Legislators, Governor Raise Healthy Bucks Food Program Limit
Thousands of SNAP recipients will get extra help purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables at their farmer’s market, thanks to the South Carolina Legislature and Governor McMaster. In the budget that took effect July 1, legislators approved an increase in the amount of money allocated for the Healthy Bucks program per household from $10 up to $20.
“SNAP recipients who purchase at least $5 with their SNAP card at participating locations can now receive up to $20 in Healthy Bucks tokens to purchase additional fresh fruits and vegetables,” said Meg Stanley, executive director.
Under Proviso 38.22, the Department of Social Services shall continue the Healthy Bucks program established to provide coupons that allow Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to obtain additional fresh fruits and vegetables when purchasing fresh produce at authorized farmer’s markets and vendors with SNAP benefits through their EBT cards. Healthy Bucks coupons shall allow the beneficiary to increase the amount of produce purchased, up to twenty dollars per month.
“Healthy Bucks was created with one-time federal funds in 2012 and does not have an impact on the state’s taxpayers. We are grateful to the Department of Social Services and Director Michael Leach for requesting this change and for their commitment to this important program. It’s great working with them to make the increase happen.”
Evidence indicates that increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables can help improve health outcomes, yet thousands of low-income South Carolinians report that they cannot consistently afford to purchase fruits and vegetables. With Healthy Bucks, affordable options become more readily available to our most vulnerable families, children, and seniors.
In addition to aiding in the fight against hunger and food insecurity in South Carolina, Healthy Bucks also supports local farmers by stipulating the funds must be used at participating farmer’s markets. To find a list of participating farmer’s markets visit the SC DSS website.
A special thank you to the Budget Conference Committee members, Senator Harvey Peeler, Senator Thomas Alexander, Senator Nikki Setzler, House Speaker Murrell Smith, Representative Gary Simrill, and Representative Todd Rutherford for adopting the budget proviso continuing the Healthy Bucks program.
SC Legislators, Governor Address School Food Debt
What a session. The second year of our two-year Legislative Session came to an end with a big bang! The South Carolina Legislature passed the School Lunch Debt (H3006) bill unanimously and the governor signed it into law. The law prevents school districts from sending students’ lunch debt to collection agencies statewide. It also stops them from adding interest or any other fees on top of existing debt.
“The fact that both the House and Senate unanimously voted in favor of my bill to end this practice shows that legislators, Republicans and Democrats, recognize the importance of ensuring that no child should face going hungry at school for fear of their parent’s inability to afford a school lunch,” said Rep. Wendy Brawley (D) Richland County, who sponsored the bill.
“H3006 is a great example of working with our advocates and our partners to positively change the school environment for vulnerable students. I couldn’t be more proud of all of our advocates who took action,” said Phil Ford, policy and advocacy consultant at Wholespire.
School districts are encouraged to apply for the USDA Community Eligibility Provision Program, a national program that provides free lunch, breakfast, and sometimes dinner for all students. It’s available for all qualifying school districts with many eligible school districts in South Carolina not participating at all.
Wholespire partnered with the Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network (WREN), Save the Children, and other partners to encourage Senators to support the bill. But, the network of grassroots advocates was instrumental in getting H3006 on Senators’ radar. Action alerts were emailed to all grassroots advocates and shared on social media resulting in a multitude of responses.
This success comes off the heels of Wholespire rebuilding relationships at the State House after an election year (2020) that resulted in a large percentage of new legislators, in addition to the Wholespire rebrand in 2021.
“We spent a lot of time letting our new legislators know who we are and what we stand for,” said Meg Stanley, executive director at Wholespire. “We also had to make sure all legislators understood that our new name did not change our work.”
The potential for more legislative success is yet to be revealed. If Governor McMaster signs the budget in a few weeks, thousands of South Carolinians could benefit from an updated proviso. We’ll announce that news as soon as the budget is signed!
Additionally, there were efforts to limit any nonprofit, schools, and others from offering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) or implicit bias training. These bills could have resulted in the loss of nonprofit status or the loss of ability to receive state funding. Wholespire opposed these bills that would limit educational opportunities for South Carolinians and provided support to the myriad of organizations leading the efforts.
Wholespire strives to align state and local level advocacy with an equity component of our work. We aspire to have champions in policy-making positions, to influence policy changes that advance our mission and the work of Wholespire chapters, and to have diversity within our advocacy partners.
