Created in 2014, the Run and Read project provides age-appropriate books for children and families across the Monadnock region. Through the partnership of the Keene Elm City Rotary Club and the Advocates for Healthy Youth (AFHY) coalition, Run and Read has donated more than 2,000 books to local community sites. Building on the popular Kids DeMar marathon program, Run and Read combines activity and literacy by connecting reading to fitness. This addresses major concerns in public health today such as childhood obesity, excessive passive screen time, and sub-optimal reading proficiency. In 2020, AFHY was able to secure additional funding that will allow the Pediatrics Department at Cheshire Medical Center to distribute 800 additional books directly to children ages 6-11 years old during their well-visits.

Complete Streets are pedestrian, transit, and bicycle – friendly streets that provide safe and easy access for users of all ages and abilities, regardless of their mode of transportation. It is an approach to planning, design, construction, and maintenance of the roadway network that considers the context and travel patterns in order to meet the needs of everyone. Complete Streets will look different depending on the context (i.e. surrounding land use) and the function of the road. For example, a rural arterial road will look different from an urban arterial road. In the former case, a larger shoulder that provides room for pedestrians and bicyclists may be sufficient, whereas the urban case would likely require more considerations. Some common elements of complete streets include sidewalks, bike lanes, wide paved shoulders, median islands, curb extensions, and roundabouts. Often streets will have narrower travel lanes, frequent and safe crossing opportunities, pedestrian signals, and accessible transit stops.

Complete Streets are a great way for a community to enhance safety, boost the local economy, create a sense of place, and encourage healthier lifestyles. By encouraging mode switching for shorter trips, Complete Streets also help ease traffic congestion on main roads. According to the National Complete Streets Coalition, the many benefits of complete streets include:

• Improved Safety
• Better Health
• Stronger Local Economy
• More Livable Communities
• Increase in Mode Choice
• Decrease in Traffic Congestion
• Greater Sense of Place
• Lower Emissions and Cleaner Air

With the support of grant funds from You Have Our Trust, the Monadnock Alliance for Sustainable Transportation (MAST) with technical assistance from Southwest Region Planning Commission (SWRPC) has supported nine communities in the Monadnock Region to adopt Complete Streets policies. Those communities are: Harrisville, Hinsdale, Jaffrey, Keene, Peterborough, Swanzey, Troy, Walpole, Winchester.

1. Harrisville – re-adopted 2020
2. Hinsdale – adopted 2016
3. Jaffrey – adopted 2017
4. Keene – adopted 2015
5. Peterborough – adopted 2017
6. Swanzey – adopted 2015
7. Troy – adopted 2016
8. Walpole – adopted 2017
9. Winchester – adopted 2017

Two additional towns are in the process of hopefully adopting a Complete Streets policy soon:

1. Greenville – under consideration 2023, not adopted
2. Marlborough – under consideration 2023, not adopted