Tubman Tenant Healthy meeting with Project SHARE

Tubman Tenant Healthy meeting with Project SHARE

The WHGA Healthy Living Team held its second community meeting at Tubman Apartments on October 17^th, and I must say, I was pleased with the turnout. This was my first opportunity to see some of the tenants and build a relationship with this population. Naturally, I started off shy but progressively became more outgoing as the night went on.

One of the most beneficial aspects of the meeting was being able to understand what works and what doesn’t. Food, as an incentive to participate, works! It gives attendees something to look forward to and provides hungry people satiation without them having to spend any time in the kitchen or money from their pocket.

Once tenants completed blood pressure screenings with our community partner, Project SHARE, they were welcomed to a spread of interesting foods: dried edamame, dark chocolate goji berries, quinoa salad, grape leaves, figs, hummus, unsalted whole-grain bread, sun-dried tomatoes and more (See the picture below).

Their reactions were priceless! Many of tenants were unable to pronounce the foods correctly, but that didn’t stop them from eating them! Dark chocolate-covered goji berries were particularly popular amongst our tenants - the sweet chocolaty taste mixed with the soft succulent berry proved to be a combo unmatched by anything else on the table.

As part of the WHGA Healthy Living Team, it’s my job to empower others to make better choices, so I’ll continue to expose our tenants to nutritious foods that they may not have had before. With my food science degree, I can honestly say I’m privy to the health benefits of a wide array of foods and I‘m elated to share my expertise with the Harlem community.

I enjoyed my time at the meeting and look forward to doing it again. One tenant commended the WHGA Healthy Living Team for the job we're doing and the positive impact were having on the community- hearing that alone, made our meeting worthwhile.