In late June, the Diabetes Impact Project steering committees convened for an energizing in-person group meeting.
After a couple of years without an in-person all-steering committee gathering, the group was able to reconnect with familiar faces, meet new committee members across communities, and share progress and updates from each of their committees on DIP-IN sponsored initiatives. The group also enjoyed a wonderful vegan dinner from Always Bean, located in the Northeast community.
The Near Northwest provided upcoming information on Sunday Suppers at Aspire House. This once-a-month community gathering that attracts dozens of Near Northwest residents, provides the opportunity for community connection, fun activities, and healthy and unique meals.
The Northeast shared successes regarding the MLT Junior Master Gardener initiative in the community, which was designed to offer alternative employment opportunities for youth, as well as provide free produce to the community. One unintended positive result was that the garden also provided a peaceful gathering space for youth and other community members.
Finally, the Near West shared progress on the Through It initiative that is currently nearing its distribution phase. This initiative created by and for Near West residents seeks to provide people with short videos of deep-breathing exercises with the goal of helping to lower stress levels.
All committees were interested and excited by the community-level initiatives happening in the other communities. And these initiatives provided just a few examples of work happening in the DIP-IN communities, with much more going on behind the scenes.
We plan to have these all-steering committee meetings more frequently in the future to focus on sharing and to discuss opportunities for increasing collaboration across DIP-IN communities. We are excited to take this energy with us into the coming weeks and look forward to regularly convening as a larger group.