wellness

Visit Extension at the Gather New Haven Festival

Gather New Haven festival flier

Our UConn Extension Master Gardeners will be at the 1st Annual Gather New Haven Festival on Sunday, September 18th, celebrating health, wellness, and nature. Stop by and visit us to learn more about the program, ask your plant and horticulture questions, or pick up an application for our 2023 class.

The First Annual Gather New Haven Festival is scheduled for Sunday, September 18, 2022,  11:00 AM to 5:00 PM in

Degale Field / Goffe Street Park

in the Dixwell neighborhood of New Haven, CT.

The Gather New Haven Festival (Festival) is a celebration and full day of activities focusing on improving community wellbeing through connections with health, wellness, and nature. The Festival considers our communities’ physical, psychological, social, and environmental health concerns. It seeks to inform and excite community members on how they can live healthier lives through fun and enriching activities centered on the natural world’s resources.

The Festival amplifies the promotion of the benefits involved with spending more time outdoors, fitness, dietary health, food access, community gardening, entrepreneurship, and access to health care resources.

By bringing together an array of resources, speakers, performers, specialists, and vendors, the Gather New Haven Festival will convey a call to action encouraging New Haven’s citizens to work towards being amongst the healthiest cities in Connecticut. 

Nutrition & Wellness in New London County

fruit and vegetables in shopping basketErica Benvenuti, the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) dietitian, provides workshops, presentations, and food demonstrations for low-income families and individuals in Southeastern Connecticut. The interactive, educational classes are designed to help people make healthy food choices on a limited budget. 

The EFNEP program’s nutrition and cooking classes teach practical, easily applicable skills, such as simple dishes to make with foods that are easy to have on hand. Participants learn life skills, smart shopping, and how to prepare easy, nutritious meals and snacks. The program serves a wide range of constituents, including middle school, high school, and college students; pregnant women and new moms; special education classes; refugees and recently arrived immigrants; and residents of transitional living facilities. Participants have the opportunity to taste the items prepared, and, in some classes, help prepare the food.

Erica also participates in New London County food policy planning and educates agency staff in order to broaden the impact of the program and regularly reach new clients. Program partners include Ledge Light health District, New London Mayor’s Fitness Initiative, Norwich Free Academy, United Way of Southeast CT, and Catholic Charities. EFNEP workshops have helped motivate and empower participants to make healthier food choices and become more physically active. 

The newly renovated gardens at River-front Childrens’ Center. 

4-H Attends Wellness Fair

UConn Extension’s LaShawn Christie-Francis the Eversource Wellness Fair with Aqueelah Virgo, our CYFAR afterschool instructor.  They attended both fairs one was located on Prospect Street in Hartford and the other was at Windsor, Connecticut, both were in October. Over 200 people attended their wellness fair and it gave Urban 4-H/CYFAR afterschool programs a lot of exposure.

LaShawn picAqueelah Virgo at booth LaShawn booth