December 17, 2020
By Jenica Smith, MS
In response to the “Safer at Home” mandate and transition to virtual events within Los Angeles County, the Marilyn Magaram Center (MMC) developed a free interactive workshop series called ‘Staying Healthy While Staying Home’ (SHWSH). All SHWSH workshops are geared toward the general public and held via Zoom, with the aim to provide virtual programming on maintaining a healthy lifestyle while staying at home. Each workshop was comprised of nutrition education by various presenters followed by a live food demonstration of MMC recipes by Project Coordinator, Jenica Smith.
In August and September, the workshops were facilitated weekly through a collaboration with the CalFresh Healthy Living team (Viridiana Ortiz, Brenda Gutierrez, Kelly Nicole Rodriguez, and Kellie Fernandez), covering a variety of nutrition topics including reading a nutrition label, building a better plate, planning on a budget, and rethinking your drink. In October, SHWSH hosted a workshop in collaboration with the CSUN Oasis Wellness Center on how to roast butternut squash and regrow herbs, presented by Kelly Nicole Rodriguez of the Let’s Grow Healthy team. Another series of “Weight Management Made Easy” workshops was presented by CSUN Dietetic Interns, Noelle Gozzarelli and Sahar Tamari, which focused on various nutrition-related topics for healthy weight maintenance such as meal planning, food portions, forming healthy habits, exercise nutrition, and food trends. The MMC has received positive feedback from participants about the ways in which the SHWSH series not only increased basic nutrition knowledge and confidence in cooking healthy at home, but also provided a much-needed sense of community during these challenging times. Thanks to funding provided through Campus Quality Fee (CQF), SHWSH will continue to offer this virtual programming through the Spring 2021 semester.
