Support CT Refugee Women and their Families

In 2021, Health at Elena's Light hasn't slowed down a bit! We have been able to run eight health classes for over 30 refugee women through our virtual model. The classes' curriculum was put together and taught by local medical professionals from Yale Medical School and Asha Evans, a certified childbirth educator. They ranged from 1 hr- 2 hr long classes that were full of information and questions to get the class talking. 

Some topics of our health classes during this past year included Prenatal and Maternal Health, COVID-19 and the Vaccine, Navigating the Pediatric Healthcare System, Healthy Children's Development Over the Ages, Nutrition & Obesity, and Parenting and Difficult Behavior. We kept a flexible schedule to accommodate new developments such as a class about the COVID-19 Vaccine and any concerns, while also maintaining more general health concepts such as nutrition and developmental milestones for children.

Even with a set curriculum in place, these classes left time for connection, community, and a few laughs along the way. Post-tests were able to show that the women found the class helpful and would recommend it to a friend!

Since our first Summer Child Wellness Program in the summer of 2020, we have successfully begun a second round of the program starting this July. Featuring masked and socially distancing families and facilitators, refugee children have been able to safely learn about the importance of breathing and stretching to relieve stress, adequate sleeping habits, emotions, and more. We are looking forward to Session 2 which will begin in August and will be able to accommodate families who were in other local summer school programs during July. We'd like to thank the incredible team at Yale's EMPOWER Program for their amazing curriculum and staff that work tirelessly to ensure our families are safe and having fun outside this year. Session 1 includes four of our families, while we are anticipating upwards of 15 families for our session 2 in August.