1. Nutrition Empowerment Initiative

2. Goal
Increase Nutrition  Empowerment in the lives of Lifelong’s clients,  specifically people of color (POC) living with HIV/AIDS through a food and nutrition-based community engagement initiative

3. Nutrition Empowerment
“The essence of empowerment is that it cannot be bestowed by others but must be gained by those who seek it” (Improving Health Outcomes through Community Empowerment: A Review of the Literature, 2006). 
The movement to create a more just and sustainable world by recognizing the power of one's food choices
Clients will be empowered by their knowledge and resources surrounding food and nutrition—to make nutritional choices that promote healthy living.

4. Lifelong is a community health organization committed to empowering people living with or at risk of HIV and/or other chronic conditions to lead healthier lives. 

5. Medical Case Management
Housing
Insurance
Sexual Health Education
Dental Insurance
 Nutrition counseling, medically tailored meals, and groceries

6. Lifelong’s Chicken Soup Brigade aligns their work with the efforts of the Food is Medicine Coalition (FIMC).  FIMC provides evidence- based, medical food and nutrition intervention to critically and chronically ill people in their communities

7. Objectives Community mobilization to promote healthy living
Engage communities of color in Nutrition Empowerment 
Create an initiative that aligns with the mission of Lifelong and Food is Medicine
Increased Nutrition Empowerment evaluated by a measurable goal

8. Target Demographic 
People of color— specifically in Black and Indigenous populations—living with HIV/AIDS

9. Tasks: Identify Research Imagine Create Develop
Develop a method to evaluate the success of the initiative. Be sure to define what success looks like for your initiative
Create
Create innovative communication (marketing, artwork or narratives, data visualization, etc.) that could be a part of a tool kit for embedding Nutritional Empowerment in the heart of Lifelong’s programs and work with clients
Imagine
Imagine interactive nutrition educational materials that are culturally relevant, interesting and engaging
Research
Research other models of engaging POC living with chronic health conditions around growing food in a variety of ways and evaluate the impact
Identify
Identify existing community gardens, partnerships with farms, and/or Lifelong’s kitchen and nutrition team that could be utilized to design a series of proposals for a Nutritional Empowerment initiative 

10. Challenges to consider:​
Barriers for Lifelong as an organization: Funding, staffing, sustainability, marketing, feasibility, and  cultural competency 
Barriers for POC: access to resources (time, transportation, and nutritious food), and food deserts