Healthy Lifestyle Living/ Health and Wellness

Mental health

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

The issue we are addressing involves significant barriers to health and wellness faced by youth, women, and men experiencing poverty, homelessness, and re-entry in South Los Angeles. These populations often lack access to essential resources and support systems, leading to poor mental and physical health outcomes. Limited access to nutritious food, free and low-cost fitness options, safe exercise spaces exacerbates these challenges. The stigma surrounding mental health and the lack of culturally sensitive care further impede their well-being.
Additionally, low-income communities lack education and engagement around health and wellness, leading to poor habits. Surrounded by fast food and unhealthy media, there's a lack of understanding about how food, exercise, and natural resources affect mental health. Health is not just about doctor visits; many people lack the resources needed to hold them with their well-being.

Our Healthy Lifestyle Living (HLL) Program aims to break these barriers by providing structured weekly and monthly individual and group sessions and connect clients to therapy, counseling, and community resources to build healthy habits.
The Healthy Lifestyle Living (HLL) Program, directly and indirectly impacts clients through education and community outreach, workshops and events. With Physical health, we provide fitness sessions coached by Danielle Lafayette, an All American track and Field Athlete, Championship coach, health and wellness specialist and fitness with lived experience. We assist clients with understanding exercise techniques, nutrition, and connection to community. Mental Health – Addressing sleep habits to improve mood and reduce violence, using natural remedies and techniques like journaling, calendaring, and nature.
Emotional Health – Explore emotional well-being and learn strategies to cultivate healthy relationships, manage negative emotions, prioritize self-care, and build positive connections.
Physical Health – Promoting physical activity, exercise, nutrition, medical self-care, and hydration to improve mental health.
Financial Health – Teaching budgeting to alleviate financial stress and improve overall health.
Relational Health – Creating family, friend, and community trees to enhance personal and professional connections.
Spiritual Health – Focusing on forgiveness and nature to help heal emotional wounds from family, friends, and community.

Los Angeles County will be different when our work is successful by providing outreach, community engagement, workshops, and education to increase awareness for health and wellness among people experiencing homelessness, re-entry, and low-income communities. We recently partnered with LA Recreation and Parks and housing providers.
Unite A Nation’s Healthy Lifestyle Living Program Outcomes are:
Increased awareness and engagement in health and wellness
Improved hydration habits
Introduction to healthy eating
Enhanced physical fitness
Improved financial health
Establishment of supportive relationships
Strengthened emotional resilience
Improved sleep quality
Leading to:
Decreased violence and mental health challenges
Reduced risk of homelessness
Improved educational attainment
Increased employability
Enhanced economic mobility
Holistic wellness

This is a new project that includes assessments for each session to measure its impact. We will define and measure success through a variety of metrics and evaluations. Our assessments will track improvements in participants' health and wellness across the six pillars of health including mental health. Success indicators include:
Increased awareness and engagement in health and wellness activities
Improved hydration and healthy eating habits
Enhanced physical fitness levels
Improved financial literacy and stability
Establishment and strengthening of supportive relationships
Increased emotional resilience and better sleep quality
We will conduct pre- and post-program surveys, track attendance and participation rates, and gather qualitative feedback from participants. Additionally, we will monitor reductions in violence, mental health challenges, homelessness risk, and improvements in educational attainment, employability, and economic mobility.