The Self-Care Retreat Experience for Self-Professed Haitian Women awarded to Carine Emile Joseph, a business owner in West Palm Beach, is a program to honor the care Haitian women give to others with their own self-care day experience. The program was held on January 14th at a Haitian church and included various self-care and physical and mental health services provided by Haitian Creole providers in their native language. “I’m Haitian, and I like to work with this specific population because there is a stigma about mental health and self-care.” The day of the event, participants were treated to self-care services, including massages and facials, physical movement instruction, and provided health screenings for blood pressure and diabetes by a nurse who also taught the women the questions to ask when seeing a doctor. Carine checks in with participants every three months to see how they are continuing to take care of themselves.

The Promotores de Salud Children's Mental Health Campaign was awarded to El Sol of Jupiter, in partnership with the Rural Women Health Project, for children living in Jupiter who have Hispanic/Latino immigrant parent/s. Promotores are community health workers. The grant supports their efforts to increase youth mental health outreach and awareness. They listen to parents and provide direction and resources, and also listen to the youth to see what their needs are—many times they center around the physical and mental benefits of sports. “Kids are learning what’s good for them and parents are listening.” Recognizing family situations can sometimes be stressful for promotores, the grant also provides for their training.

TRUE Brotherhood Project awarded to Jashua Sa-Ra, West Palm Beach resident. A rites of passage program for boys ages 15-19, focused on brotherhood, self-determination, community, accountability, integrity, and responsible success.

Funding for the Ability Garden awarded to JARC of Boca Raton is expanding the organization’s Vocational Horticultural Therapy program to include more social-wellness programs in the garden for senior adults in their 70s and 80s with autism and related disabilities. BeWellPBC’s grant supported the garden’s infrastructure, including building and filling beds. Seniors are planting cabbage, tomatoes, beans, and more. The garden is situated close to JARC’s kitchen, offering a farm to table experience. The garden also benefits senior volunteers from ages 70 to 90, working alongside JARC participants. “They are co-gardening together and really enjoying the space. To see it is to understand it can be done.”

An Online Chair Yoga Program for Improving Brain Health for Older Adults in a Rural Underserved Community was awarded to Bettye Lawson of Glades Faith Health Educators. African American, Latino, and Afro-Caribbean senior residents with mobility challenges in the Glades participate in an online chair yoga class, supported Glades Central Community High School students and Florida Atlantic University nurses. The program is providing a way to not only exercise, but to connect, as seniors are now attending in-person classes at a church in the Glades, encouraging socialization, which is an additional benefit to their brain health. Healthier is helping to fund the continuation of the program.

Second Job Family Affair awarded to William Freeman, founder of People of Purpose in The Glades. Direct services, including housing, education, and employment offered to returning citizens and their families in the underserved communities of Belle Glade, Pahokee, and South Bay.

Teamwork 4 Wellness, wellness workshops led by Deborah Feinsinger, first as a teacher at Palm Beach Gardens Community High School, and then at Digital Vibez, a nonprofit empowering youth in diverse and underserved communities through dance fitness, technology and the arts. Deborah is reaching youth, student athletes, and parents to provide mindfulness journeys through various paths, including yoga, sound bowls, and instruments. “The most amazing thing with the high school students coming off of being at home during the pandemic for two years was that this was something really new, something they hadn’t experienced. They put up a wall at first, and then as they let us in, they let us share mindfulness and yoga with them, and they realized how important it was in their lives. They would not have been able to have that experience without the BeWellPBC grant.”

You Are Flawless Wellness Workshops awarded to Janine Francolini, Flawless Foundation. Workshops teaching well-being and self-care; kits and self-care items delivered to veterans and neighbors who are unhoused and people who work on the streets.

New Song Mental Health & The Church Conference awarded to Debbie Manigat of New Song Church. Free conference connecting Palm Beach County families, therapists, and faith leaders.

“Unity in Shades” by Unity3 Palm Beach’s Katrina Blackmon is a podcast focused on conversations relevant to the African American community. Katrina’s co-host is a psychologist with over 25 years of experience. The two plan to expand from podcasts to video. “My impact on the community, will bring awareness, resources, and connections.”

“The Brie Hive” podcast by Brieana Salter provides mental health resources, financial, and emotional support to individuals and families that are affected by Lupus and other chronic illnesses. Brieana and her guests talk openly about the everyday issues that affect people living with Lupus, such as dating healthy eating, and sexual health. ”Living with a chronic illness is hard enough, but it’s also hard on your mental health in relation to other things you live with.”

“SPARC Up” podcast by Angel Wilson educates the public, especially minority communities, about autism awareness and acceptance. During her experience as a mini-grant recipient, she evolved her podcast from general information to education focused on providers. “I began to realize I have 15 years of experience in my head. I need to share that with other people, especially those just coming into the field. I shifted gears and decided to start training providers so there are more of me; more people who are familiar with autism and who know to work with, play with and engage with kids on the spectrum.” Angel’s podcast has followers from around the world.

The “She Is Me and I am Her” podcast by Tracey Graham nurtures the strengths of girls. It creates a dialogue with teen girls to show them how grown women have experienced the same challenges when they were their age and can help direct them to overcome the very same obstacles, including self-esteem and self-respect. “There is a whole group of women out there who have experienced just about everything a teen girl can experience. We’re going to get deep into that to get her [teen girls] mentality right and push her to the next phase in life.”

“Helping the Helpers: Self-Care for the Health Professional” is the first podcast by the T. Leroy Jefferson Medical Society. It offers behavioral health and wellness resources for healthcare professionals, deeply needed due to the pandemic. The podcast was created by the society as a result of asking themselves, “How can we help the people who are helping the community?” Creators are expanding from podcast to video to grow impact.