Groton and New London both have received grants to create wellness hubs for their communities.

The Groton Parks and Recreation Department plans to establish a wellness hub at the Groton Community Center, 61 Fort Hill Road, an initiative designed to connect people to available services and remove barriers, said Jerry Lokken, recreation services manager.

The idea is to partner with community organizations to bring services directly to people, whether it’s nutritional services or potentially a vaccination clinic, or assistance with signing up for a Head Start early childhood education program or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits, Lokken said.

The $90,000 for the wellness hub is from the National Recreation and Park Association, a nonprofit organization, with support from the Walmart Foundation.

New London also received a $90,000 grant from the organization. The grant is attached to the new community center the city plans to build, said Sharon J. Bousquet, assistant recreation director at the city’s Recreation Department.

The goal is to put out a needs assessment to find out the programming the community would like to see and create a plan for a wellness hub at the community center, Bousquet explained. The city will be reaching out to organizations to help with the needs assessment.

“We’re hoping to get a very diverse return,” Bousquet said. The plan is to do the needs assessment this fall and into early winter.

There could be a number of possibilities for the wellness hub, including fitness, arts and nutrition programs. “We’re looking for the community to tell us what they really want to be here,” she said.

This is the third time New London received a grant from the National Recreation and Park Association, Bousquet said. The city previously received a nutrition hub grant and a grant for nutrition education and fitness targeted to youths. Ledge Light Health District, the nonprofit food agency FRESH New London and New London Human Services are partners in this grant round.

The Groton Parks and Recreation Department sought the grant to increase equity in terms of the programs and services it provides to the community and to try to remove barriers preventing people from accessing services already in place, Lokken explained.

“We’re trying to eliminate those barriers to get people connected to those services that already exist in the community so from our standpoint it’s an equity issue,” Lokken said. “We’re trying to reach maybe people that we don’t reach otherwise, and it’s also an opportunity for us to connect with people that are already coming to see us with other community services.”

For example, lack of transportation and lack of knowledge of services are among the barriers people may face.

The Groton Community Center is within walking distance of a large population, so people who might not be able to travel to different towns or to a different part of Groton may be able to access the center more easily, Lokken said. People who were previously unaware of a service also may find out about it by chance when they are spending time at the community center.

As part of the wellness hub, the Parks and Recreation Department likely will partner with Groton Public Schools Food Services on a component of the wellness hub, among other community partners, Lokken said.

The department is working to line up community partners and the times they would be available to come to the community center and potentially hire for a new position to coordinate the activities, he said. The grant allows for 18 months for the program to get up and running, but he anticipates likely beginning some services in the fall.

k.drelich@theday.com