High income levels often correlate with better health and wellness outcomes compared to those for individuals with lower incomes. At Rubicon, we recognize that wellness is a key factor in breaking the cycle of poverty, and that’s why we include it in our four pillars of service. The wellness team regularly looks for new ways to engage participants in health and wellness activities that will enhance our programs, and one such partnership that does just this is 18 Reasons, a nonprofit cooking school based in San Francisco.
Starting as a Rubicon partner in 2017, 18 Reasons has provided participants with cooking and nutrition classes for over four years. The classes initially began in-person in a group setting, but the program staff pivoted in 2020 to provide online workshops during the pandemic.
LaReese Stitts-Hunt, Fresh Success Lead Impact Coach for Rubicon Programs, refers many of the participants she serves to the 18 Reasons workshops. “18 Reasons has been a delight to have as a partner pre-pandemic and through our current remote service period,” Stitts-Hunt says. “Our participants have had the benefit of this inclusive experience of nutritious meal preparation in a remote learning setting that offers peer support and camaraderie, as well as really good food.”
By evaluating participants’ wellness goals and responses to the Health Roots survey conducted from 2016-2018, program staff was able to identify food and nutrition as a primary concern. Many participants had wellness goals related to healthy eating for a variety of reasons, such as allergies, diabetes management, and weight loss. Participants also indicated that food insecurity held higher relevance in their efforts to achieve self-efficacy than other factors such as housing instability.
Kimi Barnes, Health Resource Manager for Rubicon Programs, acknowledges that teaching someone about healthy foods does not address the main issue of food insecurity. “A lot of times it’s not about lack of information or awareness, it’s about the choices people have available to them,” Barnes says. “It’s hard to make empowered choices when there is a lack of accessible and affordable options. The way that 18 Reasons fills that gap so well is that they focus on accessible and affordable healthy eating.”
Participants are invited to share what dishes they are interested in learning to make with 18 Reasons staff, who work the suggestions into the programming to ensure that the meals are both culturally appropriate and food that participants will continue to want to make. In both the in-person and remote classes, participants are invited to bring their families to the workshops so parents and children can complete the activities together for a fun bonding and skill-building experience.
Over the past two years, the remote programs have evolved to accommodate changing participant needs. Initially, 18 Reasons offered free weekly classes live on YouTube that were available to all community members, and Rubicon provided our participants with grocery kits so they would be prepared with all of the ingredients for that week’s meal. Rubicon then coordinated with 18 Reasons to develop a workshop series for Rubicon participants similar to the in-person series. There are also occasional individual offerings, such as a healthy holiday sides class in December, that are available for participants who have previously completed an 18 Reasons series with Rubicon.
The wellness team looks forward to offering more workshops with 18 Reasons in 2022 to enhance participants’ experience at Rubicon and strengthen their cooking and nutrition skills. “Participants that have attended have shared the environment of the classes are fun and light. They further revealed that they feel prepared for classes as they are sent groceries and meal prep steps in advance of the classes date,” Stitts-Hunt says. “I continue to encourage my participants to attend in hopes they are able to have a similar experience.”