On April 23, Milwaukee County will receive an award from the Wellness Council of America (WELCOA) for its approach in developing programs that improve the health and wellbeing of County employees. WELCOA is widely recognized and highly regarded for its expertise and innovative approach to workplace wellness initiatives.

"We don’t leave workplace wellness to chance," said County Executive Chris Abele. "We believe that providing employees with wellness opportunities not only improves personal health and wellbeing, but increases employee job satisfaction and morale as well. I am incredibly proud of these efforts and want to thank all of our employees whose participation makes this award possible. Creating a healthy workplace is good for employees and also leads to better outcomes for our community."

The wellness program at Milwaukee County was designed and implemented with best practices based on what’s worked well in other organizations. Milwaukee County is being recognized after less than two years of operation and is well on its way to being a leader in how it engages employees around their wellness.

The county executive would like to thank Milwaukee County’s chief human resources officer Kerry Mitchell, wellness coordinator Claire Schuenke, and the Wellness Advisory Committee for all their hard work and persistence around this important initiative.

One example of enhanced wellness is the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. The Wellness Program partnered with Growing Power to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables at County facilities. Last year, Growing Power delivered to nine different County locations, and over 300 people participated in purchasing the weekly baskets. The County offers a variety of other wellness opportunities, including tobacco cessation classes, access to health coaching, exercise and weight management challenges, an annual 5k walk/run, a bimonthly newsletter, stress management trainings and annual health assessments.

Milwaukee County will receive the Silver Award at the Well City Milwaukee Annual Celebration, which takes place on April 23 at the Italian Community Center. The event is sponsored by Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin, and is open to the public. For more details on Well City Milwaukee, visit their website.