Live HealthSmart Selma held a community meeting March 18 at Mount Ararat Missionary Baptist Church to explain how they are working with partners to make Selma a healthier place.
Live HealthSmart Alabama is a part of UAB Heersink School of Medicine. Community Engagement Coordinator Thamar Taylor said Live HealthSmart Selma hosts pop-up wellness clinics and pop-up farmers’ markets, and they hand out wellness vouchers at their events.
“Alabama CEAL Selma Kick Off” will be held March 29. The event will be at East Selma’s Community Pond & Park, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. that day. There will be food, music, pop-up farmers market, dancing and health resources. The kickoff is also subtitled as “March Madness, Join the Elite 8 & Get in Shape.” The acronym CEAL stands for “Community Engagement Alliance.”
Partners include Selma Prescription for Community Health, the Cornerstone Revitalization Foundation, City Blocks, the Selma Center for Non-Violence and Reconciliation, Live HealthSmart Alabama, UAB, and Alabama CEAL. The East Selma Neophytes Beloved Community Block Club (ESNBCBC) is helping to organize the event, according to ESNBCBC Captain Daphne Martin.
On March 26 and March 27, Selma citizens will have an opportunity to retrieve vouchers that can be redeemed at the March 29 event. These events are called the “Selma Pop-Up Wellness” events, where they check height, weight and BMI, as well as blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and other health risks.
The Wednesday March 26 event is from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Faith Church at 4846 US Highway 80 W in Selma. The Thursday, March 27 event is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Dallas County Public Library Vaughan Room at 1103 Selma Ave. in Selma.
Nurses and Doctors will be present at both events. Finger sticks are required for the medical checks. Once citizens receive their vouchers from one of these events, they will then be able to use them at the March 29 event, where the farmers market pop-up will be. These vouchers are through a standing partnership with UAB and the Farmers Market.
Live HealthSmart Selma also works with other agencies to improve health. Rachel Todd, a registered dietician for the Alabama Department of Public Health, teaches nutrition classes in Selma. On March 24 a nutrition class will be held at Ward Chapel AME Church at 9 a.m. and another class will be held March 26 at 10 a.m. at Summer Grove Baptist Church.
Water Avenue Baptist church has half-hour exercise classes at 11 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays through their partnership with Live Health Smart Alabama.
Gospel Tabernacle of Praise has exercise classes Monday through Thursday. Their Monday and Wednesday classes start at 9:45 a.m. and the Tuesday and Thursday classes are at 11 a.m. The Lakeshore Foundation sponsors these classes.
“At Live HealthSmart Alabama, our goal is to make sure that individuals in our community have access to health, nutritious foods— fruits and vegetables,” Taylor said.
Taylor said Live HealthSmart Alabama is partnering with public schools in Selma. Healthy Happy Kids (HHK) is an eight-session program that Live Health Smart is doing at Sophia P. Kingston Elementary School. They do 30 minutes of physical education activities and 30 minutes of nutrition education.
March 27 is the graduation for Sophia P. Kingston students. The HEAL (Healthy Eating, Active Lifestyle) program is also working in tandem with the HHK program at Sophia P. Kingston. Live Health Smart Alabama is currently trying to get the HEAL program instituted at Clark and Payne elementary schools.
The HEAL program creates curriculums, which will be presented and applied by the schools’ physical education teacher.
The “Jones Valley Teaching Farm” is an upcoming program for Live HealthSmart Alabama. This program will be raising up community gardens, starting at Sophia P. Kingston. Henry Brick is partnered with them to erect the community gardens.
Teachers are educated on “how to plant, how to grow,” Taylor said. Then the teachers will implement their learning with the students at the school.
Taylor announced Live HealthSmart Alabama’s recent partnership with Foot Soldiers Park. Their Civic Education and Community Engagement Manager, Frances Cleveland, said their partnership with Live HealthSmart is a part of their organization’s community engagement mission. That mission includes education and voter registration.
“We focus on four areas of change, which is providing good nutrition, prevention and wellness, physical activity, and education,” Taylor said.
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