Health & Wellness – One Piece of Sustainability

What keeps us healthy? Several factors, including our behavior and our genes, determine whether we live in good health or not. Equally important to our health are forces outside ourselves. In workplaces around the country, we’re seeing a shift towards employers taking on the role of  health and wellness benefits provider for their employees through mechanisms like transportation benefits packages and company health plans that reward good habits.

Research shows employees who exercise more and feel connected to a community are likely to stay at a job longer, as well as reduce the overall cost of healthcare. This increasingly puts employers in a position where they directly benefit from a healthy workforce.

Our friends at Vacation Express have taken on this role in the health and wellness sphere through an organization-wide philosophy called “Fish!” Tenets include: “Choose your attitude; Play; Make someone’s day, and Be there.” This mantra has led the HR team to increase activities in the workplace, including volunteer days and more recently, Livable Buckhead’s 5K on June 1st. When asked why participate in buckheadRUN! Ann Memmer of Vacation Express said, “We chose the buckheadRUN! event as a time when we can enjoy each other’s company outside of the workplace.  Our company values relationships and an event like this provides an opportunity to invest in one another.”

Twenty-seven Vacation Express employees will be participating in effort to not only bring healthy choices to the office, but to connect their employees with the Buckhead community and have fun while doing it!

As Buckhead’s growth trajectory continues, the emphasis on creating health-forward amenities and infrastructure is paramount to the livability of this community. Striving to improve the health of a population is essentially the definition of social sustainability.  This is a crucial reason on why we have created our first 5K race, buckheadRUN! as well as our May long walk challenge, buckheadWALKS! by providing a platform for our community members to make an easy decision and participate in healthy activities, like walking or running.

Are you interested in signing your office up as a walk or run team in our walk challenge or 5K? Check out our website or shoot me an email for more details!