Faithful Families: A new healthy program

Pamela S. McKnight, BS. M.Ed, HPHC Project Coordinator at Axis I Center of Barnwell, wants to let the community know about a program that’s available to churches who are looking to “enhance their health ministry efforts, or even to start one.”

The mission of Faithful Families is to inspire faith communities to be health champions for individuals, families, and local communities.

Faithful Families, Thriving Communities offers faith communities simple solutions to help them eat smart, move more, and prevent chronic disease. The program provides individuals, families, and communities with the skills to be able to eat more meals at home, move more in their everyday routine, and help their communities lead healthier lives.

“Faithful Families believes that communities of faith are important health advocates, particularly in communities affected by health disparities or lacking access to crucial resources. That’s why we are here to empower faith communities as they become changemakers in helping their communities thrive— physically, mentally, and spiritually,” said McKnight as she explained the vision.

The introductory program prioritized 13 weeks of sessions with Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Blackville after a needs assessment indicated that throughout the county, the Town of Blackville has a life expectancy ranking 7.2 years less over all adjoining towns.

March 16, 2020 would have been the first session of Faithful Families at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church. They were so excited to get started but everything was brought to a halt due to COVID-19.

“Here we are three years later just completing the 13-week curriculum!” McKnight said. “This is not your everyday curriculum. It's jam packed with educational sessions, taste testing, testimony and fun. From beginning to end, the lay leader, Brandi Harley, kept everyone’s attention with her lively activities and her colorful personality.”

Community partners work together for the success of this program as Barnwell County HEALing Partners and member organization Clemson SNAP-Ed provided with co-facilitator Erica Peake. During each session, Clemson SNAP-ED provided healthy food choices and taste testing. McKnight said, “Lay leader Brandi Harley went above and beyond each week with a spread of healthy snack choices.”

The Eating Smart and Moving More curriculum includes a Lay Leader Training Guide and nine lessons.

A LAY LEADER TRAINING GUIDE that provides an overview of the vital role of lay leaders in Faithful Families. Lay leaders are vital to the success of the program. Lay leaders are trained to promote the program, co-teach the curriculum, act as liaisons between the health educator and the faith community leaders, promote individual and organizational change related to healthy eating and physical activity and connect their faith communities to local resources.

EATING SMART AT HOME provides simple solutions for planning, shopping, fixing, and eating more meals at home. McKnight added, “Families who eat together at home eat more fruits and vegetables and less fat. Eating at home as a family is a great way to begin to eat smart.”

EATING SMART ON THE RUN provides families skills to choose beverages wisely when eating away from home.

MOVING MORE, EVERY DAY, EVERYWHERE is all about building physical activity into the day that doesn’t require special equipment or a special place. Families learn ways to take advantage of everyday opportunities like taking the stairs and parking farther away. Moving more can also be a fun family event like a trip to a park or a walk after dinner. Every step counts toward the recommended 30 minutes for adults and 60 minutes for children per day.

FAITH & HEALTH CONNECTION promotes the connection between faith and health and how it’s important to the success of Faithful Families. “Families begin to consider how their physical health is connected to the faith they live out daily. Participants and lay leaders, in promoting the adoption of policy and environmental changes, will lead the faith community to promote nutrition and physical activity through its practices,” McKnight said.

As a result of this program, Macedonia Baptist Church decided to not only continue with some sort of healthy eating, active living program; the church also joined the local health coalition, Barnwell County HEALing Partners.

Post data shows that 100 percent of participants made positive changes in at least one nutrition practice and 94 percent reported that they were better off as a result of Faithful Families classes. A total of 31 participants successfully completed the program. Each participant received a certificate of completion and cookware of their choice as an incentive.

McKnight gave “a shout out to Macedonia for being the most awesome host!”

If you are interested in bringing this program to your faith community, contact Pamela McKnight at 803-541-1245.