November 2017 Volunteer Highlight

Imani Allen

N.C. State Senior, Imani Allen, joined Alliance Medical Ministry this Fall, helping facilitate and teach the Cooking Matters class @ Alliance.  Cooking Matters @ Alliance is offered in partnership with Inter-Faith Food Shuttle.

Imani led the six-week cooking and nutrition course that helps Alliance patients plan, shop, and cook healthy, nutritious, affordable, and delicious meals.

“I have always been very interested and involved in community outreach programs so when I was introduced with the opportunity to incorporate my studies into the community, I was very eager to participate”

Imani is pursing her bachelor's degree in Nutrition Science with a minor in Africana Studies. She plans to continue on to dental school and hopes to become an pediatric dentist. After dental school, Imani would love to open her own unique practice that, not only works with youth, but specializes in dental work on children with disorders such as Autism and Down's Syndrome. 

Imani was introduced to Alliance through the North Carolina State University Undergraduate Nutrition Coordinator and was very interested in Alliance's work. She has always been interested in community outreach and was excited at the chance to apply her studies to our Cooking Matters program. During her time here, Imani worked with Jesse Crouch, Garden & Wellness Coordinator, to facilitate this interactive and educational nutrition course. Each week was focused on different health aspects and creating healthy meals for participants to try. 

“I loved the participants’ willingness to engage and ask questions. They often asked questions that prompted me to do my own research and explore deeper into my nutrition education. I enjoyed that participants helped me to expand on my studies and challenged me to learn more outside of the classroom.”

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Scott Rostick

Eagle Scout candidate Scott Rostick of Troop 395 completed a great project in which he built two new picnic tables for the Alliance Community Garden.  The tables were made just in time for the community building initiatives planned with the Raleigh Food Corridor Nutrition Hub project in 2018.  Thank you, Scott, for all your hard work!

Patient Spotlight: Dorothy Patterson

Meet Dorothy. 

Grandmother, two-time cancer survivor, million step walker.

Dorothy Patterson is a force to be reckoned with. A ten-year patient of Alliance and Dr. Sheryl Joyner, she has overcome cancer on two different occasions, works full-time, and often fits 46,000 steps into her day.

"You have to face each day with a smile," she says.  "It's important for me, especially with my situation and history with cancer, to keep my body healthy."  

How does Dorothy stay healthy?

"I garden." 

Dorothy participated in the spring Seed to Supper program at Alliance, growing her own vegetables in the Alliance Community Garden this summer. "I love gardening.  It's in my blood, I have a green thumb.  I love to see how beautiful my garden looks – it’s a blessing for people who can’t afford to get veggies that you can help feed them too."

"I walk." 

Dorothy accepted the Million Step Challenge this spring, walking sometimes 46,000 steps daily.  She ended the Challenge with 2,058,611 steps!

"I cook."

Dorothy was excited to join this Fall's Cooking Matters @ Alliance course, where she joins other patients and their families to learn how to meal plan, grocery shop, and cook healthy and delicious meals on a budget.

"Being able to share and do all these things at the doctor’s office is incredible and makes it so easy."

Dorothy, you are an inspiration for us all!

Campbell Community Law Clinic partners with Alliance Medical Ministry

Campbell Community Law Clinic will begin providing legal services to patients of Alliance Medical Ministry.  Alliance joins community partners StepUp Ministry, the Raleigh Rescue Mission and Urban Ministry as partner agencies of the Community Law Clinic. In the last 12 months, the clinic has assisted dozens of clients referred by these non-profit partners and more than 100 individuals in all.

“We are thrilled to partner with Alliance, a wonderful non-profit serving working families,” said clinic director Ashley Campbell. “We especially welcome the opportunity to work with Megg Rader, Alliance’s executive director, and a fellow graduate of Campbell Law School.”

The Campbell Community Law Clinic partners with non-profit agencies in the community to provide solutions to legal problems encountered by clients of those agencies. The clinic provides representation, advocacy, education and reconciliation for its clients while delivering valuable and practical knowledge to law school students.

AMM receives $30,000 from Advanced Home Care Charity Golf Classic

Alliance Medical Ministry is tremendously grateful to have been selected as one of the charity recipients for Advanced Home Care's 24th Annual Charity Golf Classic, receiving a $30,000 gift for our clinic!  The golf tournament was held on September 13, 2017, at Champions Course at Bryan Park in Greensboro, NC.

Advanced Home Care partnered with three of its owner health systems – Cone Health, Novant Health, and WakeMed – to selected the charities based on shared service areas.  

“Being a partner in the communities we serve is core to Advanced Home Care’s mission. Together we can make a larger impact in the lives of many," shared Joel Mills, Advanced Home Care’s CEO. "I am proud of our Charity Golf Classic for supporting important charities for the 24th year.”  

Leigh Spencer, Advanced Home Care’s Senior Director of Support Services, adds, “It is an inspiration to see people across health care, from manufacturers to providers, come together each year. Our Charity Golf Classic is a success due to their caring spirits and we are grateful to the support provided.”

October 2017 Garden Update

Even as the Alliance Community Garden winds down the growing season, a flurry of planting, harvesting, and seeding has been taking place thanks to key volunteer support!    

