Triangle Community Foundation awards AMM with Public Benefit Grant

The Triangle Community Foundation has named Alliance Medical Ministry as one of their Public Benefit Grant partners for the 2017-2018 year!  With funding from the Triangle Community Foundation, Alliance will continue providing over 2,000 pounds of fresh produce to our patients as well as garden education and wellness opportunities, including cooking and nutrition classes, yoga, Zumba, and diabetes education.

We are grateful to community funders and partners like the Triangle Community Foundation who are investing resources into environmental conservation.  Come volunteer in our Community Garden and learn more about the importance of urban agriculture, composting, rain conservation, pollinators, and bees!  

“We are thrilled to announce our environmental partners for 2017! Environmental conservation is vital to a thriving community, and we are committed to funding it, learning about it, and spreading that knowledge through #ourfocus on #environmentalconservation. We are excited to grant $313,945 in total to these dedicated organizations - Boys & Girls Clubs serving Wake County Carolina Farm Stewardship Association Center for Human-Earth Restoration Conservation Trust for North Carolina Durham Farm and Food Network East Coast Greenway Alliance Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association Alliance Medical Ministry Eno River Association Keep Durham Beautiful Piedmont Conservation Council, Inc. Triangle Land Conservancy & Friends of the Lower Haw. Congratulations and thank you for doing this important work in our community!”

— Triangle Community Foundation

Volunteer Highlight: Paula Grabill

Paula Grabill taught her first Zumba class at Alliance Medical Ministry in February 2017. The class was so popular, it's now a weekly occurrence!  Paula leads a dedicated group of patients in a rigorous Zumba workout.  

Paula heard about Alliance through a friend who knew we were interested in adding Zumba to our Wellness Program. "I love dancing and I love people. I immediately reached out!"

"There is nothing more rewarding than connecting with people. And if I can do that through dance and music, which are some of the best things in life, then that's even better! I'm very thankful for the opportunity to share something I love doing and know that it's helping people stay active, get healthier and enjoy an hour that's just for them. All that cardio is good for the body and all the laughter, encouragement and support are good for the soul. We are creating a little family where we are all accepted, where we all matter and belong.  I 'm truly thankful for the opportunity these lovely ladies give me each week to walk alongside them, that they give me an hour of their time and that they come with a big smile, ready to try whatever songs may show up on my playlist."

Outside of volunteering at Alliance, Paula is a wife and mother. She and her husband have been married for almost 15 years and we have two daughters, ages 7 and almost 10.  Paula recently started working as a contractor medical interpreter, and has volunteered at Alliance as an interpreter for the Rex Mobile Mammography Bus!

Thank you, Paula, for lending your time and Zumba skills with our patients!

June Garden Report: Jesse Crouch, Garden and Wellness Coordinator

It's the most wonderful time of the year in our Community Garden!  We've planted zucchini, squash, tomatoes, snap peas, and many other vegetables that will begin producing for our patients.  

Our pollinator garden is in full bloom, and our bees have settled in nicely, thanks to the gracious support of Alice Hinman of Apiopolis.  We are incredibly grateful to those volunteers who have already lent a hand in our Garden during the Spring and early summer.

Come Dig in our Garden!

There's lots of time left in the growing season to get dirty!  Join us on one of our regular Garden workdays, or reach out to me directly to schedule, garden@alliancemedicalministry.org:

Second Saturdays, 9 am to 12 pm
July 8 / August 12 / September 9 / October 14 / November 11

Fourth Wednesdays, 5 pm to 7 pm
June 28 / July 26 / August 23 / September 27 / October 25

Veggie Spotlight: "It wasn't even that chard"

This Spring, it's been incredibly fun to work with this tasty, easy to manage, and highly productive crop of chard. We have about 66 plants in about 63 square feet of garden space. In the past two months months we've harvested over 60 pounds of this nutritious vegetable for our patients!  A heat tolerant plant, they should keep going strong through the warm weather. 

Photo courtesy of Ashley Frazier via AllRecipes.com

Looking for some inspiration of how to prepare this leafy green?  Try Sauteed Swiss Chard with Parmesan Cheese, courtesy of All Recipes. 

 

Seed to Supper

Our Seed to Supper Gardening Class graduates have planted summer vegetables in their new growing spaces at Alliance, and are beginning to see the fruits of their labor. Green thumbs on the rise!!!

As always, please contact us if you'd like to get involved. We can always use the support of volunteers in our Wellness Programs and in the Garden. Come be a part of a an organization that connects communities through food and health!

Much peace, love and good vibes!

