Healthy Kids, Healthy Families

Healthy Kids, Healthy Families is a three-year, multi-million dollar initiative that will improve the health status of 1 million children by supporting nutrition education, physical activity, disease prevention and management, and supporting safe environments for children. As a division of Health Care Service Corporation, BCBSIL is an active participate in the Healthy Kids, Healthy Families initiative.

The initiative, which launched in May 2011, received 120 applications and granted monies to 25 organizations that offer sustainable and measurable programs that reach children and their families. 
 
Healthy Kids, Healthy Families will positively impact our employees, customers, their families and our communities.
 

KaBOOM!: It all starts with a playground  
Children need to be physically active, and they need safe places to play. For this reason, we teamed with KaBOOM! again this year to build four playgrounds in Illinois, bringing the total number of new community playspaces to 12. The partnership involves a community partner and children coming together to design all aspects of the playground. Then, employees and other volunteers come together to build the community-designed playground in one day!  
 
A very special, and accessible, playground build in Berwyn, Ill.
For our 12th playground build, BCBSIL partnered with Mothers on a Mission, an area group that advocates for special needs children, and the North Berwyn Park District to create a very special, and accessible, playground. Together, our employees, with over 300 volunteers, built the first Berywn park enhanced beyond the Americans with Disabilities Act compliance in the city. The park was designed to be inclusive and allow children with special needs a safe place to play alongside their friends. 
 
This playspace features the following accessible accommodations:
 
• Rubberized surface, instead of wood chips, to accommodate wheelchairs;
• Ramps to make it easier to access the equipment,
• Wheelchair swing researched and requested by the community.
 
In 2012, the Healthy Kids, Healthy Families initiative will fund four more KaBOOM!/BCBSIL playground builds in Illinois.