About Us
About Healthy West Chicago
Healthy West Chicago is a collaboration of community leaders in local government, education, healthcare, social services, faith-based congregations, businesses, and non-profit organizations who have organized to increase nutrition and physical activity in the City of West Chicago.
The non-profit organization was formalized in 2014 through funding from a grant from Northwestern Medicine (formerly Cadence Health) and supplemental support from WeGo Together for Kids through their partnership with the United Way of DuPage/West Cook.
Healthy West Chicago is dedicated to increasing healthy eating and physical activity in the City of West Chicago through the development of engaging programs and events, creation and promotion of health-related community resources, and advocating for health-related policy efforts.
“We aim to make the healthy choice, the easy choice.”
Healthy West Chicago is funded with generous support from the City of West Chicago with supplemental support from WeGo Together for Kids, the West Chicago Library District, District 33 Elementary School District, County of DuPage, and annual corporate donor support from Ball Horticulture, OSI Industries, Amazon, Pritzker Realty Group, LLC, and DS Containers.
Healthy West Chicago’s fiscal agent is People Made Visible, a West Chicago 501(c)(3) whose mission is to foster community through dynamic cultural and social programming.
Why Healthy West Chicago?
Across the country, more children and adults are overweight or obese than ever before. Moreover, for the first time in 200 years, children in America are predicted to have shorter life expectancies than their parents due to obesity and weight issues.
The City of West Chicago is no exception to this trend, as the City has an obesity rate that is 10% higher than the rest of DuPage County with 1 of every 4 kindergarteners in DuPage County is starting school already overweight, or obese.
Healthy West Chicago is determined to change this trend, and ultimately the future, of our community’s residents by championing the battle on obesity in our community for a Healthy West Chicago.
Organizational Staff
Healthy West Chicago’s administrative duties are managed by Program Administrator, Carly Smitherman. The Program Administrator works in collaboration with Healthy West Chicago’s community partners and oversees all the administrative duties of the organization.
About the Program Administrator
Carly Smitherman is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist who brings her passion for health and nutrition to the position of Program Administrator. Her prior experience within the health and nutrition industry includes positions with Kendall County Health Department, Kishwaukee Hospital, National Forum for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, and Waterford Place Cancer Resource Center. After training and serving in the military, Carly received her Bachelor of Nutritional Science from Northern Illinois University and a Master’s in Nutrition and Wellness from Benedictine University.
Carly has served in the position of Program Administrator since January 2017.
Mission & Vision
Our mission is to ensure that all residents of West Chicago will have access to an optimal state of health and wellness.
Nuestra misión es asegurar que todos los residentes de West Chicago tendrán acceso a un estado óptimo de salud y bienestar.
Mission Statement / Estado de la Misión
Healthy West Chicago is dedicated to increasing healthy eating and physical activity in the City of West Chicago to make West Chicago one of the healthiest communities in the region. Through engaging events and policy efforts, we aim to make the healthy choice, the easy choice.
Healthy West Chicago se dedica a aumentar la alimentación saludable y actividad física en la Ciudad de West Chicago para hacer a West Chicago una de las comunidades más saludables en la región. A través de eventos interesantes y esfuerzos políticos, nuestro objetivo es hacer la elección saludable, la elección fácil.
Vision Statement / Declaración de la Visión
Healthy West Chicago is both a partnership and an ideal. It is the belief that every single person has the ability to improve their own health. It is the desire to help all residents make healthy choices for themselves and their children.
Healthy West Chicago es a la vez una asociación y un ideal. Es la creencia que cada persona tiene la habilidad de mejorar su propia salud. Es el deseo de ayudar a todos los residentes tomar decisiones saludables para ellos mismos y sus hijos.