak Grove Elementary School to open its gymnasium after school for practice and games. With participation growing by 30 percent every year, the city quickly developed a second agreement with Hernando Middle School. By 2010, participation was booming, and the city needed to quickly and inexpensively find more gymnasium space.
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