New Truck for our Wellness Initiative

Vincent House was the recipient of a Humana Foundation grant to implement their wellness empowerment initiative. The funds received allowed us to purchase a new Dodge Silverado which will help expand our garden.  The fresh vegetables from our garden are being used in our own prepared meals. Additionally the grant will allow us to purchase more tools so we can produce more to share with the community.

The goal of this Wellness Initiative is to address health needs within the context of our vocational services.  This project will ensure that members have the opportunity to improve their health, quality of life, and longevity.  In addition to the items as described above, funds will help educate in nutrition, mind and body connection, and with wellness consultations.

 Overall, this new initiative has allowed members to work outdoors, learn new skills,   and take control of their own wellness.  We are grateful for this grant and words cannot express the enthusiasm we feel to make this Wellness Initiative an integral part of our recovery.

Nutritionists Talk to Vincent House Members

Vincent House had nutritionists from the National University of Health Sciences come in on Monday to talk about the “Anti-inflammatory Diet.” The diet consists of balancing the pH levels in your body. The acids and bases should balance each other out, according to the nutrition students. Milk and grains are supposed to be more acidic and not good for your system. Whereas, vegetables are supposed to be more alkaline and better for your body, as a whole. The nutritionists explained the basics of the diet to Vincent House members and then the members got to ask questions. Overall the presentation went well. The nutritionists have come into Vincent House in the past and are planning to continue to come in once a month to talk about other nutrition topics. We've had this relationship with the National University of Health Sciences for 2 years now. The nutritionists have talked about such topics as diabetes, memory-enhancing foods, and vegetables and the importance of their colors. We appreciate the time that the students put in to help us learn about healthy eating and foods.

Wellness Empowerment Project Begins

Members: Randy, Alex and Mike in Vincent House's own garden.

People living with severe mental illness face significant obstacles to wellness and recovery. Florida consistently ranks among the lowest in per capita mental health funding (National Alliance for Mental Illness, 2016), so individuals living with untreated mental illnesses often become perpetual patients, repeat offenders, and chronically unemployed. The life expectancy for this population is 10-25 years less than the general population, making it all the more important that something be done to try to improve these odds.
Vincent House, under the blanket of a $130,000 grant from The Humana Foundation, will be partnering with Baycare nurses and USF faculty to start a Wellness Empowerment Project. This project will fund local sustainable food options that may include a hydroponics garden, an aquaponics tilapia farm, and conventional gardening. Members will be able to plant, cultivate and harvest as part of their daily activities. The food grown as part of our sustainable food effort will also be used for hands-on nutrition classes and cooking lessons in our state-of-the-art commercial kitchen. With the help of a nutritionist, we will offer workshops, create nutritious breakfasts and lunches, offer medically-tailored to-go meals for people with special diets to eat in the evenings and on weekends, and completely overhaul our snack shop to provide health-conscious options. We are also employing practitioners in yoga and meditation to help relieve stress, reduce anxiety and help with other symptoms experienced by our members. In collaboration with BayCare Health Systems, we will offer confidential wellness consultations helping with smoking cessation; monitoring for many at-risk conditions, such as diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure; and checking Body Mass Index levels. This will help members who need support with their illnesses or want to curb their bad habits.
Vincent House thanks both The Humana Foundation and BayCare for their support in making all of this happen. Without them, a lot of these improvements would become unreachable.