A report on HES Extension programs serving Missouri's families & communities

Extension lends a hand to the homeless at The Kitchen

It is time to swap survivial stories and this group of seven women has many. Sherri, a 40-ish mother of two pre-teen girls and a recovering alcoholic, is learning to take better care of her health.
"We used to be junk food junkies," she tells the group. "Now we read labels. My girls are into it."
Ginny tells the group her relationship with her four-year-old is improving. "We're both listening better," she says.

Small steps but signs the women are moving forward. And as Julie McCann, an HES extension assistant who has worked with the group for weeks now put it: "Every little bit matters."

The Hotel is Springfield's largest
shelter for the homeless.

These women are a half a step away from the street. They are residents of The Kitchen in Springfield, Mo., a place where lives are rebuilt. A kind of city-within-a-city, The Kitchen is two square blocks in Springfield's historic district devoted entirely to helping the homeless, the hungry and the needy.

Within The Kitchen is a homeless shelter, a kitchen serving three free meals a day, transitional housing, a child care center, a medical center, counseling center, a food pantry, educational center for GED certification and remedial education, and a second-hand shop.

Extension is there at nearly every step, in particular specialists from the Expanded Food and Nutrition Program (EFNEP) in HES extension.

For the women swapping "survival stories," extension personnel are their bridge to the world beyond The Kitchen. These women have graduated from The Kitchen's homeless shelter into "transitional housing," a kind of trial run at the outside world.

Women swap"survival stories" in a Survival Skills class led by
HES extension specialists. These classes are required
or those who live in The Kitchen's coveted transitional housing units.

To live in one of the coveted transitional housing units - some of which are in a restored building on the National Register of Historic Places - residents are required to enroll in HES extension's Survival Skills courses. The courses focus on basic life skills - from the importance of a balanced diet to preparing for a job interview.

"It was a big and important step for us to have The Kitchen require residents of transitional housing take these classes," says Sharon Gann, a nutrition specialist in Greene County.

The courses, given to women, men and youth, are designed to give residents the tools to make it in the outside world. Among the topics covered:

• Tapping into community resources: how to navigate "the system."
  
  
• Preparing for a job interview: what do employers expect.
  
  
• Eating well: how to get the most nutritional bang out of food dollars.
  
  
• Child development: understanding children better.

The courses also teach assertiveness training, which one group of students put into practice by voicing complaints with The Kitchen's management team. Following lessons learned in class, they successfully resolved their concerns with management.

Sharon Gann, nutrition specialist in Greene County, has forged a
strong working relationship between extension and The Kitchen.

HES extension's presence is felt throughout The Kitchen. Other examples include:

• In the emergency food pantry, EFNEP helps low-income families learn to eat well with few resources. The pantry gives sacks of food to the hungry, usually at the end of the month when resources have run dry.
  
  
• Child development specialists have given their expertise in The Kitchen's licensed daycare center and nursery.
  
  
• All Southwest Region HES specialists have taught in the life skills classes.