Promoting health and culture to Latino communities through connection
Supporting the Latino community
When Doris Blanco was looking for a way to connect with others in her community, her sister suggested she join her at a local program that would help her pass the time and gain some helpful nutrition education along the way.
Doris said as a diabetic, she was interested in how to eat healthier and exercise more — and this program helped her do both.
“The program is very, very nice,” she said, through a translator. “You make new friends, you learn new things. My diabetes has really improved (since coming to the program). I no longer have to take my medication at night.”
Doris is one of many participants of Progreso Latino’s Salud, Sabor y Salsa, or SaSaSa, program. As the name suggests, it focuses on three key areas: Health, flavor (or cooking and nutrition education) and physical exercise.
“Progreso Latino is a community-based organization in Central Falls, Rhode Island and we offer a wide variety of services to the community, including nutrition and health workshops,” said Benjamin Quinn, community health worker and program coordinator with Progreso Latino. “Central Falls is a largely immigrant community with 70% of the population speaking something other than English, and many of these communities experience food insecurity.”
SaSaSa was created in partnership with the organization’s food pantry, to help provide nutrition education and cooking classes on how to use the healthier foods found in the pantry to support improved health outcomes.
“Some of the things that I’ve heard from the participants is that they love to have an hour a week that they can devote to themselves and devote to their health,” Benjamin said. “We’re all so busy in our day-to-day lives that it can be hard to find time to put aside for ourselves for our health.”
The UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Rhode Island provided a $105,000 grant to Progreso Latino, in order to extend the programming and grow the community support.
“We serve a very diverse community of immigrants and the general population,” said Mario Bueno, executive director of Progreso Latino. “As you know, there are a lot of barriers that people face because of language, literacy barriers, poverty is a big issue and we understand that working as a community supporting one another, we can make a difference in our lives and in our families.”
Mirna Manzano, a community health worker and adult program coordinator at Progreso Latino, said she can see how SaSaSa is helping to change the community for the better — one person at a time.
“The peoples’ lifestyles are changing,” she said. “They are happy, and they move a little bit more. That is good for the heart, that is good for everything.”
