WWD-F is partnering with the Asheville Housing Authority, Asheville Parks and Recreation, and local organizations to offer Free Classes and Workshops to women and children of all ages living in public housing neighborhoods in Asheville, NC. The classes and workshops will be held in their Community Centers and focus around enhancing healthy lifestyles of the participating women and children and of the community as a whole.
Residents are encouraged to be part of the planning and facilitation of this project and can be as involved as long as they like. The following is a description of the types of classes and workshops Hillcrest Apartments residents have expressed interest in.
Healthy Eating:
To assist women and children to learn the benefits of eating fresh, local, natural foods and how to grow, shop for, and cook these foods.
Cooking Classes:
Demonstrating how to cook healthy meals using fresh ingredients, including understanding how the ways we prepare our foods affect their nutritional properties, learning how to shop for healthy foods and change our shopping habits, and how to budget our time and resources to prepare healthy meals in the home. These classes will be paired with tutoring sessions during after-school hours in order to present students with healthy hands on learning opportunities geared toward reinforcing NC State curriculum.
Nutrition Classes:
Teaching the benefits of healthy eating, including the importance of a balanced diet, how our bodies process foods and why fresh is best, how to eat for maximum health including the healing and medicinal properties of foods and plants.
Planting/Harvesting Instruction:
To create new community gardens or tend to existing gardens and teach how to grow food personally, including garden planning and timing, soil preparation, seedling planting, feeding and caring for plants and herbs, and harvesting instruction.
Body Movement:
To make multiple forms of free body movement classes available to women and children of all ages and abilities increasing their access and capacity to exercise and teaching them about the importance and benefits of body movement in their physical, mental, and emotional health and wellbeing.
Possible Classes: Dance Classes (ex: African Dance, Belly Dance, etc.), Cardio Exercise Classes, Adaptive Chair Exercises, Strength Training, Yoga Classes, Tai Chi and Qi Gong classes, Kickboxing Classes, Martial Arts Classes, Stress Management Instruction, Organized Hikes, and Neighborhood Walks.
Empowerment and Community Building Discussion Groups:
To create space for women & children of the community to come together to talk about their common experiences, to establish relationships, to learn about available community resources, to increase their personal empowerment, and to build on their strengths and interests in order to benefit themselves and their community.
Possible Workshops: Financial Empowerment, Domestic Violence Education, Sexual Violence Education, Personal Empowerment, Skill and Ability Enhancing (ex: weaving, quilting, embroidering, knitting, crocheting, sewing, basket-making, jewelry-making, hair design, computer literacy, resume building, interview techniques, etc.), How to Form and Sustain Cooperatives, and Self-Expression through art, music, song, and creative writing.