Residential Treatment Facilities
“I taught a six class series at each of OneEighty’s residential treatment facilities: Women’s Residential Treatment Center (WRTC), and Pathway for Men. I started my schedule at WRTC and followed with Pathway. As part of their participation in the program, the residents take turns on a weekly basis planning the meals for everyone residing in the facility. For my programming I used recipes from celebrateyourplate.org and the CYP curriculum. The third class in the series was focused on Whole Grains and how to build a better sandwich using whole grain options. I demonstrated how to make a Turkey Cranberry Wrap from Celebrate Your Plate. All of the participants really enjoyed it, despite some grumblings about the spinach and fruit included in the recipe. 😊
I try to start every class by asking the participants what successes they had, if any, in incorporating whatever we had discussed the previous week, which is what I did for the fourth class. I was very surprised at WRTC when they all very eagerly shared how they had included Turkey Cranberry Wraps as part of their meal planning and rotation for that week, and how everyone had enjoyed them. I was more surprised when I got to Pathway and asked the same question – the men just as eagerly shared that they, too, had included the wraps in their meal planning and that everyone enjoyed them there too. Residents at both facilities mentioned how they were looking at other recipes on CYP to use in further planning.
I think this story is a testament to some of the variety of recipes that CYP offers as well as their simplicity of use. Many of the residents at OneEighty are not accustomed to meal planning or making healthy meals “from scratch,” and while making it a requirement is not a bad thing, it could be overwhelming if one was not used to doing so. I was very glad to hear that the recipes on CYP were being used by the participants and that they enjoyed them so much.”