Would you like to become a Wholespire grassroots advocate? We will periodically call on you to contact your legislators and advocate for public health, schools, equity, and many other issues related to our mission. We will email you action alerts when we need your help. Sign up today!
Pickens County leader looks back on HYPE experience 10 years later
When The Healthy Young People Empowerment (HYPE) Project® began ten years ago, Wholespire knew teens’ potential impact on their communities. What we didn’t completely realize were the impacts The HYPE Project would have on the adult advisors.
Cathy Breazeale, former director of prevention services at Behavioral Health Services of Pickens County (BHSPC), was one of the first HYPE adult advisors to pilot the new youth engagement program in 2012. We caught up with Cathy for the 10th anniversary to learn about her experiences with The HYPE Project.
What motivated you to become involved in The HYPE Project as an adult advisor?
In looking at the program it spoke to me about helping youth understand that the way you perceive food and exercise at an early age can help you in the long run. I’ve never seen a program like this and I was really excited to be a part of it.
When you were the lead adult advisor, what was your position?
I was a Director of Prevention Services and I had staff – Tiffany and Ben. I was responsible for looking at the budget and the action plan. When we said that we were going to do something, I made sure that we did it. All of us made sure the youth engaged like they were supposed to. To be honest, when we first started, it didn’t happen that way because it was new to us. We weren’t sure how to make The HYPE Project work on top of our other projects. When you’re meeting for two hours, you don’t have a lot of time to plan community events and work on these types of projects. We had tobacco projects, and alcohol projects and so I was kind of like the person that steered to ensure that we did do what it is we said we were going to do.
Your HYPE Team was composed of the BHSPC Youth Board. What is the youth board?
The youth board is a group of youth that are advocates for behavioral health issues related to alcohol, tobacco, and other drug issues. It’s about community. What it is environmentally that they see in their community that they think needs to be changed? They get other youth engaged in their community and on the youth board. They’re also a spokesperson for issues that they were working on. But, they first have to buy into what that is.
After completing their PhotoVoice project, the Pickens County HYPE Team chose to focus on improvements at Haygood Park. They assessed the park and found some concerns:
- No signs posting map and event/rental information
- No bike racks
- No water to drink
- Restrooms need improvements
- Dangerous big hole
- Poor maintenance and landscaping
- Litter and graffiti
- Playground
- No benches
- No shade
- No lights
The HYPE team presented their concerns to the Parks and Recreation Department, and they were successful in getting making the park more appealing with landscaping. However, since the completion of their civic action project, Pickens County has made improvements to Haygood Park and it’s being used more by residents and visitors. There’s even a dog park!
Do you remember any of the reactions from the youth about participating in HYPE?
Well, negatively they didn’t want to do it. They wondered why we were looking at what they were eating. But, I can still remember the presentation comparing the weight of fat to the weight of muscle. It brought about a conversation. Sometimes, we downplay health because we think small people are healthy and larger people are not healthy. That’s what our brain tells us and so even talking about those particular things — the weight of fat and muscle — brought about a conversation and impacted the youth. Also, I would say 80% of the HYPE team played some type of sport, and so once again, they are thinking ‘I play sports, I’m healthy.’ Uh, but so it did. It brought about a lot of different conversations about those things, but in the end, I believe that The HYPE Project changed behaviors.
How has your experience influenced the way you work with the youth now?
When we hosted a lot of events, we used to always get sodas. But, I always tried to make sure that we had water there. We would tell our event participants that they can drink sodas, but they need to drink X amount of water per day. And so [The HYPE Project] helped. It helped me, personally. I also use [healthy choices] even now at our local church where we work with youth. I just try to give them the things that I know they want, but also put in some of those healthy choices too.
Is there any advice that you would give new adult advisors?
Uh, yes. I would advise them to build a plan of action with participation from the youth at the beginning, instead of waiting. I do that even now when I look at grants and proposals to send. Don’t just look at the money. You know you’re on this timeline and it’s happening, and now I gotta do something. When we take that approach, sometimes doing something is something we didn’t put a lot of thought into.
I would also say from the beginning, act like the funding ends in a week. Come up with ideas, several ideas, and then use those ideas to streamline the project within those months that you have to do it. This lets you say, ‘We’re going to do this, or we’re going to do that. We’re gonna add this and I believe that it would be better.’ The project would be better.
