Healthy Habits Project

In October of 2001, Acorn began implementing its two-year "Healthy Habits" project. This project aims to enhance the health and well-being of our community's youngest children and their families, with a variety of resources. We target the communities of Big Bend, Montgomery Creek, Round Mountain, and Oak Run. Our activities include a free monthly "Family Night Dinner" with different programs aimed at families with young children; a Parent Advisory Council, "Babysitting as a Business" workshops to increase the number of trained babysitters for our area; cooking and nutrition classes; several major workshops focused on increasing the multicultural competence of regional service providers working with young children and their families; collaborative projects with other service providers to train staff and volunteers to identify, assess and refer children "at risk", and finally, to produce a monthly newsletter that addresses our "Healthy Habits" objectives plus other issues relating to community and family health.

This project is funded by the Shasta First-5, with money from Proposition 10, the voter initiative that set aside tobacco tax funds in California to support programs for children pre-natal to 5. Several other local projects also received funding, including the Rockingchair Project and the Burney Community Park Project. We work closely with them, as well as with the local Head Start program, Hill Country Community Clinic, Shasta County Public Health, and the Early Childhood Services division of the Shasta County Office of Education. If you'd like more information, please call Lynn Dorroh or Margaret Jensen, 337-6736.