My name is Brett Pedersen, I’m an assistant principal at Mill Creek Middle School and one of the new leaders of the Dexter Wellness Coalition. In speaking with community members I realized that many were unaware of the Dexter Wellness Coalition and the exciting projects that exist on the horizon for our community.

The Dexter Wellness Coalition is a subsidiary group of the Chelsea Area Wellness Foundation (CWF). The CWF was created when Chelsea Hospital merged with St. Joseph Mercy Health System. Through this merger a non-profit organization was formed that was funded with a considerable amount of money to implement projects to enable healthy lifestyles in our community. The mission statement for both groups is “to create a culture of wellness and foster sustainable improvements in the health of our communities through stewardship of our resources, innovative and collaborative grants, and engagement of our residents in the pursuit of healthy life choices.” The CWF is the group behind the new Dexter Wellness Center.

The Dexter Wellness Coalition recently submitted and gained approval for our 2012-2013 Comprehensive Community Wellness Plan. This is an exciting proposal that includes infrastructure to support active lifestyles as well as programs to enable healthy choices. Our goals are to help residents: move more, eat better, avoid unhealthy substances, and make connections.

We are currently seeking health minded community members to join our group and assist with the creation of ideas and implementation of our community projects. We have a unique opportunity to make Dexter an even more intriguing destination for healthy and recreational pursuits. Please join us Tuesday, March 12 from 5:30 - 6:30 PM at the Dexter Administrative Building (Copeland), 7714 Dexter Ann Arbor Rd, Dexter. As we move forward with our projects we will attempt to update the community via the Patch and/or our Facebook Page.