Wellness in the Valley with Sarah Lowry

In this episode of Wellness in the Valley, we’re joined by Sarah Lowry, Senior Director of Community Impact and Mahoning Valley resident, for a conversation about walkability, access, and building a true culture of movement in our communities.

Sarah shares how partnerships, community voice, and thoughtful design are shaping more active, equitable spaces across the Valley—while also reflecting on the challenges that remain and what it will take to create lasting change.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Hello, and welcome to Wellness in the Valley, a podcast powered by the Gwynfit Initiative at Youngstown State University. This podcast is all about real people and real stories, the partners and leaders who are helping to make healthy food, movement, and wellness easier and more accessible for everyone in our region, as well as the residents whose lives have been impacted. Each episode brings insight, inspiration, and simple ways to take small steps towards lasting change. Because in the valley, wellness truly starts with all of us. I'm your host, Kelly Frasier. Let's get into today's conversation. Hello and welcome to an episode of Wellness in the Valley, powered by the Gwen Fit Initiative. Today I'm sitting down with Sarah Lowry, Senior Director of Community Impact with the Community Foundation of Mahoney Valley and Youngstown resident. Hello, Sarah, how are you? Doing well. Good morning. So can you share a little bit about your connection to GwynFit?

SPEAKER_00 1:03

So I remember when Gwynfit was GwynFit before it was called GwynFit, when it was an idea and it was just visioning from Dr. Poe on paper. So very early on, working with Dr. Poe to put something together to really build on the momentum and foundation that was being put together through the Healthy Community Partnership, but to take it to new audiences, to the next level, through the CDC Reach program that eventually became what we know as GwynFit. So from very early on, was there to really see how could we again leverage what we're building through the partnership to be even more impactful as a collaborative to serve the community.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

So you've had the very unique opportunity to see GwynFit from birth through infancy and now into what do we want to call it? Maybe toddler or teenage years?

SPEAKER_00 1:58

There's some movement there, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Okay. So from your perspective, how do you how do you view the evolution of GwynFit from that point to now?

SPEAKER_00 2:11

So it's pretty amazing how fast once the grant was announced and awarded and there was resources being put in place. It was, I know maybe for some more of a hurry up and wait. Uh, because there was a clear vision and direction for where we wanted to see the initiative go. And again, we had the advantage of having the healthy community partnership in place to help move things a little more quickly than starting completely from the ground up. But once there was some key staff in place, such as yourself and Dalton Campana, who's been very close in working with the Healthy Community Partnership, and of course, with continued guidance uh from Dr. Poe, once those and and getting to know the um PIs, I'm forgetting what PI stands for. Uh principal investigator. Principal investigator. Meeting them, like once that core team was there, um, adding in some additional student capacity, uh, it really just blossomed into something quite vibrant and beautiful pretty quickly. So it's it's really wonderful to see. And I'm very excited to see what the next couple of years will look like.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

For sure. So let's shift our viewpoint a little bit and let's talk a little bit about movement culture in the valley. Um, when we talk about that, what does that mean to you?

SPEAKER_00 3:38

So it means not staying in place. Um and it's interesting in thinking about movement culture, you can interpret that figuratively, metaphorically, or very literally. Um and in I would say the case of GwenFit and the Healthy Community Partnership, we're talking about both movement as a bringing together of people and resources to act and to do things differently. And I think that GwenFit and the partnership are actively doing that every day. And part of that is uh really looking at and thinking about what we can do to get people out and moving. Um and that's of course most obviously represented through physical activity, so things like walking and biking and um you know other means of of moving. But it also means in um when you are out in a community setting, you know, whether that's a park or you know, walking through a downtown, you're able to connect with other people. Um so the movement is yes, physically getting up and moving, but it's also those connections that we're making with each other. So building a or having a movement culture is, you know, in the very literal sense, we are up and we are moving. But part of that movement is also those connections that we are building with each other. And that I think both uh Gwynfit and the partnership are wonderful examples of. Like you see the people affiliated with both out and moving around, they're in the community, um, but they're also making connections, and that's what um successful movements in the more figurative sense need to be successful.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

Wow. That's huge. You never you don't necessarily immediately think about the social aspect of movement culture when you hear the phrase movement culture. So um thank you for adding that layer. What motivates your interest in improving walkability specifically in physical activity in our communities?

