Growing Up Healthy

Connecting the families of Rice County, Minnesota

Apply for a LINK Center Desk Staff position!

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As was discussed in our August Newsletter, how to make Northfield a more welcoming community has been an important and ongoing discussion over the last several months.

On December 14, 2010, the Northfield City Council approved a contract to work with Growing Up Healthy to create the LINK Center, a center located at the Human Services entrance of the Northfield Community Resource Center (NCRC) which will serve to welcome all community members, new and established, by linking people with resources and opportunities they might need throughout Northfield.

Work on the development of the LINK Center has already begun, and now we are looking for people who can staff the LINK Center Desk during the week!

Please apply to be a part of this exciting initiative by clicking here. Below is some additional information about the position, and If you have any more questions about the position, please contact Mary Ho at mkmho@hotmail.com.

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Hours of work:  LINK Center resource desk staff will work several three to four hour shifts per week, for a total of not more than 20 hours per week.  Most work hours will be between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., weekdays and Saturday.

Primary duties and responsibilities:

  • Answer questions from the public regarding local resources and how to access services, using print and internet-based materials
  • Record information regarding contacts and referrals
  • As requested, maintain communication with LINK Center Coordinator and other GUH partners
  • Follow GUH requirements for confidentiality and data privacy

Required experience and abilities:

  • Experience working with the public in person and by phone
  • Ability to interact positively with members of the public
  • Knowledge of Northfield/Rice County resources, especially health and social service
  • Computer skills sufficient to send and receive electronic mail, find information on the internet, and print documents
  • Experience working a multicultural environment
  • Preference will be given to candidates who can speak, understand, and read both Spanish and English

Reimbursement:  $9.00/hour

Community Food Security: Ensuring healthy eating for all!

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-By Sara Doyle, Carleton College (’11)

The video clip included in this month’s newsletter is a clip of Jamie Oliver, a British chef who has made it his mission to spread the word about food and its effect on our health.  Oliver’s primary focus is the epidemic of obesity and obesity-related diseases in the United States.  He asserts that changing our food habits, which have undergone a drastic change in the last century thanks to the unprecedented growth of the fast food industry and food technology, will change our health.  Eating whole foods and reclaiming the home kitchen for whole food preparation is Oliver’s prescription for halting the obesity epidemic.  Diet is indeed an “upstream” determinant of health; however, even further upstream is our crippled food system.  Food and nutrition security are crucial co-requisites to improving our health status.

Implicit in the idea of sustainable food and nutrition security are also economic and environmental security.  A summarizing framework of these interacting facets of our food system that I particularly like is ‘community food security.’ Mike Hamm and Anne Bellows define the tenets and goals community food security (CFS): community food security is a condition in which all community residents obtain a safe, culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes community self-reliance and social justice. Initiatives based on achieving CFS focus on:

  • Meeting the nutritional needs and improving the health of low-income communities.
  • Building up a community’s food and food access resources, like community gardens, transportation, and federal aid benefits, so that the community can meet its own nutritional needs.
  • Fostering self-reliance and empowering individuals to provide for their own and their family’s nutritional needs.
  • Honoring and embracing the variety of cultures and traditions within a community.

Northfield has the resources and motivation to improve the health and well being of all of its residents by supporting and expanding initiatives that work towards community food security. CFS initiatives already in place include the numerous CSA farms in Rice County, the Rural Enterprise Center community gardens, the recent introduction of EBT card readers at the Northfield and Faribault farmers’ markets, Multicultural Cooking Club with Growing Up Healthy, and increased access to fresh produce at the CAC Food Shelf.  There is still quite a bit to do to work towards creating food security for and consequently improving the health of the entire community.  We have the luxury, though, in Rice County of living proximal to very fertile and abundant land.  Becoming an advocate for a more responsible food system is in all of our best interest.

What are other ways that Rice County follows CFS principles? How can you advocate more for CFS principles in your own life and county-wide?

Pressville talks to Growing Up Healthy

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On November 14, Janet Lewis Muth sat down with Carleton student Brian Gilbert for an interview.  Brian and several other students at Carleton, along with faculty members, have started a website called Pressville for publishing news that is pertinent to the Northfield area.  Here is the link to the interview…

Pressville.org

Night to Unite activities

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Tomorrow evening is the annual “Night to Unite”  (formerly known as National Night Out) – a chance to get out, meet some neighbors, and get to know the local law enforcement folks as partners in our community.  The Cannon River Mobile Home Park is having their annual gathering from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.  Pinatas made by participants in our very own Camp Sol will be part of the festivities.

The Northfield festivities will be held in a central location – on Water Street.  Look for the Growing Up Healthy team from Viking Terrace at the Community Services table.

Hope to see you there!

Neighborhood leaders at last year's National Night Out event

Neighborhood leaders at last year's National Night Out event

Viking Terrace adds new leaders

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The Viking Terrace team has added three new leaders.  Araceli, Lucy and Roberto all bring amazing skills and experience to the team.  Keep an eye out for their profiles on this page.  They have started working in earnest and have already contributed to the policy agenda and the latest event put on for Viking Terrace.  We are privileged to have them as part of the team!

Meet Christy

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I am a single mother of a teenager, a preteen, and a toddler. I am a Lightworker looking for peace by raising awareness. I work as a certified nursing assistant enjoying assisting seniors with their daily activities.  Thinking with positive goals I seek to better people’s perspectives of themselves, others, and life ahead of them.  I wish to live greener – becoming more conscious of others’ needs in a global village sense.  I am working toward becoming a midwife so that I may be able to better educate women about such a natural, natural miracle and all that it entails.  I love the outdoors!

Meet Claudia

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My name is Claudia.  I am originally from Veracruz, Mexico and have been living in Northfield for nine years.  I am attending Riverland Community College in Austin, MN for two years to get my general done.  I hope to then transfer to a four year college to major in educational studies to become a Speech Instructor at the college level.  I decided to become a Neighborhood Leader because I love being involved in my community and at my church and because I love working with people :)