The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program for Buncombe County has entered into a partnership with a local chapter of RHA Health Services via the Mary Benson House, a Residential Substance Use Disorder Treatment Center for Mothers and Mothers-To-Be. “The Mary Benson House (MBH) is a haven of healing and recovery for pregnant and parenting women, located in Asheville, NC. Seven women can be served at a time with two residents per room. The residence includes a playroom and outdoor play area for young children.”
We began classes just before Thanksgiving and will wrap up just before Christmas. These classes have been taught using the EFNEP adult curriculum Families Eating Smart and Moving More, “On the Run” Edition. Since the enrollees are all new mother’s with very busy lives on the horizon, we decided to focus on ways for them to stay healthy while balancing both home and the children’s eventual extracurricular activities outside of the home. Many of the participants report that they have already incorporated the EFNEP Fruit Smoothie recipe into their daily choices. We have also had great interest in the recipe samples from the toddlers in attendance, they have eagerly reached to taste their mom’s samples, setting up a lifelong dynamic of modeling healthy choices!
As the 2023 graduation of this current group of moms draws near, we are already looking forward to enrolling the next group of residents at the Mary Benson House here in Buncombe County.
If you have an adult or youth group that you would like to enroll in our free nutrition classes and for more information please contact Amanda Bremseth, EFNEP Nutrition Educator at Amanda_Bremseth@NCSU.eduor 828-255-5522 Extenstion 4862.
