HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-24-26 Public Comment - R. Saalsaa - Bozeman_Invitation Health Equity WeekTo the Honorable Mayor Morrison and Bozeman City Commissioners:
Health equity is often discussed in the context of major cities, academic centers, and
large health systems. Yet many of the deepest health disparities in the United States
exist in rural and small-town communities—places rich in resilience, relationship, and
commitment, but too often overlooked in policy, funding, and national visibility.
Walk USA for Health Equity is a five-year, cross-country public health initiative that
brings attention, listening, and partnership directly to these communities. Its fifth and
final leg travels from Bozeman to Seattle, intentionally passing through rural towns and
regional hubs that reflect the lived reality of frontier and small-community health.
This walk is not symbolic alone. It is a visible commitment to presence—showing up,
listening deeply, and standing with communities whose health outcomes are shaped by
distance, access, workforce shortages, economic stress, and historical
underinvestment.
Rural health challenges are not failures of individual responsibility. They are the
predictable results of structural conditions:
Limited access to primary and specialty care
Long travel distances for services
Fewer clinicians serving broader geographic areas
Higher burdens of chronic disease and injury
Economic pressures that affect housing, food, stress, and opportunity
As the Walk USA for Health Equity begins where it left off in 2025 in Bozeman, we
recognize both the strengths and challenges that shape health in rural and small-town
America. This walk brings attention to:
Local health needs and assets
The dedication of clinicians, educators, and community leaders
The importance of access, prevention, and trust-based care
By walking through Bozeman, we affirm that your stories, solutions, and leadership
belong in the national conversation on health equity.
We invite residents, clinicians, students, and leaders to walk with us—even briefly—and
help lift rural health into public view. We extend a specific invitation to the Bozeman
City Commissioners as the representatives of an extraordinary community with an eye
on health equity.
Health equity belongs everywhere.
Rural communities matter.
And walking together is how we make that visible.
The walk will begin at Bozeman City Hall on Monday August 24th and travel to the next
stop in Helena arriving on the 27th. We are also including a sample proclamation that we
request you consider, coinciding with this event affirming the City’s commitment to
health equity. If you choose to make this proclamation, and/or choose to join us at the
start of the walk, please return reply and we will ensure that you get all the information
you need to be ready to participate.
We thank you, in advance, for your consideration and support of this important walk,
and look forward to hearing from you. Please feel free to spread the word in your
community – you can direct folks to our website at https://walkusaforhealthequity.org/.
The website includes media coverage of the previous legs of the walk as well as the
current itinerary of this leg of the walk.
With kind regards,
Rich Saalsaa
Co-Administrator for Walk USA for Health Equity
Philomath (OR) City Councilor
for
Dr. Dennis Godby, ND, MA
Founder, Walk USA for Health Equity
Author, Health for All: A Journey Toward Health Equity (2023)
California’s First Naturopathic Doctor of the Year (2012)
“True Grit” Award, American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (2023)
A RESOLUTION PROCLAIMING HEALTH EQUITY WEEK
WHEREAS, health equity is defined as a fair and just opportunity for everyone to
achieve their fullest health potential, requiring the removal of obstacles to health
such as poverty, discrimination, and their consequences; and
WHEREAS, despite significant advancements in medicine and public health,
disparities in health outcomes persist across the United States, with certain
groups, including people of color, workers with low incomes, and people with
disabilities, experiencing disproportionate burdens of disease and injury; and
WHEREAS, more than 100 studies have linked systemic issues such as racism
and discrimination to negative health outcomes, including increased risk of
chronic stress, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension; and
WHEREAS, addressing the root causes of health disparities requires a collective
commitment from government agencies, public and private institutions,
businesses, and schools to promote initiatives, policies, and practices that foster
a healthier, more equitable future for all citizens; and
WHEREAS, community support and a shared understanding that every person
deserves a healthy environment are essential components in eliminating health
disparities and improving overall community wellness; and
WHEREAS, the Walk USA for Health Equity is on their final leg of a 3,450 mile
journey from Myrtle Beach, SC to Seattle, WA to raise awareness and action for
Health Equity and will start its final leg in Bozeman on August 24th, 2026;
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COMMISSION FOR THE CITY OF BOZEMAN, do
hereby proclaim August 23-29, 2026 as "HEALTH EQUITY WEEK" in Bozeman, and
call upon all residents to:
•Recognize the profound contribution of public health in achieving health equity;
and
•Support initiatives that collect and use data disaggregated by demographic
characteristics to better understand and address specific needs; and
•Recommit to increasing awareness and understanding of health disparities,
advocating for policies that promote health and well-being for all.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official Seal of
The City of Bozeman this [DAY] day of [MONTH], [YEAR].
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