A Healthy Community There are infinite details and particulars that come to mind when a person begins to think of a healthy community, but the most important ones that I can see are being able to strongly provide social, economic, and developmental solutions and relief while also having the ability to feel safety within these certain areas. People are not always going to agree on the details within these certain areas, but these seem to be the basic necessities for a community maintaining self-sustainability. Before any of these solutions can be addressed there first must be an overall mind state of being a community, or in other words, everyone in it together, as a whole. The CDC states on their website that " a community that is continuously creating and improving those physical and social environment and expanding those community resources that enable people to mutually support each other in performing all the functions of life and in developing to their maximum potential."[“About Healthy Places.”] The community in which I live in surely does not meet these solutions mentioned perfectly, but the feeling of everyone on the same page is defiantly there, so there is hope and a good base on which to begin the changes necessary. Communities that are successful need to consist of strong social networks able to provide ways for people to meet, interact, build relationships, and have the ability to choose what religious sect they want to be a part of. I feel that people will be emotionally healthy if given good social networks and CHEER agrees, stating “A healthy community is one where people have good physical and emotional health.”[Baker, Bruce “What is a Healthy Community?”] I imagine strong communities being able to provide the essential businesses and events for its people to meet and interact, like restaurants, clubs, bars, specialty shops, theatres, community centers, parades, concerts, etc. These places and social events are very important for people getting to know one another and associate with others like them or meet up with people who have lifestyles that are the polar opposite of them. I feel these relationships that spawn from such interactions are a direct image upon the community and how it represents itself as one that is concerned about its population in getting along with each other, being involved with each other and the surroundings, and seeking to become one as a whole. My community does an excellent job in giving people options of where to eat and drink, plus most of those places are hotspots for becoming acquainted with the citizens or out-of-towners. Also, the community is very well known for its wide variety of religious churches and places of prayer. These places are also very useful in bringing people together and building a base of trust and safety within the community. I tend to believe that diversity of religion is detrimental to the sense of freedom within a community although there are those people of every community or region that will be totally against any other religion than theirs, which can be a real burden to the community, as it places a negative stigma against those people in the minds of the ones being discriminated against and that causes tensions within the population. I am proud to live in my community because it is so diversified and not predominantly one denomination like other communities around much of the southern United Sates. Also, people tend to not show dominance over others because they are of a different religious background. Another important factor when it comes to being a healthy community is the ability to be economically fit. When I say fit I mean fit. I am talking about a community’s ability to grow and domesticate its own natural fruits, vegetables, and meats for everyone within the community and also the ability to produce and distribute items/ necessities for the people or export them to supply another community. A self-sustaining city has the means to keep unemployment low, as there is always something to be done, whether temporary or permanent. With unemployment being low, people will be able to put money back into the city causing even more jobs and services needed, plus providing the community with money to make the city itself beautiful. A strong economic community is also known for its abundance of something particular to that area. The city where I live is not a good example of an economically healthy community. Decent wage jobs are very scarce in the city of Columbia and when they are available you usually have to be referred by an employee of the business or know someone who knows someone that works there. Low wage jobs are readily available but are also more hectic to work at because most of the time they are food places and are extremely busy, so a lot of work for a little pay. Speaking of food, the ability to produce natural food for yourself and your community means nothing in my community. Sure, it is a part of the South that’s known for farming, and there is an array of land, but that doesn’t go too far as people rely on outside sources more and more for their food supply in these modern times. The people of my community needs to get back to producing for themselves again instead of giving up their natural resources to depend on the mass-produced processed foods that are found in most grocery stores and fast food chains, which is some of the worst food for a person by far. I do not mean give up on all store-bought food but people need to start producing what they can for themselves and their family or start buying most of their items locally so they will know where it came from and so they will be supporting the community by buying it fresh from a person that is from the same area. Certain people will always disagree about the actual health benefits of natural food and health risks of processed food, but that is fine. There will always be people out there that do not care to produce for themselves and that is okay too but it is a lot more calming knowing where my food came from and how it was acquired. The last and most important thing to me when it comes to being considered a successfully healthy community is the ability to grow and develop. This can be divided into two separate developments: personal and commercial. Personal development is necessary, so healthy communities must consist of ways for people to be able to gain knew knowledge, skills/abilities, and personal insight. Education is what comes to mind when thinking of personal development, especially in childhood, so schools are a major factor when it comes to mentally shaping and furthering one’s mind. Schools of a healthy community should contain the best technology and information available, so full academic development is possible. Personal development can also come within the workplace. Businesses in a healthy community should always have the proper training and placement available for employees to be able to grow and further themselves within the company. Overall, I think my community does a horrible job when it comes to development. Schools in this area are typically old, decrepit buildings that haven’t been updated in decades, in particular the high schools of the area with maybe the exception of one. They do all have computers but they are nowhere near what some of the schools in the richer areas of the state have. It should all be an equal learning experience and it is clearly not. Commercial development around my area is a problem as well. Businesses are not able to grow and expand due to the lack of local resources to acquire, so they are forced to outsource and pay higher prices for goods to try to sell. New neighborhoods are not able to be built because of the lack of money generated to be able to build these areas. A lot of people in my community will disagree with me about developing new areas because there are so many empty houses as there is, but there needs to be a rejuvenation of a new area or renovation of those houses to stimulate some growth within our community. In closure, these are only a few short subjects of a healthy community, as the list could go on forever, but these are what seems obvious to me. They have to be able to have strong social interactions, provide a strong economic system, and consist of a strong developmental system for people and businesses alike. Hopefully my community can one day be able to tackle some of the challenges that plague it.