Tuesday, April 17, at 9:30 a.m., Birmingham City Council will move forward with a public hearing on a proposed ordinance to protect workers across the city from the effects of smoke in their place of work. Birmingham also will show once more its leadership in improving community health.

As a longtime member of the Health Action Partnership, the Community Foundation has been glad to see the support of city officials in examples such as “complete streets,” including bike lanes in repaving projects downtown. We thank the City also for supporting Railroad Park and neighborhood parks across Birmingham which give people a chance to get outdoors and get active. We’re glad, too, that City Hall itself is already a smoke-free workplace.

Bike lanes and parks are important steps to improving community health, and so is the proposed ordinance to ensure smoke-free workplaces for everyone.

As Dr. Edward Partridge, director of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, said in his commentary Sunday, research shows that laws like these help to fight cancer, heart disease and lung disease, all linked to secondhand smoke. They also have been shown to help people quit smoking and keep young people from starting. And they can save thousands of lives in Alabama alone.

Contact Ashley Lyerly of the American Lung Association to find out more about how you can influence your local representatives and let your voice be heard.  Find out more about how the Community Foundation supports the Health Action Partnership and one of our key Results: People can lead healthy lives.