Corry earns Blue Zones honor but program's expansion in doubt due to lack of funding

Three years of hard work and healthy behaviors have paid off for the city of Corry, which has been certified as a Blue Zones Community.

It's the first community in the northeastern United States to earn the designation from the Blue Zones Project, a community-led initiative designed to help make healthy decisions easier. Corry was the 47th community in the country to join the project and 34th to be certified.

"This sets Corry apart and puts us on a national map," said Shannon Wohlford, engagement lead for Blue Zones Project Corry. "This signifies that Corry has reached a tipping point to enacting long-term change."

Despite Corry's success, the future of Blue Zones in Erie County is murky as funding for the project has either ended or will run out by December.

Blue Zones Corry was formed in 2019 after then-Erie County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper and the Erie County Department of Health tried to bring Blue Zones to Erie but couldn't raise enough funding. The $3.5 million cost of Blue Zones Corry was funded primarily by UPMC, Highmark Health and LECOM Health's Corry Memorial Hospital, with some funding from the Erie County Gaming Authority and other, smaller grants.

But the funding ends in May and no one has agreed to provide additional money, Wohlford said.

"We have enough operational budget for one person to work (in Corry) through the end of the year," said Jennifer Eberlein, Blue Zones Corry's community program manager.

Three people have worked for Blue Zones in Corry. Wohlford will remain on the job.

The only other funding is $375,000 in American Rescue Plan money earmarked for Blue Zones by Erie County Council. That money is restricted, at the moment, until Blue Zones acquires sufficient buy-in from community partners to expand to other communities.

Blue Zones needs significantly more money to expand outside of Corry. Three potential expansions in the county that were considered in 2020 all included price tags of at least $7.5 million.

"We need a champion," Wohlford said. "We had Kathy Dahlkemper and (county health department director) Melissa Lyon working to get the health systems and other organizations on board."

Current Erie County Executive Brenton Davis has not placed a similar level of importance on Blue Zones.

"We know that was something Ms. Dahlkemper and her administration favored, but we don't feel that's much of a priority and gives us as much of a return as we like to see," Doug Smith, county director of administration, said in March.

10 worksites became Blue Zones-approved

Eberlein and Wohlford pointed to survey results highlighting the impact Blue Zones has had on Corry.

The percentage of Corry residents who say they are thriving rose from 45% in 2019 to 62% in 2022, while the percentage of residents who like where they live increased from 33% to 44% during that time. The city's well-being score, a Blue Zones metric, rose from 53.9 out of a possible 100 in 2019 to 60 in 2022.

Bill Roche, a member of both Corry City Council and Blue Zones Corry's steering committee, said he was hopeful improving Corry's overall health will attract more businesses to the area.

"The main thing is that people here live longer, healthier lives," said Roche, 69. "But my hope is that this allows more businesses to see that Corry is a good place to work."

Corry earned its certification after national Blue Zones Project officials visited the city in March. One reason Corry was certified was that 10 local worksites became Blue Zones-approved, meaning they implemented best practices to improve employees' health and well-being.

It was an uphill battle, as six of those workplaces were approved just in the past 10 months.

"Each of the 10 worksites now has a wellness committee and has put in multiple best practices," Wohlford said.

All three of Corry's public schools are among the approved worksites.

"There is a Beaver Blue Crew, a youth well-being ambassador group, at each school that meets and talks about healthy topics and works on bulletin boards in the hallways," Eberlein said. "Recently they have been doing a morning announcement on the wellness topic of the day."

On an individual level, 51 walking groups — known as moais — have been created, and nearly 360 Corry residents have attended a plant-based cooking demonstration.

Sander's Market, a Corry grocery store, is Blue Zones-approved. It stocks fruits, nuts and vegetables near the check-out lanes instead of candy, and offers recipes for healthy dishes.

Even if funding to sustain Blue Zones Corry ends in December, the goal is to continue the project with local volunteers.

"The goal is to be self-sustaining after 2022," Wohlford said.

Contact David Bruce at dbruce@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNBruce.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Corry certified as Blue Zones Community but future funding in doubt