L I FE

BACKGROUND

Skills for Women: Saving for Tomorrow and Beyond

Andrea Kimple, BS and Thelma Jackson, MS

In 1991, the Healthy Start, Inc. program was launched in the City of Pittsburgh. The mission of Healthy Start, Inc. is to reduce infant mortality and low birth weight babies in the Pittsburgh region. This was accomplished by providing home visiting and case management services to pregnant and parenting woman and children in the region. In 2010, through observation and evaluation, the Healthy Start Multi-Disciplinary Team recognized the need to enhance services to participants by providing education on basic life skills, including household care and maintenance, financial planning, and employment readiness. Life skills are often taught by observation and Pittsburgh/Allegheny County 400 N. Lexington Ave. are learned as children. However, when traditional family structure and healthy relationships have broken Pittsburgh, PA 15208 down, the most basic life skills are often lost. The Healthy Start Health Education team designed a 12-week Phone: 412-247-4009 series of Life Skills Classes to be taught in a small group-based setting. The primary goal of the Life Skills Helpline: 412-247-1000 Classes was to empower participants with the knowledge and skills to sustain and function during everyday www.HealthyStartPittsburgh.org life.
Average Change in Participant Assessment Scores
100%

Percentage of Participants with Increased Knowledge

90% 80% 70% 60%

Parenting & Stress Management

Budgeting & Career Building

50% 40% 30%

Nutrition & Physical Activity

20% 10%

-25.0%

-15.0%

-5.0%

5.0%

15.0%

25.0%

0% Nutrition & Physical Activity Budgeting & Career Building Parenting & Stress Management

OBJECTIVE : To develop and implement a groupbased curriculum that provides education to program participants on a variety of life skills, including, managing the operation of their home, maintaining a healthy environment for their family, healthy living, financial planning, and job readiness and retention
Session Six: Job Interviewing Tips and Techniques- During this session, participants were given the opportunity to role play and participate in mock interviews; critiqued on how they answered the questions; and provided tips for a successful interview. Incorporated in this secession was a presentation on how Session to dress for Five: Professional Resume Building Class- success. The content of this course focused on how to write and prepare a professional resume. Participants were asked to bring references, work history and education. With this information, resumes were created and critiqued. Participant received their final resume along with a tip sheet so they are able to make adjustments as necessary.

SUMMARY: The Life Skills Classes proved to be a success. Participants were armed with the tools to enrich their lives and the lives of their children. Participants discovered areas where improvement was needed; goals were established; and information amongst each other was shared. This program will be incorporated into the Healthy Start model for program participants and duplicated as necessary.
Session Seven: Simple Solutions to Help Families Eat Smart and Move More- Partnering with The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), participants had to opportunity to prepare nutritious foods with limited ingredients. Participants learned the difference between good and bad fats; foods high in sodium; foods that promote heart health. At the end of this session, participants were given a calendar with meal plans and recipes to get started. Demonstration: Session Food Preparation

Session One: Housekeeping and Organization- This session covered how to organize and clean your home. Participants learned how to shop for inexpensive effective cleaning products and received a bucket, sponges and cleaning supplies to get started. Demonstrations: Dusting, moping, scrubbing, and organizing clutter

Session Two: Laundry Tips & Tricks- During this session participants learned how to appropriately separate, wash, fold and iron everyday and work clothes. Participants received laundry tip sheets, clothes bag and fabric softener. Demonstration: Completed actual load of laundry utilizing portable wash machine and dryer.

In 2010, Healthy Start realized that one of the barriers our participants were facing was not having appropriate business attire or an understanding of what is appropriate to wear to an interview. Healthy Start responded by opening the Helping Hand Boutique, located in the Healthy Start office. At the end of this session, participants selected two outfits from the boutique to get their business wardrobe started.

Eight: Plan and Know Whats For Dinner- This session focused on how to plan weekly meals. Participants learned how to use a calendar for planning meals and how to read recipes.

Session Twelve: Eating Smart on the Run - This session focused on ways to do more physical activities throughout the day. Participants were given tips on how to stay active and what foods are easy and healthy grab and go alternatives.

Session Three: Financial Health 1This session covered development of a household budgeting and how to manage funds using a budget. Demonstration: Participants were given the opportunity to ask questions and assistance while creating their personal budget.

Session Four: Financial Health 2- This session focused on steps to opening a bank account, balancing a checkbook, and how to develop a household savings plan. The workshop was facilited by representatives from a local financial institution. Many participants were unable to open a bank account because of credit, delinquent or negative balances on existing accounts. During this course, participants received assistance in setting goals to clear up those delinquencies and devise a plan to get back on financial track.

Session Eleven: Home Food Safety Inspection During this session participants learned how to fix food safely and eliminate food borne Session Nine: Shop: Set the Best for Session Ten: Plan, Shop, Fix and Eat - Using illness. This session also Less- Using unit pricing to select the focused on the various food the tools from weeks seven through nine, best value, participants learned how participants learned how to comprehensively borne illnesses and how food to shop for value by checking the plan, shop, fix and eat a healthy meal. borne illness is contracted nutritional facts of products. Using the and treated. weekly flyers for grocery stores in the Demonstartion: Proper way to area, participants learned how to price cut and handle raw meat; how compare and choose nutritional products to clean a cutting board; and while keeping their budget. Participants how to store and freeze food also learned how to use coupons. correctly. Demonstration: Coupon Cutting

Healthy Start, Inc. is supported in part by project CFDA #93.926E from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau (Title V, Social Security Act.)