If you had another opportunity to lead a HYPE team would you volunteer again?
I would, because of the previous statement that I made of the things I’ve learned and even in working with [the Columbus and Edith Rogers Mansell Foundation] and knowing that. Our target group isn’t just teens, but it’s parents with youth ages 5 to 17. So now I know that. That’s our target population.
The parents at the beginning will be involved because I’ll get it. It’ll be a balance, even though the youth will be the ones that will do the project. We will let them do the planning of it and then the parents would come in and we have a meeting of the minds so that they can talk about as young people what it is they see in their community and what they feel needs to be changed.
So being a part of something like that, it’s kind of like being able to take the test again. This time I’m going to study. And not just okay, I know it’s a test. I just need to make a 75. I wanna make 100 this time.
Do you have any other thoughts you’d like to share?
HYPE is a, uh, it’s a unique program because you don’t hear about healthy living a lot concerning youth. I know we talk about obesity this and that in our states, but HYPE should really be nationally known. I feel it should be.
We couldn’t agree more with Cathy! Several of the Pickens County HYPE Team moved on to college and are starting businesses and careers in healthcare. Many are still involved in their community. And Haygood Park is thriving with recreational sports, squealing children, and happy dogs.
Marion County Library Connects Literacy to Active Living with Storyscape Project
During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of us found ourselves stuck inside and wondering how to spend our time. Many adults worked from home and students attended class from home, which made for agonizing times for many parents. Like many organizations across the country, Marion County Library System used its creativity to help families escape hard times into the great outdoors and read a story at the same time.
Marion County Library Director Holly Cockfield heard of the international StoryWalk® Project, an outdoor reading experience that features a story along a walking trail. She thought this would be a great addition to the Marion Hike and Bike Trail, so she and her team set out to make it happen. They decided to name it Storyscape, a play on the words “story” and “escape.”
The Storyscape project features 20 deconstructed pages of a children’s book that families can read along their walk or bike. Cockfield explains, “As families start their escape on the one-mile trail, they can stop at 20 kiosks to read the first half of a book, and on their way back, they can read the second half of the book. There are enough kiosks to feature a 40-page book.”
The library eventually had to remove the kiosks because weather and other natural elements made the kiosks unstable. “The signs were just hanging out in our basement for a while, which was disappointing. There was a lot of interest in Storyscape, and we didn’t have the funds to invest in a more permanent installation method.”
Through a community partner, Cockfield heard about Wholespire’s Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL) Mini-Grant. She applied for only $1,000 to fund supplies and the installation of a sturdier base for the kiosks.
“We felt like this would be a great investment in a rural community that would benefit all members of the community. It connects active living with literacy, which is a good motivator to use the hike and bike trail,” said Kelsey Sanders, MPH, CHES, community relations manager at Wholespire.
Cockfield said, “I really thought it would be a wonderful idea and it would be impossible to raise funds for. Wholespire changed that. We’re very thankful for your help.”
The Marion County Library System will change the stories periodically to give families a new experience. They’ve received positive feedback through a QR code posted on the last page of the Storyscape.
If you live in or visit Marion, check out the Storyscape located on the Marion Hike and Bike Trail in downtown Marion, South Carolina, and read a book. It’s not just for kids. Adults can enjoy it too!
Coalitions to Work on Diabetes Prevention
The Diabetes Action Council of South Carolina (DAC), in collaboration with Wholespire, is pleased to announce the recipients of the Preventing Diabetes with Confidence Mini-Grant. The five coalitions selected are:
- Access Health Tri-County (Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties)
- Carolina Diabetes and Kidney Center in collaboration with Clarendon Community Coalition (Sumter, Clarendon, and Kershaw counties)
- Tri-County Health Network (Orangeburg, Calhoun, and Bamberg counties)
- West Columbia-Cayce Food Policy Coalition (Richland and Lexington counties)
- Williamsburg County Community Coalition (Williamsburg County)
The funding will be used to develop and implement an action plan that mobilizes partners and collaborators to advance health equity and address social determinants of health impacting prediabetes and diabetes prevention and management. More specifically, the funding objectives are:
- Raise Awareness of Prediabetes
- Raise Awareness of the availability of the National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP)
- Start one or more new NDPP programs or cohort
- Expand access to existing NDPPs
Prediabetes is a serious preventable condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. Before people develop type 2 diabetes, they almost always have prediabetes, which puts them at greater risk of cardiovascular diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
More than one in three adults have prediabetes, however, 80% of them don’t know they have it. The good news is that prediabetes does not have to lead to diabetes. Lifestyle changes such as eating healthier and being more physically active can help delay or prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.