SPEAKER_00 5:40

So when I started at the Community Foundation, uh, my role was as the director of the Healthy Community Partnership, and I took very seriously not just talking the talk, but walking the walk. Pardon the pun. Um it works, so I had to use it. So I felt like um, and many other partnership members really wanted uh themselves and others to experience what folks experience on a regular basis. So, what is it like to walk the sidewalks um in the various neighborhoods? Um, especially, you know, Youngstown and Warren and the surrounding communities. Um, you know, what is it like to travel on the roads using a bike for transportation? What is it like to ride the bus? You know, so there's direct experience. So we are not um making decisions based on guesses, but we're making decisions based on our own experiences and really making sure we are connecting with others who have the wisdom of experience beyond our own. So really wanting to make sure we're not only looking at things from a um theoretical perspective, but really looking at how does this um, how does some of the challenges related to uh sidewalk uh placement or the lack thereof, um condition, um, you know, how do you know the presence or absence of bike lanes help or make things more uh challenging, you know, for for folks to move around safely. So for me, it was very much I wanted to understand what are the barriers actually like. Uh so I started biking to work and um had a couple of opportunities through the partnership to participate in professional development rides. So with an experienced ride leader, um just sharing things to pay attention to, like looking and thinking about intersections and visibility and different things and um that little taste of what it's like to ride a bike as an adult stuck. And anyone who knows um me even a little bit knows that that's um a very central part of uh where joy comes from is riding a bike. But for me it is a you know a sense, a source of joy and freedom, but for others it is a primary means of transportation. So where my personal connection comes from is because of my own connection to wanting to travel in ways that allow me to be slowed down and more aware of my environment, whether that's walking or biking. And for others, that is the primary means through for which they're able to travel, you know, not only to destinations like work or medical appointments, but to visit family. Like we should be able to go where we need to go without fear of our for our own safety or challenges significantly keeping us from getting to these places and the people that really make um that are the you know a real source of joy, you know, for for so many. So it was just we we need to be thinking and doing things better. Um if we are going to be in an active and thriving community, we need to build and um encourage investment in the becoming a a place where people want to get out of the car and explore. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:11

Yeah. Okay. So GwenFit, um, one of the strategy areas within GwynFit is physical activity, improving walkability, contributing to movement culture. Um and we do that in conjunction with the Healthy Community Partnership, which you know is under your umbrella as that senior director of community impact. What project has GwenFit contributed to as it relates to movement culture, physical activity? Can you s can you see a visible difference made?

SPEAKER_00 9:46

So I think I squealed when I was headed to Trek the coffee shop on Mahoning Avenue, and I saw pedestrian signals and a freshly painted crosswalk on Mahoning Avenue. Um and I know the year prior, Councilman Mike Ray for several years has been hosting um a fall fest um in that part of Mahoning Avenue, and Gwynfit in the partnership did a demonstration project with a crosswalk in that very spot, and it turned into something more permanent. Oh wow. So I was uh I squealed. I actually squealed. Um, because I was so happy to see that. Um and it's a little thing, but the so to answer your question more directly, the Safer Street Demonstration Series I think is so important because physical change of a place that people have connections to and are familiar with, um, those connections and familiarity create a you know feeling of comfort. You know this place. And to significantly change the way a place looks and feels uh can be uncomfortable. So inviting the community to be a part of these safer street demonstration projects allows for uh people to be more involved, to ask questions, to see and experience what change might look like before it is before a final decision is made and a particular neighborhood or part of a street is completely altered into something very different. So there's that adjustment period. Um and more importantly, if the community is, you know, raising significant concerns and saying, well, we don't like this, but what about this? Um that engagement and feedback can ensure that the investment is very much celebrated for the improvement that is intended because you're doing it with community and you're not making decisions for the community without them.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

That's that's big. That's really, really big. So when we look at so we we s talk about successes and impact. When we talk about challenges, what barriers do you see that still exist for people that are trying to be more active?

