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Let’s Move Faith and Communities

As trusted community leaders, faith-based and neighborhood organizations are key partners in solving the problems that lead to childhood obesity and addressing related issues of hunger. Please visit www.letsmove.gov/communities for more information on Let’s Move Faith and Communities.

Upcoming Webinars

The National Institutes of Health's We Can! program

Join Let’s Move Faith and Communities for a special series of on-line training opportunities that will equip health leaders to run the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) We Can! program in their community. We Can! is a science-based national education program that provides parents, caregivers and communities with tools and strategies to help families improve food choices, increase physical activity and reduce screen time.

We Can! offers two core curricula:

The Energize Our Families: Parent Program is a multiple-session curriculum designed to provide parents and caregivers with the knowledge and skills they need, along with practical tools, to help families maintain a healthy weight. Specific topics include shopping for healthy food on a budget, controlling portion sizes, increasing physical activity in youth and reducing family screen time.
Media-Smart Youth®: Eat, Think and Be Active! is an after-school program designed to help young people ages 11 to 13 understand the connections between media and health and to help youth build media analysis and production skills. The program uses nutrition and physical activity examples to help youth think critically about how media influences the choices they make.

To register for a We Can! webinar, please click on one of the dates below:

Webinars on "Media-Smart Youth®: Eat, Think and Be Active!"

Wednesday, May 22, 12-2pm EDT

Webinars on "Energize Our Families: Parent Program"

Wednesday, June 12, 12-2pm EDT. This webinar is being co-hosted by the National Episcopal Health Ministries.
Wednesday, June 26, 1-3pm EDT

2013 Expanding Summer Food Webinar Series (U.S. Department of Agriculture)

For many children, school meals are the only complete and nutritious meals they eat, and in the summer they go without. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) can help to fill the summer meal gap for low-income children. Faith-based, community and private non-profit organizations can make a difference in the lives of hungry children by serving meals with SFSP, a federally funded program administered by states that reimburses organization for meals served to children during the summer.

Past Webinars

- September 20, 2012: PALA+ and the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition! Please see the following materials that were presented on the webinar, as well as the helpful websites mentioned by our presenters:

- November 29, 2012: Make Your Community a Source of Health and Wellness: Sue Heitmuller, Manager of Health Ministry and Community Benefits for Adventist HealthCare, and other community leaders offered thoughts on the important role of health in faith settings and provided an overview on how to develop health leadership in your community.

- January 31, 2013: Transform Your Food Pantry into a Source of Health and Wellness: Mary Haftmann-Dailer and Cindy Hammer from Catholic Charities West Virginia shared their innovative WellnessWorks program, a comprehensive community-based approach to addressing the health and nutritional needs of their food pantry consumers.

Communities on the Move Video Challenge

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Communities on the Move Video Challenge! The Video Challenge encouraged faith-based and neighborhood organizations to create one-to-three minute videos highlighting the work they are doing to make their congregations or communities places of wellness. Check out the winning videos and see how these communities are helping kids live healthy!

Success Stories

Looking for ideas to get moving? Check out Communities on the Move to see what other faith-based and neighborhood organizations are doing across the country to improve the health of their communities! For more community success stories from Let's Move Faith and Communities participants, visit www.letsmove.gov/success-stories.

Resources

The Let’s Move Faith and Communities toolkit and wellness leadership bulletin insert are designed to help faith-based and neighborhood organizations engage their communities and promote healthy choices and access to nutritious food.

Join the Movement!

Sign up and join our community of supporters. You’ll be connected to ideas and resources for your wellness ministry, and we’ll share and lift up best practices. We want to hear from you!