Jesse Crouch, Garden and Wellness Program Coordinator

919-250-3320 x436

garden@alliancemedicalministry.org

June Wellness Report: Jesse Crouch, Garden and Wellness Coordinator

Healthy Harvest

This May, Alliance Medical Ministry piloted our own version of a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, "Healthy Harvest".  Over six weeks, five patients picked up a weekly bag of produce harvested from the Alliance Community Garden, a total of about 150 pounds of fresh vegetables.  Produce included swiss chard, beets, radishes, kale, collard greens, mustard greens, head lettuce, and snap peas.

The Healthy Harvest program began with a salad bar dinner featuring Alliance Community Garden vegetables, and a presentation by WakeMed Registered Dietitian Cara Gant about barriers to food, the importance of incorporating fruits and vegetables into your diet, and recipes and ideas for some of the vegetables available.

Yoga

Alliance is grateful to the continued partnership of non-profit organization You Call this Yoga for providing regular weekly chair yoga classes to our patients.  Yoga is one of the most popular and well-attended wellness programs at our clinic! 

Did you know that community support brings chair yoga to our patients?  You Call this Yoga raises funds to enable them to carry out their mission, including through their annual Yoga Fest.

This April, the 6th Annual Yoga Fest was held at the McKimmon Center, bringing together over 500 participants, teachers, businesses, and volunteers for a day of yoga. Alliance Executive Director Megg Rader and Alliance patients Aisha Lewis-Scott were key note speakers of the April Yoga Fest.  View a video of their presentation through the link to the right.

Alliance was also a site for Second Saturday Yoga Fest on June 10th, hosting early morning yoga in the Alliance Community Garden, with all proceeds supporting You Call this Yoga's work at Alliance, the Boys & Girls Club, and Lion's Park.  Thank you for those who attended the yoga sessions throughout the day, supporting our patients!

Zumba instuctor Paula Grabill and dancers grab some fresh veggies after a great workout!

Zumba

Zumba classes continue weekly, thanks to the volunteer support of Paula Grabill. Patients are breaking up a sweat with rigorous cardio workouts!  Many Zumba participants are moving on into our Summer Cooking Matters @ Alliance class.

Million Step Challenge Standings

In an upset, Team Joyner overtook Team Wasserman this month, which had be leading the entire challenge! Top performers for Team Joyner averaged over 24,000 steps EACH DAY. That's over 12 miles folks --  these challengers aren't playing around.

Here's what the most recent week looked like for our valiant teams:

Team Joyner: Average 14,212 steps/day/participant

Team Wasserman: Average 11,266 steps/day/participant

Team Burkhead: Average 8,753 steps/day/participant.

Much peace, love and good vibes!

Jesse Crouch, Garden and Wellness Program Coordinator

919-250-3320 x436

garden@alliancemedicalministry.org

Cooking Matters @ Alliance, Class 1: Doha Medani, Summer Intern

Alliance Medical Ministry patients socialize and enjoy the meal they prepared together.

The summer Cooking Matters class has kicked off at Alliance Medical Ministry!

Cooking Matters is a six week cooking and nutrition course that helps Alliance patients plan, shop, and cook healthy, nutritious, affordable, and delicious meals.  Alliance Medical Ministry is a site for this free, six-week program, coordinated with the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. The first class for the Summer session was Wednesday June 14th. Approximately 11 participants and a few family members came together to make colorful vegetable fajitas! 

The volunteer instructor for the Summer course is Lindsey Miller, a graduate of Public Health from Appalachian State University who will be attending graduate school in the Fall. The class will be taught in Spanish as well, thanks to volunteer interpreter! Esther Jimenez joined as the volunteer interpreter at this kick-off session.

The class kicked off with a conversation on the importance of food our lives, the barriers we face to nutrition, and what patients hope to learn throughout the course. This week's lesson plan discussed the food groups, the importance of variety and how to incorporate more fruits and vegetables in meals. The course aims to answer many common misconceptions about nutrition and wellness, including organic versus conventional foods, how to best prepare and store produce and poultry, grocery shopping guidance and more.

After discussions, patients got in groups and made delicious vegetable fajitas and pico de gallo! Inter-Faith Food Shuttle provided 40 pounds of produce for patients. Some of the produce used was provided by the garden right here at Alliance! At the end of every class, participants were provided with a bag of produce to take home and incorporate in their meals the rest of the week! This week's produce bag included mushrooms, yellow squash, tomatoes and jalapeños. 

There's still room!  Alliance patients that are interested in joining the Summer class can contact the Garden and Wellness coordinator, Jesse Crouch, garden@alliancemedicalministry.org.  Participants must commit to all six weeks of class, with no more than 2 absences to graduate. 

