En 2017, el personal de Growing Up Healthy y de la Ciudad de Faribault se valieron de un abordaje que dependía en la formación de relaciones para apoyar a los vecinos que habitan en casas móviles: colaboraron para ayudar a los vecinos a hacer las reparaciones necesarias para mejorar la seguridad de sus casas.

Por medio de un programa piloto—una asociación entre Growing Up Healthy, la Ciudad de Faribault y la Cuadrilla de Energía Hogareña de Xcel Energy—expertos en la eficiencia del uso de energía del Center for Energy and Environment (el Centro para Energía y el Medioambiente) visitaron los hogares para realizar asesoramientos gratuitos del uso de energía en dichos hogares. Reemplazaron bombillas ineficientes, examinaron calentones, instalaron termostatos programables y recomendaron otros mejoramientos. El personal de Growing Up Healthy acompañó en las visitas para proveer interpretación y para informar a los vecinos sobre programas adicionales por los cuales podrían reunir requisitos, tales como oportunidades de educación en la niñez temprana. [Read more…]

Now more than ever, parents and caregivers are stepping up to support children and youth as they manage the stress of heightened racial tensions, distance learning, and economic insecurity due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Growing Up Healthy is working with bilingual therapist Adalinda Estrada, M.A., LMFT, to coordinate monthly virtual consultations for parents and caregivers by Zoom. Discussion topics will include: racial identity development in children; managing anxiety and depression in kids; supporting children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and supports for those caring for kids with special needs. [Read more…]

Since April 2020, Growing Up Healthy staff members have worked in coordination with 20+ partner organizations to distribute 7,000 boxes of food to households all across Faribault. Distribution efforts have included intentionally sourced cultural food options.

The nearly 60 distribution events, scheduled between April and the end of December, have included Trunk to Trunk events, mobile distribution events, and several one-time events in partnership with other community agencies. Mobile distribution efforts have served more than 1000 households and have focused on nine neighborhoods where need is greatest. The food access effort also partnered with Faribault Public Schools to distribute school meals along with the food boxes, to remove transportation barriers for families with school-aged kids struggling to access meals.

Growing Up Healthy surveyed a diverse group of community members to determine their wants and needs for a longer-term solution to address food access gaps in Faribault.

Families indicated that they appreciated the mobile distribution, liked having choices, and desired a food distribution center with a warm, welcoming atmosphere where there were no language barriers.

This information led collaboration partners to move forward this fall with plans to develop a choice-model food distribution center at 1400 Cannon Circle. The facility is next to the Cannon River Mobile Home Park and the GUH community trailer.Led by the Community Action Center, the partnership recently hired an interim food access coordinator and is seeking to hire a support specialist.

For more information about the food distribution efforts, or to volunteer, contact Becky Ford, becky@faribaultyouthinvestment.org.

With the help of neighborhood leaders and volunteers, Growing Up Healthy staff distributed 450+ winterization kits to residents of mobile home parks in Faribault and Northfield in mid-November. The kits contained heat-shrink film window insulation, caulk, and other materials to help seal air leaks and keep homes warm this winter. A pamphlet was also included, with instructions in English and Spanish for how to use the materials. While distributing the kits in the neighborhoods, the team also gave residents a winterization checklist and flyers promoting local community resources and programs.

Kits were assembled by AM Conservation Group and were collaboratively funded by the Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs), the City of Faribault, and the City of Northfield.

ESPAÑOL Version

In 2017, staff from Growing Up Healthy and the City of Faribault took a relationship-building approach to supporting mobile home residents: they collaborated to help residents make necessary repairs to improve the safety of their homes.

Through a pilot program—a partnership between Growing Up Healthy, the City of Faribault and Xcel Energy’s Home Energy Squad—energy efficiency experts from the Center for Energy and Environment visited the homes to conduct free Home Energy Audits. They replaced inefficient light bulbs, examined furnaces, installed programmable thermostats, and recommended other improvements. Growing Up Healthy staff came along on the visits to provide translation and inform residents about additional programs they might be eligible for, like early childhood education opportunities.

The program expanded in 2019 to include Northfield. In both communities, it’s been successful in part because Growing Up Healthy has worked over the years to build trust among residents in the low-income neighborhoods it serves.

“This is a unique partnership with Growing Up Healthy. It’s something we would love to find in other communities, but it often doesn’t exist or it’s hard to tap into,” said Stacy Boots Camp, assistant outreach manager with the Center for Energy and Environment, which is based in the Twin Cities. “This relationship has been talked about throughout the country—it’s really a model.” [Read more…]