As part of the Foundation for the Mid South’s dedication to health and wellness, we have partnered with the city of Okolona, Mississippi to promote healthy lifestyles and decrease childhood obesity and the diseases that spring from it.

The city of Okolona is tucked away in Chickasaw County in northeastern Mississippi and is home to roughly 3,000 residents. As of the 2010 United States Census, 70% of the population of Okolona is African-American, and according to a 2013 survey from a group from the University of Mississippi, the average age is 37.
Through a Foundation grant, the City of Okolona has successfully developed plans and activities to encourage residents to make small but effective changes in their daily lives.
“The Foundation was gracious enough to provide us a grant to help fund some of these activities, “ said Okolona Mayor Louise Cole. “Through their support, we are becoming more conscious and aware of the effects of a healthy lifestyle in our community.”
Homegrown Healthy Living
Okolona has launched several initiatives to encourage residents to grow and buy fresh, whole foods and cultivate better eating habits.

Okolona’s Fruit Basket
One health initiative that has taken off in the community is called Okolona’s Fruit Basket. It is a joint partnership with the Okolona Health Council and local convenience stores, in which each store receives baskets and an initial stock of fresh fruit to sell as a healthy alternative to other snacks. The stores then use the proceeds from the fruit sold to restock the baskets and continue the supply of fresh produce. Five convenience stores are participating, and Mayor Cole said that the response from the community has been encouraging.

Community Gardens
The city has also started community raised gardens in several areas of Okolona and at each of the city departments.
“With the help of the Foundation, we initially supplied the planning materials for these gardens and the people in the neighborhood keep them up,” said Mayor Cole.
“One of our most successful areas is in a low-income part of Okolona Housing Authority, and they’ve just taken it on and grown. A couple times a year, they’ll have a big cookout using the vegetables they harvested for that dinner.”
At the Okolona Housing Authority, children and adults work side by side in the garden, experiencing the pride of tending their crops and working together as a community.
Farmer’s Market
In addition to the community gardens, Okolona hosts a farmer’s market every Friday morning, encouraging all members of the community to come and sell their homegrown fruit and vegetables and homemade baked goods.
“Like I told people, you can grow tomatoes on your back porch, and you can’t use them all,” said Mayor Cole. “You can bring those and sell them. “
The city has taken steps to spruce up the area where the farmer’s market takes place by planting flowers, adding benches and making it a more attractive place to gather, socialize and shop.
Success with Know Your Numbers

Okolona has also started initiatives to promote the importance of physical activity and the power of individual health education.
The Know Your Numbers initiative started as part of Okolona’s annual community health fair, and it encourages people to get regular readings of their health numbers, such as blood pressure, blood sugar, weight and cholesterol. Mayor Cole is particularly proud of how Know Your Numbers has taken off among different city employees.
“I encouraged the employees to come and get their numbers known, and they can get paid a day earlier,” she said.

“It’s really exciting to see some of these Public Works guys and ladies, policemen, etc., coming in and feeling good about their numbers. I don’t have to see the results. I want you to know what they are, so when you do them the next quarter, you’ll see how you’ve improved.”
“You feel better, you feel like your stamina is better during the day.”
Richie Cousin, of Okolona Public Works, said his department has incorporated a number of healthy lifestyle changes into their daily activities. The whole department goes on walks at least three to five times a week, and everyone makes an effort to eat healthy food and drink lots of water throughout the day. Cousin said that he personally feels the difference in his physical health.
“At first, it seemed like you could feel the change, but once you get used to it, doing it a regular amount, it just fits right in,” he said. “You feel better, you feel like your stamina is better during the day.”
The Public Works employees participate in the Know Your Numbers initiative, with bragging rights awarded to those who come back to good news to report. Employees are learning together that small, consistent steps can make a big difference in both their physical health and their financial health. When employees’ numbers improve, they may have an opportunity to lower their insurance rates.

In the wider community, Okolona has also started a biking group and a growing group of walkers. Slowly, Okolona is making improvements to outdoor spaces where families can get outside, exercise and play together.

Future Plans for Okolona
One of Mayor Cole’s big goals for the future is to install new playground equipment in different areas around the city to create better places for children to play.
“Children are going to be more active when there’s something attractive and safe for them to go to,” she said. “And parents are going to be more likely to go with their children to these areas.”
Mayor Cole’s other future goals, both in the short term and the long term, include:  
Continuing to expand Walking Wednesdays, where parents walk with their children to school.
Encouraging more parents to allow their children to bike to school.
Fine-tuning ways for people to grow fruit and vegetables to sell in the farmer’s market.
Starting a mobile farmer’s market for people who don’t live close to stores that sell fresh produce.
Developing unused land to start a children’s garden, where schoolchildren and other partners can plant produce, try new vegetables and sell their crops at the farmer’s market.
Offering classes in the kitchen at Rockwell Auditorium (adjacent to city hall) to teach cooking and preserving fruits and vegetables through canning and freezing.
 
“I’m just grateful to the Foundation for the Mid South for helping us so that we can work toward creating a healthy community and I mean that sincerely,” said Mayor Cole. “Small budgets don’t allow us to do some of those things, and I’m appreciative of them helping us do that.”
From their work so far, Cole said she is most impressed with the impact their initiatives have had on the children in Okolona.
“Some of these children realized that peas didn’t originate in the can,” she said.
“And the fact that they’re out there working, nurturing these vegetables and then when they harvest them and have dinners with them, they take ownership of that [and see that] this is fun, this is nice. Some of these children are from single parent homes, and it gives them a chance to see men out chopping weeds or planting vegetables, so they can interact.”
Advice from Okolona to Other Communities
Mayor Cole had a few parting words of wisdom to other communities similar to Okolona that want to promote health and wellness.
“I would say simple things,” she said. “We don’t have a lot of money, we know that. But we can clean up and plant flowers. Find a green space and plant some flowers there. It doesn’t cost a whole lot to create some raised vegetable beds. And start there, and see what that produces.”
Okolona, together with Foundation for the Mid South, not only has inspired its residents to pursue a healthier way of living, but also is leading as an example to other communities across the Mid South.