June 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 36

WELLNESS HUBS
ated a new program, changing the
structure and social environments
where meals were served to youth
to provide family programming.
The Family Meals at
program was held once a week in
the local park as a sit-down family
meal event. Using data to determine
the ideal location to provide
this service, the program was held
in a park where the highest percentage
of children qualifying for free
and/or reduced meals reside. This
helped reduce transportation barriers
and increase community access
to the free meals.
Through the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) Summer
Food Service Program and in
partnership with the school district
food service vendor and a local
food bank, families were able
to enjoy a nutritious hot meal together
and participate in nutrition
education
activities provided by
a West-Allis Health Department
dietician. The program participation,
community engagement and
nutrition education, which were
all products and results of the program,
were all significant successes.
By coupling its Family Meals at
the Park program with its existing
Summer Food Service Program,
West Allis-West Milwaukee Recreation
and Community Services leveraged
a captive audience for food
access programming that could
serve families across generations.
Hot meals were catered and served
" sit down " restaurant style to make
families feel welcomed, special and
less stressed from mealtime. Each
week,
families
also went home
with activities and supplies that
supported the nutrition education
lessons provided that week. Community
members felt the impact of
the program, with more than 50
percent
of participants agreeing
the Park
that outreach and resource materials
provided through the Family
Meals at the Park program were
beneficial.
In Little Rock, Arkansas,
and practices
to
increase health
equity, all contributed to effective,
sustainable, multi-layered
interthe
Central
Arkansas Library System
(CALS) and City of Little Rock,
in conjunction with the Be Mighty
Little Rock program, worked to increase
the number of meals served
to children from low-income families
through federal nutrition programs
by offering meal service at all
library locations on Saturdays. Prior
to 2020, there were only two to
three meal sites operating on weekends.
Now, children can get meals
from their local library six days a
week. On Saturdays, they can get
two meals. They also standardized
their summer meal offerings, updating
a pre-2020 process where
libraries decided if they wanted to
serve breakfast and lunch. Many
opted to only serve lunch due to
the need to serve the meals at different
times, with a certain amount
of time between meals. With the
waivers issued by USDA during
coronavirus (COVID-19), meal
program sites were able to distribute
breakfast and lunch meals at
the same time.
Piloting New Approaches
Through Partnership
Each grantee implemented its hub
model, using a variety of methods
to influence community health outcomes.
The combination of nutrition
education,
structural design
of accessible community gardens
and farmers markets, Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP), Special Supplemental
Nutrition
Program for Women,
Infants and Children (WIC),
and Pandemic Electronic Benefit
Transfer (P-EBT) outreach and
enrollment assistance, and policies
36 Parks & Recreation | JUNE 2 0 22 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
ventions for improved community
health and well-being. Partnerships
were key to these successes.
Little Rock made significant
impact providing
community
SNAP outreach and enrollment assistance.
The grant allowed CALS
and City of Little Rock to have
additional staff at a dozen libraries
and community centers, trained
to support SNAP application assistance.
They partnered with the
Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance
to train associates in conducting
SNAP enrollment, so they could
support community members in
applying for and managing SNAP
benefits. They conducted food security
screenings to inform which
resources, such as SNAP, could
support each individual through
a referral system. In just one year,
City of Little Rock and CALS supported
7,495 families with SNAP/
WIC enrollment assistance.
In Asheville, North Carolina,
Asheville Parks and Recreation's
influence on community garden
development and education grew
substantially. With a community
partner, the department built new
community gardens to increase
community access to free, fresh,
healthy foods. This environmental
change was supplemented with
partner-led garden education that
demonstrated how residents can
grow their own food in Asheville
community
gardens,
and
with
grow-your-own food pots distributed
to older adults. To supplement
garden education and awareness,
local artists were commissioned for
art pieces to highlight the community
gardens in a newly developed
adult coloring book. The coloring
book included a food resource
June 2022 - Parks & Recreation

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