U. professor to aid Asbury Park community wellness initiative

The City of Asbury Park Mayor's Wellness Committee will receive a $12,000 grant to better support the mental health of its residents, according to a press release.

The new program is called the Blue Bishops Living Well Initiative. This award is 1 of 11 given to cities across the state. It is funded by Walmart and allocated through the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute's Mayors Wellness Campaign (MWC). Jack Harris, an assistant teaching professor and the director of the undergraduate sustainability minor in the Department of Human Ecology, will be assisting with the project and spoke with The Daily Targum about his role in it.

Starting in 2006, the MWC has provided communities throughout New Jersey with tools to improve the health and wellness of their residents. The Blue Bishops Living Well Initiative will use holistic methods, including improving coping methods and feelings of belonging, to better the mental and physical health of Asbury Park residents.

As a Monmouth County resident and former field researcher in the area, Harris is familiar with Asbury Park and its facilities. The opportunity for him to work on this project arose through his work with the chair of the Mayor's Wellness Committee and community-focused food systems in Asbury Park and Monmouth County.

Harris said the initiative aligns with his research studies, where he focuses on community collaboration and power dynamics between large- and small-scale stakeholders, like governments and grassroots organizations. His research goal is to ensure that less heard or absent voices receive equal representation in community spaces.

"A big part of this initiative is to try to connect people from very different cultural and linguistic and racial backgrounds through these ideas of movement and healthy eating and social relationships," he said.

The initiative focuses on prevention rather than intervention, which may set it apart from other community wellness projects, according to Harris.

Through this program, Harris aims to improve communities by making them stronger and more inclusive. He also hopes to create a research lab for undergraduates that is focused on community research. At the University, Harris will be instructing a practicum course in the Fall 2025 semester analyzing the grant and the initiative with seniors pursuing the sustainability minor.

"I'm hoping that in some very small way, this is part of the layer of bricks or a piece of the puzzle that helps to kind of create a stronger, more inclusive community and connects people who may not otherwise be connected," Harris said.