Two Live Healthy Award winners were recognized at the Partnership for a Healthier Fairfax Spring meeting today. The Live Healthy Fairfax Awards program recognizes community members whose commitment to health and wellness initiatives go “above and beyond” in the areas of Behavioral Health, Healthy Eating, and/or Healthy Environment and Active Living. Those selected exemplify actions and initiatives that positively impact the health of the overall community and are lasting, sustainable contributions that improve the health and well-being of individuals, families, and populations across Fairfax County.
The work of the Partnership revolves around the Community Healthy Improvement Plan (CHIP), which has just completed year four of its current five year plan. The CHIP provides a five-year collective plan of action for all people in the Fairfax community to be an engaged and empowered community working together to achieve optimal health and well-being for all who work, live, and play across the towns, cities, and diverse communities in Fairfax. Based on a comprehensive data review and planning process, the CHIP’s focus areas, goals, objectives, and key actions involve extensive collaborative efforts with people, groups, organizations, and institutions in the Fairfax community. The CHIP serves as a community-wide initiative, dedicated to equitable access to programs for all residents, and offers opportunities for resident engagement and a chance for everyone to make important contributions to create a healthier Fairfax community.
Today’s Live Healthy Award Winners include:
Tarika Sethi
Tarika Sethi has a history of serving the world, whether as a Peace Corps volunteer, becoming a licensed clinical social worker (where she worked to protect both children and the elderly), and now as the owner of OSA Martial Arts in Fairfax City, Burke, and Manassas, Virginia. At OSA, Tarika’s areas of teaching include improved mental health through a culture of connection, belonging and purpose.
Members of her martial arts studio become a family unit, supporting each other’s accomplishments inside and out of the Dojang. As a trained Social Worker, Tarika’s knowledge and expertise supports behavioral health and physical issues such as anxiety, nutritional issues, ADHD, autism, and cerebral palsy, as well as those who have faced bullying, suicidal thoughts, and low self-esteem.
While many martial arts programs keep kids inside, Tarika knows the importance of bringing children to the calming, connecting and educational activities of area parks and trails, too. She has partnered with senior centers, county schools and Parent-Teacher Associations to provide opportunities for those young to young at heart. Throughout the pandemic, she pivoted her business model to offer virtual classes online.
Tarika Sethi is recognized and awarded for her many years of commitment to awareness of mental and physical health, fitness, stress management and coping skills to meet the needs of a healthy community
Stacey Evers
Stacey Evers is an environmental educator who observed the food struggles around Fairfax County communities at the start of the pandemic and recognized she needed to act. She put her lifelong gardening experience into high gear.
By assembling a team of volunteers to launch Grow a Row, she asked gardeners to grow extra food and developed a drop-off system to get that fresh produce to local food banks. The seeds she planted for Grow a Row in Spring bloomed into a sustainable food nonprofit called Hands on Harvests that continues today and helps people to grow fresh produce and reduces food waste by making it easy to donate surplus harvest.
As she navigated the start-up of a nonprofit to empower gardeners to fulfill the need for fresh, healthy vegetables, fruits, and herbs, she also led the Urban Agriculture Work Group of the Fairfax Food Council. In that role, she invited anyone interested in gardening to get involved. She supported and guided school and community gardens in their garden start-ups, restoration and/or maintenance of gardens during the pandemic and after and she hosted urban agriculture policy discussions that have fueled Food Council policy exploration. She also excelled at her role as an environmental educator at Belvedere Elementary School where she played a pivotal role in securing a grant to start and expand community gardens.
The Partnership for a Healthier Fairfax is a coalition of community members and organizations working together to explore new approaches for addressing the social determinants of health and other critical public health issues. Learn more about what you can do to get involved by visiting Live Healthy Fairfax.