SPEAKER_00 12:05

Time.

unknown 12:06

Time.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

Um that's certainly one. Lots of folks, the demands on time, um, you know, between work or school and family, um, you know, needing to care for loved ones in in many cases, you know, there's just a lot of demands on our time. Um so the fastest way to get from point A to point B is very important because we don't have, and I'm putting this in air quotes, extra time, um, to slow down to walk or bike or use public transportation. So that tyranny of the moment and that urgency of I need to do a long list of things in a very short period of time makes it challenging. And I mean, certainly our physical infrastructure is challenging. You know, we are certainly improving, and I think more communities in the Mahoney Valley are really looking at and recognizing the value of investing in critical infrastructure like sidewalks and thinking about how do sidewalks connect people to different places. Um how can we encourage the expansion of a sidewalk network so that people can get to more places, including sidewalks to bus stops, um, so that you know folks who are using public transportation have a safe way to get to that bus stop. Um and then an extension of that too is you know bike lanes and how can we not just put uh paint on the roads, but really think about what makes sense for cyclists and people who are riding bikes to get from point A to point B. And a lot of folks are using multiple modes of that active transportation, so you know, transportation where you are physically moving, um, you know, to walk to get to the bus stop, you know, to ride the bus, or you know, to ride your bike to the bus stop, put the bike on the bus, and then you know so there's a lot of different like use of multiple modes of transportation. But again, that's takes more time. So I think that that time and some of the challenges with how our communities have been to this point physically built, make it so that the easier choice is um, you know, traveling alone in a car or um traveling with you know a couple of other people in a car? Um, carpooling is great. And this is not to uh speak negatively about cars, but it should be building communities for everyone and any choice of movement that they have available to them should be a safe and desirable choice.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

Absolutely. So what role do partnerships like GwenFit, Eastgate, City Planners, all of that play in eliminating those barriers and sustaining progress?

SPEAKER_00 14:49

Aaron Powell Progress doesn't happen without partnerships. Um I like that. Progress doesn't happen without partnerships. I mean we need t-shirts or something. And um so I I will say uh before I mentioned the safe street demonstrations and some of the connection to people, residents, um, our neighbors who are traveling in different ways and you know, hearing what it's like. So we absolutely need that experience, but we also need expertise from the folks who run our public transportation service. You know, so WRTA knows how to design um fixed route service. They know where the funding comes from. You know, they know all of those things that um having that subject matter expertise is important to make smarter and more informed decisions. The same thing with our planner friends at Eastgate or engineers that work with cities, like they know some of that depth and detailed knowledge that it's no one is capable of knowing everything about everything. Some people maybe. I'm certainly not. And one of the things I learned pretty quickly in this kind of community-centered work is you're not expected to know everything. Where we can work better together is knowing who does know more about a certain thing than I do and who can I talk to, and then how can we together make better decisions. So partnerships are absolutely critical. And I would say, you know, same thing in thinking about Gwen Fit, the connection to subject matter experts in nutrition and physical fitness and activity through the you know, faculty that's participating and the students that are participating. Like we need all of that if we're going to make smarter decisions for everybody in the community.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

For sure. And I'll even add in there the the pooling of different resources that each partnership possess, you know, um pooling those resources um is integral in sustaining progress and eliminating those barriers. Um Absolutely. So so when we're looking ahead and we're talking about um the community members, what's one change you would like for our community residents, our residents to notice or advocate for in their neighborhoods?