The NDPP is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is an evidence-based group lifestyle change program aimed at preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes in high-risk individuals. The year-long program is facilitated by a trained lifestyle coach and consists of 16 weekly ‘core’ sessions followed by monthly ‘core maintenance’ sessions. The program focuses on helping participants make positive lifestyle changes such as eating healthier, reducing stress, and getting more physical activity.
Statewide Network to Strengthen SC’s Food Economy
An established group of food system leaders across South Carolina are launching a new network, Growing Local SC, to cultivate a thriving, equitable, inclusive, resilient, and just food economy providing access to healthy food for all. The Growing Local SC local food network is one of 30 national projects awarded funding through the United States Department of Agriculture’s Regional Food System Partnership Grant program. With ten project partners, matching funds from the South Carolina Department of Agriculture, and project oversight from the South Carolina Food Policy Council, this highly collaborative and cross-sector network is a decade in the making.
“Growing Local SC brings leaders together to create community-based solutions for a resilient food system for South Carolina,” states Project Director Nikki Seibert Kelley. Mrs. Kelley notes, “Local food systems are complex and highly place-based, making it essential for communities to build networks around the people working locally to get food from farms and gardens to the table.” The pandemic highlighted the vulnerability in global supply chains, demonstrating the importance of building regional economies able to withstand disturbances. Growing Local SC brings together agencies, organizations, coalitions, food hubs, and businesses to create a network focused on building systems to equitability, effectively, and economically source, aggregate, and distribute local food to South Carolinians. Growing Local SC is designed to be reflective of the state’s local food system and also includes:
Wholespire,
- University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health SNAP-Ed Implementing Agency,
- SC Food Hub Network (coordinated by Alison Pierce),
- Rural Resource Coalition,
- Bonita Global, LLC,
- Alianza Latina of the Midlands,
- SC State University Small Business Development Center, and
- Carolina Farm Stewardship Association.
Food system leaders across the state are encouraged to engage in Growing Local SC by joining the South Carolina Food Policy Council as a member, participating in the annual meetings, and getting engaged through committees, local food councils, and coalitions. Visit www.growinglocalsc.org for more information.
YPD youth address food deserts and access through their churches
Whether you live in a rural community or the middle of a city, healthy foods can be hard to come by. That’s because South Carolina is filled with food deserts. Grocery stores in neighborhoods and towns close all of the time due to their bottom line — sales and money — and some communities may have never even had a grocery store at all. When people can’t rely on grocery stores for easy access to produce, a food desert is born. Fortunately, teens in the 7th District AME Church are changing the landscape of their food supply.
Through a partnership between Wholespire and the 7th District AME Church, youth involved in the Young Peoples Division (YPD) took advantage of opportunities to give their communities access to healthy foods through The HYPE Project®. After learning about policy, systems, and environmental change and how the food choices a person has affect their health, many youth teams began focusing their community-based projects on community gardens.
“Church gardens seemed to be popular projects, not only for the youth but also for the entire congregation,” said Trimease K. Carter, youth engagement manager at Wholespire. “I think they are popular because youth found out that gardens are a fun, learning experience. Plus, the congregations get excited about helping with the gardens, watching the produce grow, and getting to take some home.”
During the final round of funding for YPD programs in the 7th District AME Church, a few youth teams focused on building new church gardens, while other youth teams, who were previously funded, chose to maintain their gardens based on the success of their initial garden project.
According to Pastor Clearance Mitchell from Singleton AME Church in Georgetown, SC, “Our success was in our garden beds. Although this year we endured interesting weather changes that caused some damage to our garden beds, we were still able to reconstruct and be a blessing. Although our giving numbers were lower than last year, we still were able to give fresh produce to a few senior citizens.”
In Turbeville, SC, the youth team at Oak Grove AME Church was funded all three years. Their first project focused on policy changes, like removing salt shakers from church dining tables. Church leaders approved the policy and left the youth wondering what to do next. So, they focused on educating their congregation on alternatives to salt. To do this, they decided to build an herb garden to use in taste tests and church meals as a way to replace or reduce salt. Their efforts have seemed to pay off.
