For the love of Brownsville
About Us
Mission
Brownsville Wellness Coalition cultivates healthy food and lifestyles
Vision
The Brownsville Wellness Coalition a non-profit 501(c)3 envisions a future where more community members grow their own food, where people in all neighborhoods have access to fresh, healthy food, and where everyone has the freedom and the opportunity to work towards greater food sovereignty and self-sufficiency.
History
The BWC was established in 2008 by launching the first certified Farmers’ Market in Brownsville. The program was in accordance with the city's Healthy Initiative Plan to combat diabetes and obesity in our community.
In 2012 the BWC received funding to hire staff and construct the first community garden. Since then we have constructed 5 gardens that are impacting over 850 community members. The Community Garden program has been very successful since the opening of the first garden in August 2013 . Some of the gardeners have been participating in the program since inception and have developed a strong knowledge of agriculture. The program and gardeners are prepared to progress to a bigger opportunity and challenge through the urban farm project. The urban farms will provide more availability to the public as well as an economic opportunity for the families.
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In July 2014 BWC began The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre® program. This nationally recognized program was adopted from Sustainable Food Center in Austin. This program teaches skills and self-sufficiency in preparing healthy, economical meals, so we may enjoy food together. Each 6-week class accommodates 20-25 participants and is located in donated kitchen facilities offered by The Housing Authority of the City of Brownsville.
The DALE’ walking group program was introduced in January 2015. The goal of the walking groups is to offer an affordable, safe and community building movement to the citizens of Brownsville that will increase physical activity levels. We created motivational walking groups in several different areas of Brownsville. Each group has a trained walking leader who assists in coordinating walks and working directly with participants each week. A support system is in place to record progress of the participants every third Saturday at the Farmers’ Market and incentives are dispersed to reward and encourage goals achieved.
The missions of the BWC focuses on diabetes and obesity prevention. Of the City of Brownsville’s population, 31% have diabetes and additional medical problems stem from 80% of the population being overweight or obese. We target the high risk population through education and behavior change.