Home » News » Community Impact » Title of 'Healthy City' Embraces Low-Income Families of Austin

Community Impact

Title of ‘Healthy City’ Embraces Low-Income Families of Austin

Children and families who participated in El Buen Samaritano's Family Health and Fitness program ran triumphantly across the finish line at Austin’s Congress Mile on Saturday, May 22. This was their way of expressing their enthusiasm for successfully reaching their fitness and nutrition goals during the first session of El Buen’s program.

“This is the first time for many of our families to take part in a city-wide event of this nature,” said El Buen Samaritano’s Manager of Healthy Living Lil Almonte. “We are excited to see our families incorporating a healthy lifestyle into their lives.”

Family Health and Fitness provides children and their families a structured opportunity to get healthy through fun and recreational family activities that focus on health education and exercise. The program’s first session came to an end on Thursday, May 13, after eight weeks of providing intense professional coaching on physical conditioning and nutritional consultations to the 15 enrolled families.

"Austin may rank as one of the healthiest cities in America, but this ranking does not necessarily equate into healthy children and families,” said Director of Health Services Al Perez. “Most experts believe that changes must start in a child’s home life. Our programs are substantially presented in a format that will not only change the habits of the children, but also the habits of their families, which in turn will bring about the optimal systematic change we seek,” Al said.

The success of the program is made evident by the energy and enthusiasm of the participants. Participants of the first session began inquiring about the next session well before the first session ended. Due to funding constraints, they were unable to enroll in the second session, but through community and volunteer support, El Buen Samaritano has extended the program to include these families so they can continue reaching their health and fitness goals.

“I believe we owe this success to having the right ingredients in the mix,” said Veronica Saldate, nutritionist at El Buen Samaritano. “A combination of nutritional consultations, professional physical conditioning coaching, and an outlet which allows for peer encouragement and quality family time, has proven to be an optimal recipe for combating childhood obesity within our client population.” Family Health and Fitness is exclusively funded by the St. David's Foundation. For information on how to support or get involved in this program, contact Lil Almonte. To view pictures of the program, click here.