Heart: Homeless Nutrition Project

By providing healthy food and education to this population, it helps them to have a better and healthy life. In the article “A nurse’s guide to food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens”, the author mentions, “Individuals living food insecure rarely have access to foods recommended by the American Diabetes Association such as fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats and whole grains. As nurses, we understand the importance of a healthy diet that allows our patients to maintain health and recover from illness or injury” (Greeg, 2014). As nursing students, we may be able to educate patients on what type of foods they should eat and avoid, but without a clear understanding of how their living situation plays a role in this, it can be hard to help

Considering the following statistics, it is clear why Hunger Free Colorado’s work is so important: Nearly 1 in 7 Coloradans struggled with hunger in 2013, facing times when there was not enough money to buy food for their families or themselves (Colman-Jenson, Gregory, & Singh, 2013). More than 1 in 5 Colorado households with children (22%) reported food hardship, facing financial challenges to put food on the table (Food Research and Action Center, 2013). More than 1 in 8 Coloradans lived in poverty, including 1 in 6 kids, during 2013 (Bishaw & Fontenot, 2014).

The homeless population will only increase with our current economic status. Jean Watson’s Theory of Caring states that “intentionality is the projection of awareness, with purpose and efficacy toward some object or outcome” (Leuning, 2001, p. 300). Healthcare organizations and nurses need to collaborate using intentionality. The vulnerability status of the homeless is higher than most due to their lack of basic human needs of food, water, and shelter. The homeless population succumbs to a variety of chronic illnesses and disease, such as tuberculosis, AIDS/HIV, malnutrition and severe dental problems. They also fall prey to parasites, frostbite, infection and violence (Basics of Homelessness, 2002). These reasons alone prove that the homeless population needs to receive specialized care designed around their lifestyles. As one can see, this population is not going away and the problem will only continue to grow. It is up to nurses and other healthcare professionals to advocate for these individuals and help make a change by using specialized assessment tools and learning more about programs specifically for the homeless By ensuring that these individuals receive the proper follow up care through a collaborative effort of nurses, doctors, social workers, case managers, and psychiatric professionals, there will be a

Malnourishment is no longer an issue seen only in the indigent population and developing countries. Many Americans are also plagued with this issue, largely due to unhealthy food choices. Providing a multidisciplinary approach to public nutrition

Conduct small-group, 6-week workshops (open door/healthy refreshments) for individuals at a homeless shelter, homeless Veteran’s in our community (and counties) with Community health workers (possibly volunteers) who help encourage and support them to better manage their lifestyles, financial options, benefits, community resources available, and health and promote awareness of healthy lifestyle options in the community versus life at a homeless

On Tuesday, October 3rd Monica Banks, a Wake Forest Divinity School student and a co-founder of New Communion, shared her experiences about her career/field of study and how it began to intermingle with food. Banks first began her career with a degree in business leadership and management and opening approximately 40 restaurant venues. After years of experience, she was looking for something more in life. After pursuing nursing she felt her calling was in the pastoral field and specifically surrounded food and poverty. As a second year student at Wake’s Divinity School, Banks was required to complete a group project, which led her the idea of the mobile pantry—now new communion. Banks felt such a passion for this project that she completed a grant application to United Way, which was eventually granted for the interfaith mobile food pantry. Banks took

Volunteering at a local soup kitchen has become an important activity that humbles me, having witnessed the difficulties this population faces. The Christian Medical Association Homeless Meals Program at Wayne State University School of Medicine will allow me to continue this type of community outreach.

Although the United States government spends $176 billion on hunger programs every year, there are currently more than 46 million Americans going hungry every day. In the U.S. every county, state, or congressional district experiences some form of malnutrition and hunger. Right now there is a rapid increase in the number of hungry Americans and the issue is quickly becoming problematic. Today one in six Americans participate in one or more of the fifteen nutrition assistance programs funded by the government and provided by the USDA. Recently more people have begun to question what hunger really is, what all the programs actually do, and what their results are.

The United States is experiencing social issues related to food insecurity and hunger. Current research states that older adults are especially vulnerable to food insecurity. In a study published in the Journal of Urban Health states, “Among the 14.6% of American households experiencing food insecurity, approximately 2 million are occupied by older adults” (Chung, Gallo, Giunta, Canavan, Parikh, & Fahs, 2011, p. 1). Since the year 2011 the Athens Community Council on Aging reports, “Almost 9 million older adults in the United States are at risk for hunger, and Georgia is 8th in state rankings for older adult risk of hunger” (2014, p. 1). Fortunately, in North America, hunger seldom reaches

For such a long time, hunger still remains a complicated issue in America. Unlike other countries, hunger in America is not just getting enough food, but rather getting the right food and making the right choices. This project is a perfect example of how difficult it is to create a balance and nutritional meal on a tight budget. For starter, individuals who are under this program might have to sacrifice for some of the less nutritional food if they want to stay under the budget, which might results in some long term effects on the individual’s health. Instead of being able to purchase fresh fruits and leaner cuts of meat every day, I was forced to purchase cheap products that are nowhere close to today’s nutritional standards. Now, it wouldn’t

To help mitigate the threat of hunger that affects American families all over the country, The Salvation Army serves 60 million meals to anyone in need through its many soup kitchens, sit-down meal programs, food pantries and community gardens. As a fundamental part of this organization’s mission, these nutritional meals

The FINI grant is offering to donate up to $500,000. This grant program supports low income families who are on SNAP. I believe this is a good fit for my research because they are pushing for these individuals to increase their purchase of fruits and vegetables. This relates to my “breakfast skipping” research because statistics show that lower income communities and individuals tend to have a higher rate of obesity. If skipping and eating breakfast are seen to have similar effect on weight loss, then focusing on healthy food choices may be an effective way to lower the obesity rate. Promoting the purchase of fruit and vegetables is a good substitution for many highly refined, prepackaged breakfast options. Eligibility for this grant include applicants who are sponsored by government agencies or non-profit organizations.

In this country there is an increase in the homeless population in both in rural and urban areas in the United States. This is due to the increase in housing prices, and the rise in poverty level in this country. Studies have shown that, “poverty has been deemed one of the major societal determinants of cardiovascular disease worldwide” (Charlotte).

The Meal Box program make use of food as a headquarters that gather multiple individuals together, cause a significant change in the lives of individuals and trade and learn different skills. The program focuses on the link between poverty, social isolation, food insecurity, and economic vulnerability. The problems are focused on by supplying work placements for every five to ten people who have suffered being homeless or in poverty in their life, teaching them how to make proper usage of a kitchen and make healthy and nutritious meals during their complete work placement period. The volunteers will team up with Kitchen Coordinators for four nights each week. Using the “Ve’ahavta’s MJRH outreach van”, Ve’ahavta and those involved in the organization

This population is among the low-income and low socioeconomic population in New York and their poverty level is very high. Some of the potential factors that have contributed to the community’s needs and assessment were dietary habits, not having healthy food around, lack of physical activities and less recreational facilities. The nutritional needs of the population was not having variety of choices when it comes to food items and the right choices happen to be expensive according to the couple of people interviewed among this population.