One way to define a healthy community is by how people live, connect, and support one another.

Cambridge, Idaho, is checking all those boxes.

The City of Cambridge during the 2025 Truck and Car Show.

“People show up, and people are helpful,” says Cambridge resident Jackie Edwards. “They go out of their way if they feel there is a need to help, and they want to help. A lot of people volunteer here, and that makes Cambridge what it is.”

The City of Cambridge is the recipient of the Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health’s  2026 Community Health Champion Award. The award comes with a $5,000 grant that can be used for a program or project that promotes community health. The award was presented to Cambridge Mayor Mark Loveland at the Association of Idaho Cities conference dinner on June 11 at the Boise Centre.

Loveland has lived in Cambridge since 1992. Like Edwards, he said the not-so-secret sauce that makes the Washington County city special is its 365 residents.

“You can see the people are totally committed to our community and making it better,” he said. “The friendliness and neighbor openness — I think that’s the key element to happiness in our town. We see each other. We ask how you’re doing.”

Cambridge is doing a lot of things well that promote community health. Some examples:

  • It maintains a community clinic that offers space for rotating medical and dental providers to deliver healthcare services.
  • The city is updating its comprehensive plan with a health focus. Each chapter of the plan includes a health highlight.
  • Youth-led wellness programs — the America250 Walking Challenge and the Volunteer 250 Hours Challenge — have been well received by the community.
  • Sidewalk projects keep the main streets in the city walkable and safe for all residents.
  • The Cambridge Midvale Goodrich Senior Center offers healthy meals, social opportunities, fall prevention courses, and even tai chi classes. The city and the senior city received a $245,000 Community Development Block Grant for the facility.
The museum regularly changes its displays and keeps programs fresh to encourage return visits from locals and tourists.

The senior center is critical to the community since the median age of residents is 57 years.

“The grant is going to make all the difference in the world,” Loveland said. “We’re going to come in and revitalize that whole facility. We’ve been trying to use it for more than just the senior center. We’ve been trying to get it to be more of a community center.”

There are options for youth, too. The library offers a variety of programs for different ages, and the local museum stays fresh with rotating displays and content that celebrate the area’s rich history.

“The community support to kids is huge here,” said Makenzie Loveland, the mayor’s daughter-in-law who volunteers at the museum. “Local businesses and other families – everyone is rooting for everyone’s kids. Kids love it here because they sense they are a part of it.”

Jackie Edwards, center, was the clear winner of the America250 Walking Challenge. She averaged about 20,000 steps a day, getting some of her steps by mowing her large yard with a push mower. She and the other women walked each morning, taking advantage of sidewalks and the Weiser River Trail that cuts through the city. “The challenge motivated me,” Edwards said. “I walk every morning – I set my goal and it made me get out and do more.”

Cambridge’s proximity to the outdoors provides recreation and options for physical activity. The America250 walking challenge attracted 115 participants, which is nearly one-third of the population. The goal was for people to walk 250 miles from April 1 to June 15. Community members downloaded an app and could see how much friends and neighbors were walking.

“The challenge really created camaraderie among random people and a firestorm of competition,” said Cambridge Deputy Clerk Brandie Lincoln, whose seventh-grade daughter Kyra, designed the challenge. A free community breakfast and award ceremony are scheduled on July 4, where participants who reach the mileage goal earn a T-shirt, certificate, and bragging rights.

Cambridge isn’t resting on its laurels. City leadership continues to do things to help improve things for residents. The city lacks childcare, a pharmacy, and a bank.

“We’ve looked at daycare situations, we’ve looked at housing,” Mayor Loveland said. “We’ve adjusted our planning and zoning of our town to make more dense areas where we can create more housing that possibly could be more affordable. We put things in place so that things can happen, that’s what you must do. We’re trying to be proactive, and we’re trying to try to make Cambridge a place that’s desirable, affordable, and safe.”

Loveland has started conversations about State Highway 95 that serves as the city’s main street. It currently has four lanes, which leads to higher speeds that make it dangerous. He’s hoping the road can be reconfigured to include two lanes and a center turn lane, then add bicycle lanes and parking. The road is a part of the Trans America Trail that attracts cyclists from across the globe. Cyclists also come to town from the Weiser River Trail.

“The goal is that traffic still flows through town properly and efficiently, but at the same time we eliminate the race, which is going to make it safer,” he said.

There is potential for Cambridge to grow. Companies are developing mines nearby, which could create jobs and economic opportunity in the area.

The Weiser River Trail runs through Cambridge. (Trail photos courtesy of Ken Carsten)

“They say it takes up to 15 years to get mines actually up and going,” he said. “We’re anxiously looking at that. Cambridge’s heyday was when they were putting the three dams in Hells Canyon, so it’s been since 1968 that we’ve had a heyday.

“There’s a lot of people who want Cambridge to stay the way it is. To stay that way, you’ve got to have some moderate growth. I think if Cambridge went from a population of 365 to 400 or 450, I think that’s reasonable and wouldn’t hurt our community. It would add to our tax base. Our water and sewer systems are at 60% capacity, so we could easily add to those and be able to take care of everyone. We’re looking to another possible heyday in Cambridge, Idaho. I’m excited about that.”

The mayor wants the people in Cambridge to understand that health is a priority.

“We’re focused on that at City Hall,” he said. “We want the best for our community and try to share that message as best we can with the community. I try to demonstrate that I’m the mayor of health by what I do and the example that I set in my community.”