Praise for Nurture’s work with social service agencies across the country:
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Think of our programs as part cooking class, part nutrition education and part philanthropy. Our participants receive cooking equipment, such as rice cookers and slow cookers, with whole food staples to use with that cooking equipment. We also teach basic cooking and kitchen skills and even shopping techniques, depending on the needs of the group. Our curriculum is rounded out with fun tips on how to integrate fun physical activity into a healthy lifestyle. The Nurture program is for all ages.
A very popular Nurture activity is the creation of non-perishable soup mixes for local food pantries and hunger relief organizations. Click here for directions on how to conduct this activity. We’d love to hear of your successes with this activity and post any pictures!
To find out how your agency can collaborate with Nurture to bring the programs to your clients, please contact info@nurtureyourfamily.org
For information on our program results in the social service agency setting, please see data summary sheets on The Impact of Our Work page.
More information on Nurture Programs:
During our family program, we encourage care givers to bring their children! While adults work in the adult kitchen, children take part in a special kids’ nutrition education program based on age (K-5 or Middle School). In each class we cover:
-A nutrition lesson
-Recipe preparation
-Fitness tips
-Demonstrations of cooking equipment that will make meal preparation easier and more efficient.
In our classes, we focus on a lower cost, healthy food groups such as grains, lentils, split peas, beans and fruits and vegetables. At the end of class, we offer each family cooking equipment and/or grocery staples to bring home.
Classes may be scheduled as a one-day workshop or as a series for more in-depth coverage of materials. At the end of the class/series, each participant fills out an evaluation form so that we can measure the impact of our work and continuously improve our programs.
Our recipes and cooking methods evolve based on the participants enrolled (and their food preferences and health needs) and the time of year (season).
Through our partnership with the dietetics program at the UIC, we offer participant families one-on-one consultations free of charge. Our interns meet with families to best understand their individual issues, concerns and health situation. Together they work on a plan for improvement with specific goals. Recommendations range from general shifts (e.g., eat more lean protein throughout the day) to specific changes (e.g., substitute soft drinks with fruit flavored water). The market value of these individual consultations with a dietician range from $100-$250 per meeting, a price point that is often out-of-reach to many of the families with whom we work.
The goal of the prenatal curriculum is to provide additional resources to expectant mothers so that they can best care for themselves and their growing babies.
Topics range from importance of a healthy breakfast, to how to make fast and nutritious meals for mom and baby, to feeding guidelines from birth to age 3.
Family Network’s Right from the Start program provides these classes monthly on Tuesday evenings, from 5:00 to 7:00pm at 330 Laurel Avenue, Highland Park IL. Child care is provided. For dates and more information, call Bertha Chavez at 847-681-0890 or email Nora Barquin at nora.barquin@family-focus.org.
The Nurture Grow Your Own Food program involves families in planting and harvesting their own food. Current plots are at Morraine Township in Highland Park, IL. The Grow Your Own Food program has three main objectives:
-Provide gardening education (through seminars)
-Give access to fresh, organic and local food (through container gardening or community garden plots)
-Involve families in the food chain, the great outdoors, and fun activities together!
For more information about the Grow Your Own Food program, please Contact Us.
Thank you to Johnny’s Selected seeds for providing seeds for our 2010 and 2011 Grow Your Own Food Program!
- A Just Harvest, Rogers Park, IL (serving meals 365 days per year to famlies in need)
- JCYS, Highland Park, IL (providing an opportuntiy for physical activity for kids the during summer months)
- Family Focus, Evanston, IL (serving approximately 30 post-natal teens and approxmiately 30 foster parents)
- Family Network, Highland Park, IL (Early Childhood, Parent-Child, After School and Spanish-based Programs & Services)
- Family Service, Highland Park, IL (providing counseling and education services to families)
- Moraine Township Food Pantry, Highland Park, IL (serving approximately 90 families)
- New Trier Township Food Pantry (serving approximately 100 families)
- Northfield Township Food Pantry, Glenview IL (serving approximately 500 families)
- Lake County Health Deparment & Community Health Center – North Shore Health Center, Highland Park, IL (a clinic providing care year-round)
- The Hunger Coalition, Blaine County, ID (the primary provider of food assistance to the general population of Blaine County, Idaho)