Colorful Vegetable Fajitas Recipes

Ingredients

• 8 (8 inch) whole wheat flour tortillas 
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 onion, thinly sliced 
• 1 pound dry beans (black or pinto) can substitute canned beans
• 2 cups brown rice
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced in strips
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced in strips
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic 
• 1 yellow squash, halved and sliced into strips 
• any other of your favorite vegetables, diced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1. Rinse and soak dry beans overnight. Rinse and cook in a crockpot on low for 4-6 hours until beans are soft. (if you don't have a crock pot follow directions for stove top cooking
2. Follow directions for cooking rice on stovetop (rice cookers are great, easy and convenient)
3. in a 10 inch skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onions, red and green bell peppers, and garlic; stir to coat with oil. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook for 5 minutes. Stir squash into vegetables.  
4. Season vegetables with cumin, chili powder, and black pepper. Add additional seasoning to taste. 
5. Cook for 5 more minutes or until vegetables are soft.
6. Spoon vegetable mixture evenly down the centers of tortilla
7. Add beans, rice, pico de Gallo, salsa , avocado and/or hot sauce.
8. Roll up tortillas, and serve.

Pico De Gallo

Ingredients 

• 3/4 pound tomatoes (about 2 medium), seeded and finely diced (1 1/2 cups) 
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro 
• 1/4 cup finely chopped white onion 
• 1 small fresh jalapeño or Serrano Chile, finely chopped, including seeds, or more to taste
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice, or more to taste 

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Season to taste with additional chile and lime juice. This salsa keeps in the refrigerator for up to one day.
3. Before you serve it, stir it well and drain any excess liquid that has accumulated in the bowl. 

Alliance Medical Ministry wins Coastal Credit Union Foundation's $65,000 Food Insecurity Award with Passage Home

Alliance Medical Ministry and Passage Home were chosen as winners of Coastal Credit Union Foundation's $65,000 Food Insecurity Award at the Second Annual Power of Sharing Gala. The Power of Sharing Gala is a collaborative funding forum hosted by the CCU Foundation, recognizing the impact of local non-profits. 

The success of Alliance's Community Garden and Wellness Program was highlighted by the Power of Sharing Award.  The clinic distributes over 2,000 pounds of produce annually through its onsite Community Garden, led by our Garden & Wellness Coordinator and managed by over 300 community volunteers. Produce is distributed to patients in the clinic, through our wellness classes, or directly to patients participating in "Healthy Harvest", our CSA-style produce distribution program. 

Alliance shares the award with Passage Home, a southeast Raleigh non-profit with the mission of breaking the cycle of poverty for communities served in Wake County.  Alliance and Passage Home were recognized for their work in the area of food insecurity in southeast Raleigh. Alliance and Passage Home are nutrition hubs of the Raleigh Food Corridor, both serving to provide nutrition, health, and food-related services and education in a single location.

All organizations receiving a Power of Sharing award also received an IBM Impact Grant, allowing organizational leadership to attend IBM’s Web Presence and Social Media Strategy and Planning Session.

A wonderful evening was had by all!  A heartfelt thanks to Coastal Credit Union Foundation for supporting and recognizing Alliance Medical Ministry with this award.

Patient Spotlight: Blanca Perez

Blanca Perez (middle) with Inter-Faith Food Shuttle Katie Murray (L) and Alliance Community Garden & Wellness Coordinator Jesse Crouch (R) at Seed to Supper Graduation.

Blanca Perez has been an Alliance Medical Ministry patient for about three years, joining our practice after a referral from the Wake County health department. "I came to Alliance originally with serious asthma, needing medication to control it." Alliance staff helped connect Blanca with the Patient Assistance Program, and she got the medication she needed to control her asthma. "I use to go the emergency room with my asthma attacks. Now I'm healthy." 

Blanca is a wife, mother, and grandmother, and needs to stay in good health.

"Alliance gave me so many gifts: losing weight, exercise, things that I don't always do. Last year, I did a Cooking Matters class, and learned so many new things. I've never eaten healthy like this, and I needed to learn. All of the food we're making now is healthy and good. It's been hard to make some changes with my family because we grew up eating a different way, but we now have new favorites, like quinoa and hummus."

This spring, Blanca is participating in the Seed to Supper gardening program offered at Alliance in partnership with the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle and Master Gardeners, learning how to grow her own vegetables. "This is new for me! I've always wanted to grow my own tomatoes and peppers. We're deciding whether to grow at home or grow at Alliance."

Alliance patients:  Are you interested in learning more about the Wellness Programs offered to all patients?  Read more here.  

Email Jesse Crouch to get involved, garden@alliancemedicalministry.org.