Motivated by the success of previous collaborations between the Pike County Cooperative Extension Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program and the WestCare Foundation’s Ashcamp location, we were eager to extend the productive partnership into its sixth year. WestCare, a family of tax-exempt nonprofit organizations, provides a wide spectrum of health and human services in both residential and outpatient environments. These services include substance abuse and addiction treatment, homeless, and runaway shelters, domestic violence treatment and prevention, and mental health programs. This demographic of people have been eager learners, are appreciative of new information, and have been very personally rewarding to work with.

As a result of our classes, WestCare residents became more proficient in measuring foods, reading recipes, planning meals and preparing shopping lists.  Employing the Healthy Choices for Everybody curriculum, residents learned new cooking skills including proper portion sizes, how to safely prep foods and healthier whole food substitutes to fast and pre-packaged foods.

In total, 34 WestCare residents completed the 8 lesson program with a 100 % completion rate. 75% reported an improvement in eating more fruits and vegetables and drinking less soda, 92 % made changes to be more active, 62% improved on planning meals, making a list, comparing food prices, and cooking dinner at home more often and 92 % improved on food safety by using a meat thermometer more often and thawing food in the refrigerator instead of out on the counter.

Of the program, participants wrote, “I learned that I need to quit drinking soda because the sugar is very bad for my health and it will erode the enamel of our teeth, “ and “ I have learned eating healthy can actually taste good, and empty calories has no nutritional value in our health.”