• Our Second Saturday regular garden workday welcomed volunteers from Edenton Street United Methodist Church Missional Community, the Boy Scouts, and MedThink.  Volunteers pulled weeds, harvested butter beans, and planted spinach seeds. One helpful volunteer used his truck to pick up and spread leaf mulch. 
• The men’s group from Crosspointe Church in Cary pulled weeds and mulched around the blueberry bushes. 
• Many thanks to Christ Episcopal Church youth group for weeding, mulching, harvesting lima beans, seeding clover, and planting spinach in the handicapped-accessible garden box. 

Volunteers and patients always ask how we ward away the pests and the deer. Through a variety of organic deterrents we’ve been able to keep our Community Garden healthy for the past eight years.

This Fall has brought along a new challenge, however --  two woodchucks! These fuzzy critters have a serious sweet tooth for the tender young leaves of our Fall plants. While we haven’t caught them yet, we’re hopeful and have made some adaptive adjustments to ensure the planting success of some produce as we close out the growing season.

We’ve covered a few rows of plants with a shade cloth to act as a physical barrier for the groundhog and have planted spinach out of reach in our handicapped-accessible planter boxes.

Despite the groundhog challenge, we’re grateful for our well rooted summer crops that will continue to bear beautiful, nutritious fruit until the first frost.  

Stay tuned for the cabbage, collards, and spinach coming soon!

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Come dig in our garden!

Join us for our FINAL regular Garden Work Day! 

Learn a thing or two about our garden and bees and help provide fresh produce for our patients.

RSVP or just drop in! garden@alliancemedicalministry.org

November 11, 9 am to 12 pm
 

Cooking Matters @ Alliance: Class 2

The Cooking Matters group met back at Alliance on Monday for class 2.  Participants discussed challenges they faced around meal planning and preparation, and learned tips of how to incorporate fruits and vegetables into every meal, and the importance of portion sizes.  

Fruits and vegetables of different colors have certain nutrients that can help improve aspects of your health.

Check out this quick guide below!

Green: Powerful detoxers, fights free radicals, and improves immune system

Blue/Purple: Powerful antioxidants

White: Activates our natural killer cells and fights cancer

Red: Improves heart and blood health and supports joints

Orange: To prevent cancer and improve collagen growth

Yellow: Helps heart, vision, and digestion & immune system 

Participants then headed into the kitchen to get started on this week's featured recipe, lentil vegetable chili. A great dish for the winter season! 

Participants chopped and diced a range of colorful vegetables. Once prepping was finished, the ingredients were thrown into the pot and in about 30 minutes it was time to eat!

Lentil Veggie Chili

Ingredients

·       2 (14.5 oz.) cans no-salt diced tomatoes

·       1 bay leaf

·       2 (32 oz.) cartons vegetable stock

·       ⅓ cup fresh chopped cilantro

·       sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

·       Optional toppings: sour cream, cheddar cheese, croutons, tortilla chips, avocado

·       2 Tbsp. olive oil

·       1 medium onion, chopped

·       1 large red bell pepper, chopped

·       5 cloves garlic, minced

·       4 tsp. chili powder

·       1 (16 oz.) bag of brown lentils

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Directions

1.  In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and red bell pepper (or other preferred vegetables; saute the vegetables for 8 minutes or until soft and lightly browned, stirring occasionally.

2.  Stir in garlic and chili powder; cook for 1 minute.

3.  Add lentils, tomatoes, bay leaf and stock. Season with salt and ground black pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered for 30 minutes or until lentils are tender. Remove from the heat and discard the bay leaf.

4.  Stir in cilantro and serve

Cooking Matters @ Alliance: Class 1

The Fall Cooking Matters class has kicked off at Alliance Medical Ministry!

Cooking Matters is a six-week cooking and nutrition course that helps Alliance patients plan, shop, and cook healthy, nutritious, affordable, and delicious meals.  Alliance Medical Ministry is a site for this free, six-week program, offered in partnership with the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. Alliance patients and a few family members came together to make zucchini burrito boats.

The volunteer instructor for the fall course, Imani Allen, is our Nutrition Intern from North Carolina State University. The class began with a rigorous discussion on patients' current eating habits, challenges faced, and what they hoped to learn from the course, which included eating healthier on a budget, learning different ways to cook fruits and veggies, and improving their overall health through diet changes.

The class then headed into the kitchen to get started on the zucchini boats! Stuffed zucchini makes a great dinner and can be very versatile.  Enjoy this recipe!

Zucchini Burrito Boats

Ingredients

• 4 large zucchini
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained rinsed
• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 1 bell pepper, cored and diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced

•  ½ cup corn kernels
• 1 jalapeno (or poblano pepper) cored, diced
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of olive oil
• 1 packet of McCormick Taco seasoning
• 1 cup shredded cheddar/Monterey jack cheese

Directions

1. Start by greasing a 9 x 13” casserole dish then set aside. Slice each zucchini in half lengthwise. Using a metal teaspoon, hollow out the center of each zucchini. Lightly brush the tops with one teaspoon of olive oil then place them skin side down in the casserole dish.

2. Next, warm the tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and the peppers and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then add the rice, corn, and beans along with the taco seasoning. Stir everything together and continue to cook for about 5 minutes and then remove the skillet from the heat and set aside.

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and spoon the filling inside each zucchini until they are full. Sprinkle each one with cheese and arrange them in the dish and cover with foil. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes.

4. Allow them to cool for 5-10 minutes then serve and enjoy! Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.