2020 Family Wellness Annual Report

2020

MISSION FOCUSED

ANNUAL REPORT

COMMUNITY IMPACT Letter from the Director In our community and at Family Wellness, 2020 was a year unlike any other. With a pandemic raging through communities and across the globe, plans and strategies were set aside in the name of safety. While we were challenged by programs and services being interrupted, the spirit of our mission inspired us to pivot and provide community support where we could. That included: developing a unique day camp experience for children who needed a place to go during distance learning, continuing our Parkinson’s program with a weekly virtual support group, to providing fitness specialists to assist those dealing with mental health challenges. All of our programs and services were adjusted in response to our commitment to safety. With the Family Wellness mission being to inspire healthy lifestyles by connecting people in a fun environment, we adjusted to the new challenge to support our community in new ways.

The people and companies who supported our endeavors have been absolutely awe-inspiring. In 2020, we reached a new milestone in our fundraising efforts, surpassing $100,000 for the first time. Knowing that our work in the community is being recognized by so many is powerful and uplifting. Thank you for your part in keeping our mission alive, and helping to promote our community’s commitment to health for years to come.

Be well, Jenna Johnson, Director

Inspire Wellness Initiative Impact in 2020 Funds raised through the Inspire Wellness Initiative Annual Campaign allow Family Wellness to support needs based community wellness programs to help people cook well, move well, and live well for life.

Programs focus on all aspects of health and wellness by inspiring healthy habits today to create healthy futures for tomorrow.

COOK WELL. MOVE WELL. LIVE WELL. Total Served in Membership and Programs = 20,000 +

The Parkinson’s Program served 12 individuals and transitioned to provide ongoing virtual support group offerings.

3,800 children were impacted through hands on lessons from the Healthy Cooking in the Classroom Program and more were reached with virtual education.

Life Strides was created to support health care providers to use exercise as a way to manage mental wellness. We served 182 adults with mental health issues such as depression, stress, and anxiety.

Benet Myer

Winner of the 2020 Healthy Kids Cooking Competition

2020 was the debut of the Healthy Kids Cooking Competition and the Cooking for a Cause Gourmet Gala. Both events raised funds for the Inspire Wellness Initiative in order to sustain and grow supported programs for years to come.

Healthy Kids Cooking Competition Family Wellness held the first ever Healthy Kids Cooking Competition where all children in 4th or 5th grade that attend school in Cass or Cay Counties could apply.

Due to safety guidelines, the event was postponed to October and the chefs were split into shifts to allow for all participants to showcase their omelet skills. Nine finalists competed in the cook off and Benet Myer of Clara Barton Elementary was announced the winner.

Competition Finalists: Alexa Almendarez, Marie Hanson, Harper Odden, Vaughn Tarnow, Jaina Tucker, Cadeyn Weckerly, Will Wiest, and Aundrea Yeager

Cooking for a Cause Gourmet Gala The 1st Annual Cooking for a Cause Gourmet Gala celebrated the impact of the Inspire Wellness Initiative programs and recognized the Kids Cooking Completion Finalists. With restrictions on event spaces, the event was also offered as a hybrid event and people joined us in person and virtually. Virtual attendees received a cooking kit as part of their ticket and received a video with instructions put on by the Healthy Kids Cooking Competition finalists.

$41,715 RAISED

COOK WELL Hands on programs like Healthy Cooking in the Classroom teaches kids the importance of healthy eating by building confidence in the kitchen and creating lifelong healthy cooking skills.

Family Wellness provides hands on cooking instruction to all 4th and 5th grade students of every Fargo, West Fargo, and Moorhead Area public elementary school at no cost through the Healthy Cooking in the Classroom program. Children learn many different food preparation skills, prepare and then sample their healthy snack at each lesson.

Since the start of the program in 2014, we have impacted over 21,000 students.

When schools shut down in the spring of 2020, Family Wellness changed the way the program was delivered by sending video recordings of the lessons, something that we have continued into the 2020-2021 school year.

In November, Family Wellness was awarded a $20,000 Cooking Matters grant to provide live, virtual healthy cooking lessons to support families on how to shop and prepare healthy snacks and meals on a budget.

All groceries are provided free of cost and delivered to families at their home. This program will reach 300 individuals so families can provide healthy, nutritious meals to their young children.

MOVE WELL Exercise, nutrition, and health education programs like Parkinson’s and Exercise is Medicine, help address and manage chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease, cancer, Parkinson’s, and diabetes, and lead to improved health outcomes. Family Wellness also provides inclusive opportunities for kids with special needs, including Adaptive Swim Lessons, to ensure all kids develop essential skills for a lifetime of safety, confidence, and physical activity around water.

LIVE WELL Programs like Youth Volunteer Corps provide students with a safe place to learn, volunteer, and to establish healthy habits. The Family Support Program provides relief to families who have a loved one in the hospital so they have facility access to relieve stress and improve overall health.

Exercise is Medicine “With two toddlers, I wasn’t purposefully scheduling time for exercise or being mindful of my eating habits. I knew it was time for an intervention, but felt it was too great of a task to undertake. I knew I needed something structured with built-in accountability. When I learned about the Exercise is Medicine program, I knew it was perfect for me. The program is designed to meet you where you are physically. The trainers design the exercises to be challenging, while also achievable. This program helped me gain confidence in my ability to make exercise a routine part of life. I can’t imagine not exercising at least 3x/week now! Although the goal of the program is not necessarily to lose weight, it did help me reach my weight loss goals. There were even lots of bonus features of the program due to making exercise a regular aspect of my lifestyle: stress relief, better sleep, new friends, scheduled time just for me, and a new found confidence in the capabilities of my body. Enrolling in the Exercise is Medicine program completely transformed my life and it is one of the best decisions I ever made!”

- Kimberly B

Adaptive Swim Lessons “Ethan was born with a developmental disability

in his swimming and the individual attention

that affects his motor planning so it is a lot

has made all the difference for him. Swimming

of speech and gross motor kind of things so

is a life lesson that he needs to know and it’s

swimming has always been a struggle. We have

awesome to see his growth and see something

been with Nikki since he was a baby and she

that he is getting really good at. It gives his

is absolutely amazing. The 1 on 1 instruction

confidence elsewhere and it’s been a fun thing

from the Adaptive Lessons has been so much

to see. This opportunity has been huge for us

better. Previously, in the group environment,

and we want to spread awareness to families

Ethan got lost and didn’t pay attention. These

that might need extra help, so they can take

lessons grew his confidence

advantage of it.”

– Stacy K. - Ethan’s mom.

The Inspire Wellness Initiative is the development and community impact effort of Family Wellness and reflects our mission of inspiring healthy lifestyles by connecting people in a fun environment.

THANK YOU TO OUR $1,000+ DONORS! Aggressive Towing and Recovery Allegiance Fundraising Bill & Joan Matthaei Bremer Bank Cathy Peltier Common Ground Dawson Insurance InForum Communications Johnson Health and Fitness M State Matrix Fitness Muscatell Subaru Norma Peltier Northern Canola Growers Association Our Family R.D. Offut Company Sanford Health Sanford Power Center Scheels Union State Bank Widmer Roel YMCA

We thank our members for recognizing Family Wellness as the Best Place to Exercise 7 years running.

Family Wellness is a partnership between Sanford Health and the YMCA of Cass and Clay Counties.

Interested in volunteering or getting involved? Email Angie, the Assistant Director at Angela.Hasbrouck@Sanfordhealth.org or Jenna, the Director at Jenna.Johnson@Sanfordhealth.org for more information!