Groton starting community wellness hub
Jan. 31—GROTON — Veronica Mallqui, health program coordinator with Ledge Light Health District, made a corn and black bean salsa last week at the Groton Community Center, while giving people nutrition tips in English and Spanish.
She showed people how to whip up easy, healthy meals and snacks with ingredients they have at home or can get at the farmer's market and how to read nutrition labels.
Mallqui was giving the cooking demonstration last Thursday evening at an open house to launch the center's Community Wellness Hub. The hub is an initiative to better serve all aspects of people's health and provide equitable access to health and wellness resources.
Groton Parks and Recreation Director Mark Berry said the idea is to move the department beyond only providing recreation programs to providing "essential services that center people with their life experience and unique needs."
"We are taking a more holistic approach to the delivery of programs and services," Berry said.
The town received a $90,000 grant from the National Recreation and Parks Association for the wellness hub and is collaborating on it with the Ledge Light Health District, according to Berry.
"Our goal here is really to provide individuals with the opportunity to access resources that fit their needs and fit into their lives and help them to thrive," said Elizabeth MacDonald, program supervisor for special events for Groton Parks and Recreation.
Ledge Light Director of Health Jennifer Muggeo said the goal is for people to access a host of resources in one place, versus going from place to place. People could attend nutrition classes, get vaccinated or have their blood pressure screened, and learn how to connect to health insurance or access the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, WIC, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits.
Muggeo said people have multiple and intersecting circumstances in their lives that contribute to their health and well-being, and there continues to be barriers and gaps in resources. But there are also resources available in the community that either people don't know about or are not able to access due to their work schedules or a lack of transportation.
She said the more collaboration there is to bring these resources together to make it easier for people to connect to them, the healthier the community will be.
As part of the initiative, Groton Parks and Recreation, in collaboration with Ledge Light and the Gemma E. Moran United Way/Labor Food Center, established a food locker at the community center that provides after school snacks for kids.
Berry said Ledge Light helped with identifying community needs, establishing the food locker and providing health services. Clayton Potter, community outreach coordinator for Groton Parks and Recreation, is cultivating additional community partners that will provide services to meet the needs of the various communities within Groton.
Under National Recreation and Parks Association's model, wellness hubs focus on seven dimensions of well-being: cultural, economic, emotional, environmental, intellectual, physical and social, according to the association.
That includes tackling food insecurity, connecting people with healthcare, and addressing emotional well-being and financial stability.
Potter said relationships with different community organizations are being formalized, so they can offer resources and services to community members, collaborate on hosting events and reach people in an accessible location.
Potter said community members' voices ultimately will inform what the wellness hub offers, but they got a sample of some of the potential offerings at last Thursday's "Blizzard Bash: Community Wellness Showcase" event where community members stopped by booths to learn about a variety of topics, from healthcare to childcare and a clinic where Ledge Light was offering flu and COVID-19 vaccines and blood pressure screenings. They also tried out Parks and Recreation's classes for karate, barre, Tai Chi, kickboxing and Zumba.
Sheryll Patrao of Mystic brought her children Aiden, 8, Adeline, 7, and Adrian, 3, to the event and loves the idea of the wellness hub. She said there were a lot of resources, they learned how to make a salsa and her kids enjoyed it.
New London resident Kim Ammermann, who also listened to Mallqui's cooking lesson, said she went the event to learn about staying healthy and active ― and getting a cooking lesson on top of it is a bonus.
Carolyn Wilson, senior health program coordinator with Ledge Light who coordinates Groton Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention, GASP, was among the people distributing information at a table at the event. She said as part of the wellness hub, GASP wants to be more present at the community center, including holding meetings and having information available there.
"We're trying to be more visible in the community here, and we're just another spoke on the wellness wheel," she said.
