The property manager of Wynnbrook Pines Apartments contacted the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-Ed) Nutrition Education Program (NEP) Assistant from the Kenton County Cooperative Extension Service to offer a basic nutrition/cooking class for her residents.   The property manager had partnered with the NEP Assistant before, so she knew the benefits her residents could receive from the program and wanted to offer other residents a chance to participate in the program.  Just as the program was about to begin, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, and all in-person programming halted.  The NEP Assistant contacted the Wynnbrook Pines manager and asked if she would like to try to offer the program virtually to her residents.  She quickly agreed, so the NEP Assistant offered the Healthy Choices for Every Body as a virtual series through ZOOM, and then posted the recordings to a private Facebook Group for the residents of Wynnbrook Pines.

The NEP Assistant taught the residents the importance of meal planning, eating a wide variety of healthy foods, sticking to a budget, eating breakfast, and purchasing, preparing, and storing food safely.  Since children were at home due to the pandemic, the NEP Assistant provided activities, puzzles, scavenger hunts, and physical activity suggestions for the children to get them involved in making healthy choices for their snacks and meals and to teach them how they could help out in preparing the meals with their parents or grandparents.  The NEP Assistant demonstrated how to prepare a healthy recipe and provided the recipe to the residents so they could prepare it in the safety of their homes and showed how substitutions could be made if all of the ingredients were not available.

The NEP Assistant also provided seed packets and gardening information to residents, so they could grow a container garden on their patio or balcony.  

Unfortunately, very few of the residents at Wynnbrook Pines completed the series due to homeschooling responsibilities, internet issues, and job responsibilities.  The apartment manager and the NEP Assistant are making plans to offer the series again on site at Wynnbrook Pines once it is safe to do so.  Plans are also being made for a community garden in the apartment complex next summer.   

In spite of the pandemic of 2020, the NEP Assistant has maintained the relationship with the apartment manager at Wynnbrook Pines, and plans are being made to proceed with the program in the future when it will be safe for the residents to attend class in person.  The virtual series was a good way to maintain and continue to build a partnership with NEP and the Wynnbrook Pines community.