The Pike County Cooperative Extension Service Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program’s partnership with WestCare, a non-profit organization whose services include treatment for substance abuse, mental health and well-being. 

The residents were taught how to prepare food in advance, measure and mix ingredients to prepare a meal. They were eager to learn to how to save money at the grocery store. By using The Healthy Choices for Everybody Curriculum they were instructed on the five food groups, planning and budgeting meals, how to read labels, food safety, and know the limits on sugar, salt and oils. 

Fifteen residents graduated from the program with overwhelmingly positive results. Seventy-eight percent improved on their diet quality, 89% on physical activity, 80 % on food safety, and 67% on food resource management. 

One resident wrote, “I feel like I have learned enough to take it back home and pass it on to my family to ensure that they know how to live a healthy life with a healthy diet.” Another wrote, “The most valuable thing I believe I have learned is how to eat healthy and cheap.”