“Our church is located within the stroke belt of South Carolina. Persons tend to eat an abundance of fried and fatty foods,” said Dr. Ila McFadden, YPD director at Oak Grove AME Church. “Through The HYPE Project®, our youth have helped our congregation think differently, and they have given them the desire to improve their overall health through proper diet, nutrition, and the importance of water as a beverage.”
Just like Wholespire’s mini-grant opportunities, funds awarded to the youth teams were used to purchase supplies and support their initiatives. Youth teams worked on multiple projects at the same time and took on active roles with each project. From brainstorming and setting church policies to planning and implementing healthy eating, active living, and safety projects, the youth of the 7th District AME Church YPD program truly stepped up to the plate. They showed their leadership skills and influenced not only their peers but also adults. They demonstrated what youth engagement can be for community coalitions and other youth groups in South Carolina.
For more information about The HYPE Project®, email Youth Engagement Manager Trimease K. Carter at Trimease@wholespire.org.
Teaming up to streamline efforts and accomplish common goals
Wholespire Kershaw County, formerly Eat Smart Move More Kershaw County, is making a strategic move by teaming up with Livewell Kershaw Coalition, a coalition based on the premise that all people deserve to live well. We’re going to explain their strategy.
Shawn Putnam, the Wholespire Kershaw County chair for the past six years, stated that “throughout the past, we have been successful in having a diverse team,” which keeps diversity, equity, and inclusion top of mind during decision making. The chapter is also very active and has remained so throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, meeting monthly and transitioning to virtual meetings when it became necessary. Teaming up with Livewell Kershaw County to lead their H.E.A.L. Team has made it easier to involve more people working towards accomplishing the same goals since they are not being pulled in different directions.
What exactly is the H.E.A.L. Team?
Livewell Kershaw Coalition recently released a Community Health Improvement Plan that was to be implemented through three committees: 1) Emotional Health Team, 2) H.E.A.L. Team, and 3) Access to Care. Their H.E.A.L. Team shares similar objectives and initiatives with Wholespire Kershaw County. This is where the strategic partnership with Wholespire Kershaw County came from — ensuring all of Kershaw County was focusing on the same initiatives.
Building on a foundation of successes
Before teaming up with LiveWell Kershaw, Wholespire Kershaw County achieved quite a bit of success in increasing access to healthy choices. They put together fitness circuits at local parks, created the road safety program, and supported the mobile nutrition center through the United Way of Kershaw County. The new partnership between Wholespire Kershaw County and Livewell Kershaw Coalition aims to build on this work and do more, including one exciting project, the 5-2-1-0 campaign.
What is the 5-2-1-0 campaign?
The 5-2-1-0 campaign educates kids and their families about the benefits of eating 5 daily servings of fruits and vegetables, limiting their leisure “screen time” to 2 hours a day, getting 1 hour of physical activity daily, and drinking 0 sugar-sweetened beverages. This campaign is taking place in schools throughout Kershaw County. To add some excitement, the campaign is being turned into a competition to encourage more children and their families to participate.
The competition takes place by having children log their results at the end of each day, then tallies are taken each week, and prizes are given to classes with the highest scores. The 5-2-1-0 campaign was launched in February of 2020 but was halted by the pandemic. The hope is for Wholespire Kershaw County and Livewell Kershaw County to reintroduce this campaign to schools in February of 2022.
Collaborating for a stronger future
Wholespire Kershaw County is a shining example of what can be accomplished when partnering with another organization like Livewell Kershaw County. The projects being conducted now, and those taking place in the future, closely align with the Wholespire mission to “provide communities with proven and sustainable approaches that lead to increased access to healthy choices for ALL people.”
Upcoming projects for the partners include providing advocacy training for their coalition to better prepare them to make policy, system, and environmental change, as well as teaching the coalition how to be involved in project review processes. They’re also planning an expansion of the road safety program that focuses on advocacy for the awareness of cyclists by car drivers and to create safer roads. More projects will be unveiled soon.
If you are interested in getting involved with the initiatives of the Wholespire Kershaw County and LiveWell Kershaw, help is always needed. Active recruitment for the coalition is taking place now for those interested in the mission. There are no dues, just be passionate. To learn more or join the coalition, contact Shawn Putnam at putnam@camdensc.org or find Livewell Kershaw on Facebook.
