Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Young.
Nicole, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started working for Providence Little Company of Mary, Department of Community Health in 2014 while I was receiving my Master Degree in Public Health from CSU Fullerton. I originally started doing outreach for our Welcome Baby program and as time went on I began to teach health education classes (i.e., nutrition, stress, exercise, etc.) at our Wellness and Activity Center.
One day a program supervisor had asked me to take over the senior programming, which at the time was only senior exercise classes. She was transferring to the valley and needed somewhere here to continue working with the seniors. I took over and slowly started to build the program by connecting with different organizations in the community such as SCAN Health Plan, the Department of Mental Health, Department of Public Health, and the Alzheimer’s Association (just to name a few). We now have monthly classes that include, exercise (which I teach twice a week), wellness classes (taught by myself and/or a SCAN rep) these classes include topics such as cholesterol, blood pressure, nutrition and chronic pain, arthritis, memory loss, etc.
We also have senior cooking classes, arts and crafts, BINGO, technology classes, and much more. Seniors have also recently started to utilize our community garden to grow organic veggies that they get to take home. I’m so proud of the seniors who participate in our activities. They have come together to live healthier lives and they always encourage each other to keep coming to classes and keep learning new things. They have all become friends and are very welcoming to new participants. As an instructor, I have noticed a tremendous difference in their physical and emotional well being. Seniors that have been committed to the exercise classes have lost weight, improved their posture, and have personally told me that their joints and muscles have felt so much better. And that makes me feel like I have accomplished something.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has not been a smooth road. At first it was hard to get seniors to attend the classes. We serve a low income, Hispanic population and many seniors don’t have proper transportation. Also, many seniors simply forget. We have come up with solutions to bring classes to them. We have worked with other organizations in the area that provide space for us to hold classes and the seniors have created a “phone list” where they call each other to remind each other about classes and events.
Also, in the beginning, we didn’t have the resources and budget to have a senior program so I really had to do some research and network with local organizations to have them come out and provide their services at no cost to our community members. Our senior program has grown and now organizations are coming to us to ask if they can be a part of our senior programming!
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Providence Little Company of Mary, Wellness and Activity Center – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
The Providence Little Company of Mary Community Health Department believes that health care happens both inside and outside hospital walls. Every day we care for and teach people how to be healthy so that children, adults, and families throughout Los Angeles – especially in low-income neighborhoods – are inspired to live the healthiest lives possible. We do this, alongside our community partners, because everyone should have the opportunity to live a healthy life, regardless of their income or where they live. We provided free classes, events, and resources to the community. We offer exercise classes, wellness classes (mental health, nutrition, diabetes management, etc.), health insurance enrollment services, support groups, etc. We specialize in community health. We are so proud of the fact that we are helping this low income community strive and become healthier. We bring the community together and make it a safer and healthier place for people to live. We are well known for our community outreach efforts in the South Bay. Even the LAPD comes to us to help out in their health events. We provide many services to the community such as glucose screenings and blood pressure screenings.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We would love to expand the program. We would love to start working with transportation agencies so that seniors without transportation have access to our center and services. I would love to have more organizations come in and work with us and provide their services. I would also love to start monthly campaigns that focus on chronic pain management and arthritis.
Pricing:
- FREE
Contact Info:
- Address: 470 N Hawaiian Ave, Wilmington, CA 90744
- Website: www.providence.org/cacommunityhealth
- Phone: 424-212-5640
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/providencecalifornia/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/providencecalifornia/
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