SPEAKER_00 17:12

Uh I think basic, and by basic I mean standard um infrastructure so that again folks can move within their neighborhoods and get connected to other places um successfully and safely. So sidewalks. Um there's a lot of sidewalks. Again, um many of our communities had much larger populations. So our physical infrastructure was built to accommodate a population that was much larger than now. So there may very well be sidewalks, but they've been buried, um, you know, haven't seen the light of day in quite a while. So just really looking at and you know, thinking about what is the condition of sidewalks in my neighborhood, how can I engage with my council people or trustees to think about strategies for replacing um or improving the sidewalks, um, and especially sidewalks connected to access points for other modes of travel. So does a sidewalk take you to a bus stop? Does a sidewalk take you to other destinations that people are likely to walk to? Um and crosswalks, you know, I think we have because um our so many of our streets are fairly wide and you know, built to accommodate and move traffic um quickly, you know, through even in some residential areas, you know, I hear concerns about people speeding. Um so just really thinking about what can be done to make the streets safer. So not just the sidewalks on either side of the street, but the street itself. Right. Um so how can we in you know some safe street demonstrations look at um narrowing the roads a little bit to slow traffic down? So this is not to cause congestion, but it is to slow traffic down where it is appropriate so that cars can see other road users better because they're not moving as quickly. Road users can see cars, especially if there's a hill or a bend. You know, that blind spot for both uh, you know, a pedestrian or a cyclist and the driver can be, you know, a very dangerous thing. So just really looking at and thinking about what does it feel like to move around in my neighborhood and what kinds of things would make me feel safer and more comfortable. Um, and of course, in these conversations, crime and violence tend to come up. Um, and there is a uh framework that I know some folks have started have been exploring for a while, um, SEPTED, crime prevention through environmental design. So that's also thinking about how can the physical environment deter crime so that again people feel safer because of what the physical environment not just looks like but feels like.

SPEAKER_01 19:59

So while we're on that vein, do you think that the new green spaces that we're seeing in the communities now, do you think that contributes to maybe crime reduction and maybe people feel them safer because there are spaces that they can go to? Um or or maybe um deviants don't want to um engage in criminal activities in in the nicer spaces. What do you think about the green spaces?

SPEAKER_00 20:28

Yeah, so I um I know that there are studies, I could not cite one for you, so I hope the PIs forgive me for not being a very good uh student of um best practice there. But there are studies that certainly show if you have um a neighborhood with some kind of community, you know, welcoming and well-maintained community green space, um, because more people are out, more eyes are out, more ears are listening, um, the likelihood for dangerous behavior tends to lower because there's more people watching, there's more people listening, um, more people watching and listening for themselves, but also more people watching and listening for their neighbors. Right. So the more opportunities, and this is part of the movement we have to connect with each other, the more we understand that what happens to me and you know, folks in my circle certainly has some connection to what happens to you and people in your circle. So, how can we make things better for everybody? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

For sure. Okay. Thank you for that. Um, I was really curious on your take as to how green spaces really uh contribute to the safety of um community and how it impacts movement culture. So as we close, when you think about Gwen Fitz, what is one word or phrase that comes to mind?

SPEAKER_00 21:50

Honestly, and I I know this might be too easy, but active. Okay. Um and I I m say that because it's very core uh to Gwen. Fit's mission and vision for the community, but just also an extension of that, how present um GwynFit has been in the community, like really looking for opportunities to work with and build on and expand some things that have been started. There's lots of new faces coming through with the connection to YSU students. And it's it's just it's that kind of activity and bringing in of new energy and your perspectives is really important. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:36

Sarah, last thing, what is your hope for the future of this type of work of movement culture, physical activity, partnership, all of that?

SPEAKER_00 22:45

So I I feel like GwynFit and the Healthy Community Partnership are in their own way demonstration projects. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. So we are demonstrating what it's like to work and think and do collaboratively. Yes. And I hope, much like the Safer Street demonstrations, that the results and the benefits of this experiment to think and work and do collaboratively are received in the same way that some of the Safe Street Demonstration projects have been, and that they become not just a demonstration, but a permanent investment.

SPEAKER_01 23:20

Well, Sarah, thank you so much for taking time to talk to me today and share your insights and just really just review your connection to GwenFit in the community and movement culture. It's been such a uh it's very it's been very insightful. So thank you.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Thank you for the opportunity. I'm so excited to be able to participate.