LIFT For Teens - Levantate! was originally founded in 2008 to address the overweight and obesity issues confronting families in lower socioeconomic communities in our country, especially Latinos and African-Americans who suffer from the highest rates of these conditions. Our mission evolved to encompass providing the tools, knowledge, experiences and support necessary to empower teens and their families to create a life of health, vitality and positive self-esteem. LIFT programs focus specifically on proper nutrition, physical activity and positive lifestyle choices with special emphasis on encouraging personal choice and family engagement.
 

Health and Wellness Initiative in El Monte

In 2011, the City of El Monte adopted the Health and Wellness Element for the General Plan with the following proposed components: 1.) addressing healthy lifestyles and physical activity; 2.) access to healthy food; 3.) public safety and security and; 4.) access to recreation. From this commitment made to the people that live, work and play in El Monte, the Health & Wellness Initiative was born, creating programs and services dedicated to fostering policy change that supports the development of healthy, active environments for all. 

With funding from the Los Angeles Collaborative for Healthy Children mini-grant, the City of El Monte will launch a nutrition education and “Rethink Your Drink” campaign to residents through various outreach efforts in the summer months of 2012.  In an effort to educate residents on healthy beverage and food options, the campaign will target children  and their families that participate in the free lunch program at 11 summer sites.  The goal of this campaign is to educate adults and children on making healthy food and beverage choices and to involve community agencies, businesses and residents in continued education and outreach efforts.

USC- School for Early Childhood Education

USC-SECE- Head Start and Early Head Start program serves more than 600 infant/ toddlers and preschool children and their parents every year. USC-SECE operates 6 fully licensed Head Start centers for children 3-5 years of age and serves over 164 infant/toddlers and pregnant mothers in our Home Base, home visiting, and program. Our program is based on research identifying the conditions that foster learning during a child’s earliest years- warm, supportive relationships with parents and other caregivers, as well as an environment that fosters a sense of security, confidence and personal identity. Focusing on the children’s mental, physical, emotional, and social growth, and by involving the entire family as well as the community, we prepare children for a smooth transition to kindergarten. The Early Head Start (EHS) program is for infants, toddlers, pregnant women and their families. EHS programs enhance children's physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development; assist pregnant women to access comprehensive prenatal and postpartum care; support parents' efforts to fulfill their parental roles; and help parents move towards self-sufficiency. The Home Base program brings EHS staff into a family’s home every week to support child development and to nurture the parent-child relationship. Twice per month, the program offers opportunities for parents and children to come together as a group for learning, discussion, and social activity.

Nutrition Education has been a critical part of our program. Over the past two years, the program has taken a proactive position to promoting nutrition education and fitness awareness among families and staff. This has included increasing the amount of fitness activities integrated into daily routines for children, nutrition assessments and dietician counseling when necessary and extensive nutrition education workshops and trainings offered to parents at least twice per month.

Through collaboration with the Champions for Change, Los Angeles Collaborative and USC-SECE program are working together to promote and increase daily fruit and vegetable consumption, physical activity and healthy beverage consumption in addition to increase nutrition-related knowledge through hands on experiences in healthy cooking classes.

USC- School for Early Childhood Education’s staff   presented 15 workshops to families at all Centers (7) for more than 500 families. After reviewing all the workshops presented by either myself, Family Advocates, Community Partners there were a total 546 families and staff who participated in the workshops, including parents from Weems School, Norwood School and Vermont School.

All families received at least 6-8 healthy recipes for nutritious meals and harvest of the month newsletters, with at least 35% of parents surveyed indicating they prepared recipes provided.