Building Inclusive Healthy Communities using the Community Health Inclusion Index accelerates policy, system, and environmental changes in a community toward greater inclusivity so that people with disabilities have equal access and opportunities for healthier eating and physical activity across community settings.

We work with local communities through a five-phase community change model tooled using the Community Health Inclusion Index; disability advocates in the community are trained and equipped with supplemental resources and technical assistance to build coalitions and accelerate accessibility-focused policy, system, and environmental changes.

The history of this program in Oregon comes from a nation-wide, 18-month pilot program (Jan 2016-Jun 2017) funded by the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Currently, the Oregon Office on Disability and Health and DHS Aging and People with Disabilities are partnering with Disability Services Advisory Councils, local public health departments, and community-based organizations to replicate this work in Oregon communities.

Our state and national partners include:

• Umatilla County’s Public Health

• Clearview Mediation and Disability Resources

• Benton County’s Public Health and Developmental Disability Services

• National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability

• Lakeshore Foundation

Learn more about Community Health Inclusion Index (copies available for download)

Celebrating the installation of a wheelchair charging station at the Oregon Capitol are state Senator Bill Hansell, R-Athena, left; Darrin Umbarger, of Pendleton, who invented the device for charging electric wheelchairs and scooters; and Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem. The Oregon Capitol is the nation's first state capitol to have such a charging station, which was unveiled Monday. It is installed outside the Senate President's Office on the second floor of the Oregon Capitol.

Umbarger created a nonprofit, Clearview Disability Resource Center, that markets the mobility device-charging station, which can be mounted anywhere there is an electrical outlet. The station is composed of a basic power source for onboard chargers and has a 24V 4A three stage-battery charger for scooters and wheelchairs.