MIAMI CHILDREN’S INITIATIVE HEALTH & WELLNESS REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE FUNDERS COLLABORATIVE Period covered: May 1st – May 31st 2018
Program Overview Miami Children’s Initiative (MCI) has launched a comprehensive Health and Wellness Program to promote the physical and emotional health of Liberty City’s children and families. Compared to other communities in Miami-Dade County, Liberty City residents have historically experienced greater prevalence of health issues such as asthma, obesity and diet-related diseases; as well as physical inactivity, poor dietary habits, and psycho-social stressors. These prominent health issues are the result of limited access to healthy, affordable food options, absence of a built environment suitable for physical activity, and lastly, lack of social support in the community to cope with the daily stressors associated with an overall low socioeconomic status. Community Efforts Liberty City Fresh Food Co-Op (FFCO) MCI’s monthly Fresh Food Co-Op took place on May 25th, 2018. MCI continues to charge residents $5 for a basket of fresh produce valued at roughly $50.00, individual families were served, but in total 32 shares were purchased. MCI permits families to buy up to 2 shares due to the large number of children often in resident households. This month Praxis Project has been working on the final edits of a mini documentary of the FFCO as part of a series highlighting community-based organizations that are part of the Communities Creating Healthy Environments (CCHE). We had a lower than average turnout this month due to being rained out again. Our hope is that it will not rain the following month.
January 52
Liberty City Fresh Food Co-op | Number of Families Served February March April May June July 47 33 31 19
August
*reflects number of families served, number of shares purchased may be greater than number of families served.
2 MCI Monthly Report (May 2018)
Physical Activity Teachers and advocates of the after-school programs, Growing Learners and Project Promise, continue to implement the SPARKS curriculum in an engaging way. The stations focused heavily on listening and teamwork. UP2US trauma sensitive activities have also been used to compliment the SPARKS curriculum with great ice breaker activities that help students get to know one another. This month, we were excited to have a few Days-Of-Service. The volunteers really enjoyed engaging with our students and were looking for ways to get more involved.
Highlights Community Gardens and School Garden This month, our community garden beds, located on NW 60th St. between NW 18th – 19th Ave, have been getting a healthy amount of rain and are looking lush. The garden is maintained by Ms. Nikki in partnership with Health in the Hood. I look forward to having our community members visit the garden and pick some necessary items to cook with at home. We also had volunteers come out to revitalize, add colors, and positive affirmations throughout Annie Coleman 16, including our Memorial Garden. Finally, after meeting with Gabriela and Jennifer from Neat Streets Miami we are one step closer to getting 20-30 trees donated and shared between the school and our Promise Street Playground LLC!
3 MCI Monthly Report (May 2018)
Wellness In The Schools (WITS) - Garden to Table Allyce partnered with Chef Aaron from Edge Steakhouse to make a snack for Charles R. Drew students during lunch. They used kale from our school garden and from Chef Aaron’s restaurant to make kale gnocchi. Most students gave a disgusted reaction at first, but after trying it asked for seconds. It was great to expose students to a food they might not usually think of eating.
4 MCI Monthly Report (May 2018)
Communities Creating Healthy Environments (CCHE) - Learning Circle in Milwaukee, WI This month I was able to travel to Milwaukee, WI for the first of four events surrounding education justice and how to improve the quality of life in Liberty City. I also was able to talk with other grassroots organizations across the nation around how to collectively work towards improving our communities of color and/or low-income communities. My group specifically focused on how to implement a Power Analysis Tool, which is a diagram that allows communities to identify the power structures within their community and use that knowledge to campaign for change around any community issue. For MCI, this would be ideally implemented around addressing the gun violence and food desert disparities that we face here in Liberty City. I look forward to participating in the upcoming learning circles and putting best practices into action.
5 MCI Monthly Report (May 2018)