SOME’s Health and Wellness team is working incredibly hard to make sure that SOME residents have access to necessary resources that allow them to manage their physical, emotional, social, and financial health. Events that they hosted in the past year for SOME residents included:
- A partnership with Capital One financial advisors to help clients and SOME employees improve their financial wellness.
- Meditation Mondays. An hour of meditation, live-streamed by a professional instructor.
- Various physical activity challenges which motivated clients and staff to participate.
- The Wallet Watch Challenge, where participants took progressive steps to improve spending and build better budgets.
The Health and Wellness team has had to make a few changes due to COVID-19.
Sierra Coppage, SOME’s health and wellness coordinator, was adamant that the programs would continue despite the COVID-19 pandemic prohibiting some in-person resources.
“Due to the inability to provide face-to-face client programming we have moved to weekly virtual phone calls and text message communication. We now offer, The Healthy Hour with Sierra on Thursday Nights and a relaxation/meditation call. Our text message communication includes a weekly newsletter that includes recipes, cooking videos, in-home workout videos, and health tips.”
The clients have had to adjust to a new health program, but they were not the only ones affected. The staff had to make numerous changes too. Sierra commented, “ The overall changes in how we engage with our tenants have been tough considering the services we provide. Specifically, as it pertains to health and wellness, I think some tenants have been really excited about being able to get helpful information via text messages and weekly calls. The meditation call has been able to help tenants relax during this stressful time—which is so important.”
She added, “In the beginning, it was difficult for me to figure out the best way to engage with more than 600 people. However, after doing some research and attending a webinar on hosting virtual events it was easy to make the changes and focus on new ways to engage. It is still an adjustment but receiving feedback from my clients has been helpful in moving forward.”
Health and wellness have never been more important than now. At SOME, we approach health with a holistic approach that includes physical, social, mental, and financial aspects. Here are more tips from our SOME team for anyone interested in investing more into their personal health and wellness during COVID-19.
“If you’re just getting started, start making small changes, which can lead to great success. Set a goal that you would like to accomplish and decide on the steps you need to take to reach that goal—then get moving.”
- Start every day with a plan.
Structuring your day can help alleviate our anxiety and give us a sense of control during this time. - Make sure you are eating nutritious meals.
Vegetables should be the star of your plate. Aim for two servings of fruit and five to nine servings of vegetables each day. Be sure to stay hydrated and drink plenty of water. - Limit your news consumption.
It’s important to stay informed, but your mental health should take priority. - Stay active.
Keep moving and make sure you are getting exercise daily. Participate in activities that bring you joy like walking, dancing, cooking a new recipe, or listening to music. - Practice physical distance, but do not isolate.
Stay close to family and friends by relying on technology to help keep a healthy distance.