A wellness survey landed in several thousand mailboxes in The Dalles to establish a baseline for the Blue Zones Project as it begins a three-year effort to improve community wellness.

The initial outreach work of The Dalles Blue Zones Project — a three-year community wellness initiative — begins next week with a series of focus group sessions over three days. The focus groups will seek input on a variety of topics, from creating more trails and sidewalks, to ways to make workplaces more productive and employees happier, to how churches can contribute to the town’s well-being.