Virginia’s Blue Ridge is transforming wellness from the ground up.
Photo above: Courtesy of Melrose Plaza
Dr. Liz Ackley directs the center for community health innovation at roanoke college, where she leads efforts to improve health equity across the roanoke valley. Her work connects academic research with grassroots action, helping communities use data and strategic partnerships to create healthier, more equitable places to live.
Learn more about Dr. Ackley and her work with Roanoke College on their website.
Wellness today means more than just physical health. It’s about nurturing the full spectrum of the human experience, encompassing intellectual, emotional, social, environmental, occupational, physical, cultural and economic wellness.
Wellness Renaissance in Virginia’s Blue Ridge: Community-Led Innovationin Action
After fifteen years immersed in place-based wellness initiatives across the country, I’ve had the opportunity to explore a wide range of wellness ecosystems. Despite an interesting and diverse change of scenery along that path, I find myself continually inspired by the Roanoke Valley.
To be clear, our region faces health challenges — ones that mirror (and in some cases, outpace) national trends. While these challenges are not unique to us, our momentum, creativity and collaborative innovation are truly celebration worthy. From bold mission reimagining and strategic regional investments to inventive cross-sector collaborations and grassroots efforts that nurture wellness at both the individual and community level, Virginia’s Blue Ridge is emerging as a leader in holistic wellness innovation.
Mission Reimagined: Organizations Leading the Wellness Charge
The term “mission creep” is often negatively connotated, but in Virginia’s Blue Ridge, organizations are boldly acknowledging the multidimensionality of wellness, innovating their strategies in ways that dually reinforce and reengage their mission to meet community wellness needs head-on. Goodwill Industries of the Valleys and Roanoke City Public Schools provide recent shining examples poised to become national models for holistic wellness innovation.
In July 2025, Goodwill Industries of the Valleys unveiled Melrose Plaza — a resource hub in Northwest Roanoke featuring a full-service grocery store (Market on Melrose), adult education (Excel Center), wellness services (Carilion Clinic, A Tree Planted, Virginia Department of Health), financial services (Bank of Botetourt), community gathering spaces (Henrietta’s Café) and cultural anchors (Harrison Museum of African American Culture), all under one roof. Serving as project developer and grocery operator for the Market on Melrose, Goodwill Industries of the Valleys has more than doubled down on their mission, stretching their service lineup to provide people with “opportunit(ies) to achieve their greatest potential” by “empowering individuals, strengthening families and inspiring communities”.
Roanoke City Public Schools (RCPS) followed suit, celebrating the opening of the Community Empowerment Center at Booker T. Washington in August 2025. This hub provides wrap-around support for children and their families, including translation services, mental and physical wellness care, adult education, financial literacy and housing stability resources, serving as the tangible realization of RCPS’s Equity in Action Plan.
These shining examples share a common blueprint. Each was shaped by resident input, guided by robust local data — including Carilion Clinic and the Virginia Department of Health’s Community Health Assessments and Roanoke College’s Roanoke Valley Community Healthy Living Index — and fueled by strategic regional and municipal collaboration. By leveraging the capacity and expertise of multiple partner organizations, they offer holistic support across many dimensions of wellness while demonstrating that strategic mission evolution can drive meaningful community change.
Grassroots Greatness: Big Impact from Small Ideas
Across the region, citizens are sparking wellness movements capable of significant impacts in unique and creative ways. Take the Roanoke Plawkers, for example. What began in 2019 as a casual walk among friends who decided to pick up litter evolved into a community movement blending friendship, fitness and environmental stewardship. Led by local changemaker, Sunni Purviance (2022 Roanoke Citizen of the Year), Plawking enhances physical activity and community connection in a high impact, resource-minimal activity, making this grassroots movement a longtime local favorite with significant potential for replication across the region.
Another shining star in the region’s wellness landscape is Cheryl Mosely — a creativity-fueled idea machine whose energy and vision recently culminated in the creation of Elsewhere By Design — an organization transforming homes into havens for families facing instability. Building from a career rich in community leadership and transformative impact across multiple sectors (including the impressive Young Docs youth health empowerment program), Mosely positions interior design as a bridge between crisis and confidence for families across the region. Leveraging evidence-based best practices that connect a nurturing home environment to stress reduction, improved community connectedness and increased social support, Elsewhere By Design shows potential for catalyzing long-term transformational wellness in the families they serve.
By offering up their unique skills, passions and dreams for a healthier community, Purviance and Mosely add to a long and impressive list of individuals making big impacts that nurture wellness across Virginia’s Blue Ridge.
Systems Strategies: Building Wellness from the Ground Up
Wellness often starts with what’s on our plates, and regional food systems champions are making sure those plates are filled with fresh, local goodness. Through purpose-driven regional collaborations that create a more equitable and resilient local food system, the Roanoke Foodshed Network is bolstering the regional farming and food production workforce while expanding access to healthy foods. Through LEAP’s mobile markets, famers markets, farm share programs and community store, nutritious, local food is reaching more neighbors, including those using SNAP, WIC or Medicaid. LEAP also leads the Southwest Virginia Produce Prescription Program (SWPRx), connecting clinical care with fresh produce. Patients receive produce prescriptions, linking healthcare to food access in a powerful way.
Through intentional integration with the Foodshed Network, SWPRx collaborators are supporting regional wellness holistically, addressing physical, emotional, social, environmental, occupational, cultural and economic wellness through the systems that nourish us.
A Region to Replicate
Virginia’s Blue Ridge isn’t just imagining a healthier future — it’s building it. Through strategic partnerships, resident-led initiatives and a commitment to equity, the region is crafting a wellness ecosystem that is inclusive, holistic and deeply rooted in community. It’s a model that other regions can learn from, and one that continues to evolve with the creativity and care of its people.
About the Center for Community Health Innovation at Roanoke College: The Center for Community Health Innovation at Roanoke College is a regional leader in advancing health equity through data-driven collaboration, community engagement, and strategic partnerships. Its work empowers local organizations and residents to create healthier, more inclusive communities across the Roanoke Valley.
The story above is from our January/February 2026 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
