NEW BEDFORD – YMCA Southcoast has been chosen as one of 43 sites in 21 states that will participate in the Action Communities for Health, Innovation and Environmental Change (ACHIEVE) initiative, an effort to prevent chronic diseases through local collaborations.

The project is sponsored by the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, the National Recreation and Park Association, and the YMCA of the USA, with federal support.

YMCA Southcoast, which operates five YMCA branch sites in the region and serves more than 16,000 people, was chosen through a competitive process. It is the only YMCA in the Northeast participating, in partnership with Southcoast Hospitals Group, which includes Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford and Tobey Hospital in Wareham.

ACHIEVE aims to promote public policy, systems and environmental changes that focus on physical activity, nutrition, tobacco cessation, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, such as increasing the available spaces for physical activities and improving school menus.

ACHIEVE also fosters partnerships between government health officials, parks and recreation departments, local YMCAs, local health-related coalitions and others. •