1. RICHES
Healthy Eating, Limited Budgets
It’s no surprise that a nutritious balanced diet is essential to staying healthy and living longer. However,
what’s widely known … is not always widely practiced. Sometimes there is a lack of knowledge, lack of
will or a perceived lack of resources that cause people to fall into poor eating habits. Community
organizations across the state are finding creative ways to teach families how to make better food
choices. Find out what one of our RICHES (Resources in Communities Help Encourage Solutions)
partners is doing in Buncombe County.
Sharon Carter, Nutrition Program Assistant of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program
(EFNEP) at the N.C .Cooperative Extension of Buncombe County, teaches families at local homeless
shelters, drug rehab centers and at a community college how to eat healthier. . Carter said many of the
women and men she serves face barriers to providing a healthy lifestyle for their families due to
financial issues, health problems, family issues, abuse and mental health problems. To break those
barriers, Carter is motivated and supported by RICHES to connect with resources that include faith‐
based and community based organizations.
For nearly 20 years Carter has partnered with the Asheville‐Buncombe Technical Community College’s
(ABTCC) ASPIRE program. ASPIRE, Assessing Strengths Promoting Integrity Retaining Employment, is a
career building program for the unemployed. In addition, this program, a collaboration between ABTCC
and WorkFirst, aims to improve the eating habits of its participants. Carter leads a six‐week course in
which she teaches participants how to cook nutritious, inexpensive meals for their families.
“Participants learn effective meal planning, how to prepare healthier
meals and food safety practices,” she said. “It’s important to incorporate
healthy eating habits into their everyday life. You won’t be able to
provide for your family if you’re unh
ealthy.”
she said.
Carter has seen an increase in her class size due to the downturn in the
economy; the success rate of EFNEP has been high among the ASPIRE
participants. “Last year 95% showed improvement in nutrition practices
and 91% showed improvement in food safety practices.”
Carter, who works with approximately 90 families a year, said her
greatest joy is seeing participants graduate from her program. “What I
like most about my job is working with all types of people and seeing the
smiles on their faces when they accomplished something,”
Through RICHES, Carter is eager to work with other agencies dedicated to helping families achieve
healthier eating habits. “I’m motivated by networking options, excited about the possibilities and
empowered by the “can do” attitude of the committee and its members,” she said.

2. “As a RICHES network member I will be
able to share the knowledge and
activities I use to educate and support
women in my community in adoptin
healthy lifes
g
tyles.”
ed
of
RICHES is an informal network of
agencies across the state that partner
with the North Carolina Healthy Start
Foundation to build the capacity of
community‐based organizations to
address the health and health‐relat
needs of women of reproductive age
they serve. If your agency is working to
improve the health and nutrition
families in your community we want to hear from you. Become a fan of our Facebook page so we can
highlight your success and share it with other community organizations acro
ss the state.