A Tale of Two Urban Trails: Promoting Physical Activity and Active Transportation on the Texas Border
January 22, 2025 2pm
Health Webinar with Jana Renner, Senior Program Officer, Paso del Norte Health Foundation, and Rose M Z Gowen, MD, Brownsville City Commissioner
Join us for an engaging presentation on the transformative power of two urban trails along the Texas border. This session will delve into how the Caracara Trails in Brownsville and the Paso del Norte Trail in El Paso promote physical activity and active transportation in these communities. Urban trails offer an accessible and inviting environment for residents to engage in physical activity outdoors and offer practical and environmentally friendly alternatives to driving. Participants will learn how these trails provide vital opportunities for walking, jogging, and cycling, leading to improved health and overall wellness. Additionally, they will learn the role of urban trails in promoting active transportation by connecting key neighborhoods, public transit hubs, and commercial areas. Finally, we will discuss plans and strategies to help mitigate extreme heat on the trails.
Jana Renner is a Senior Program Officer at the Paso del Norte Health Foundation where she manages the Healthy Eating and Physical Activity initiatives. She works with community partners to improve nutrition and expand opportunities for residents to be physically active, including the Paso del Norte Trail project. In 2018, She oversaw the construction of the Playa Drain Trail, a demonstration project that connects three parks in El Paso’s lower valley and was one catalyst for the vision of a county-wide trail in El Paso County. Jana was selected as a 2019 Walking Fellow in the American Walks Walking College and currently serves on the City of El Paso’s Mobility Advisory Committee. Jana completed a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Trinity University, a Master of Public Administration from The University of Texas at El Paso, and recently earned a graduate certificate in Public Health from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
Rose M Z Gowen, MD was elected to the Brownsville City Commission in 2009 and re-elected in 2013, 2017, and 2021. As a commissioner, Dr. Gowen focuses on smart growth, quality-of-life projects, and health-related issues such as raising awareness of the region’s high levels of obesity and related chronic disease.
Partnering science, city government, and the community has resulted in a rich integrated network of policy and programming throughout the city that enables and invites healthy living. One partnership that Dr. Gowen forged is between UT Health Houston, School of Public Health-Brownsville, and the City of Brownsville Health Dept to improve nutrition and accessibility of healthy food choices for all. Through that work, she was instrumental in the design and development of the Brownsville Farmers’ Market. The Brownsville Farmers’ Market was recognized as a model of excellence by the Texas Department of Health and the US-Mexico Border Health Commission.
Increasing physical activity and accessibility to exercise drive her to advocate for a robust trail network across the city and to neighboring cities. Through partnerships, she has been able to fund a 30+ mile network within the city and the Caracara Trail network of 428 miles crossing Cameron County.
Using her blend of medical expertise and public service, Dr. Gowen can focus on and illustrate how economic development and quality of life enrich and enhance each other so that both will shine the brightest only when they are given simultaneous and equal skill and attention. Building a vibrant Brownsville and a region in which healthy nutrition is accessible, active transportation is safe and engaging, and rates of diabetes decline are worth her effort and ours because Tu Salud Si Cuenta!
Webinar offered January 22, 2025, at 2:00 Central
Ticket Sales will end on January 21, 2025
A Zoom Link will be sent to registrants on the morning of the event
A recording of this event will be added to our YouTube after the event