Nutrition
IAM’s nutritional mission is to encourage and empower healthier choices based on the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans and MyPlate.gov.
IAM’s nutritional goals are to establish healthy eating habits and a physically active lifestyle and to prevent and postpone the onset of disease by providing good nutrition. Good nutrition helps individuals with HIV maintain a healthy weight and absorb HIV medicines.
We do this by providing general nutritional guidance to Interfaith AIDS Ministry clients and their families.
The Living Pantry
THE LIVING PANTRY, the only food/personal care item pantry in the region that seeks to meet the specific nutrition needs of people living with HIV/AIDS and their families. Many of our clients, in addition to living with HIV/AIDS have other life threatening diseases, such as, cancer, hepatitis, kidney disease, etc. IAM is the only pantry in the area that provides fresh foods, with a nutritionist on staff offering assessments, education and guidance to our pantry recipients.
The food pantry provides both nutritious food and assistance to clients to help them use their other food resources, such as food stamps, most effectively.
Education
The openness, trust, and sense of hope our organization has established in our community positions IAM as the perfect venue to attract clients who need assistance. THE LIVING PANTRY is a viable vehicle in educating our community against this deadly disease. Our target populations also includes a diverse group of high risk individuals, such as, former drugs users, sex workers, transgender, and LGBTQ individuals.
Youth Reacting to AIDS (YRTA) is a program to inform the youth on HIV/AIDS prevention through a peer educational program. Our goal is to expand and strengthen HIV/AIDS prevention education among adolescents and to develop youth educators and peer leaders in order to prevent the risky behavior of sexually active youths participating in unprotected sex and assisting them by preventing them from contracting HIV/AIDS and STD’s. YRTA provides culturally competent peer AIDS education and coordinates community services and social events for people living with HIV/AIDS. In 1994, YRTA sponsored Connecticut’s first youth originated AIDS conference and continues to sponsor this conference annually.
GLS + Guardians is an innovative program which seeks to prevent HIV/AIDS in at risk populations in the Greater Danbury community through increased awareness and knowledge to reduce risk of HIV/AIDS.
Useful Links
Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition (CARC)
HIV InSite – The comprehensive, online textbook of HIV disease from the University of California San Francisco and San Francisco General Hospital.
RNAi (NOVA, PBS) – A wayward petunia leads to the discovery of modest little molecules with enormous medical promise. See the 15-minute broadcast segment.
The Body – The comprehensive HIV/AIDS resource. Links you to their site map for easy navigation.
Connecticut Department of Public Health – HIV/AIDS Surveillance. AIDS statistics and population information. Lots of great links here.
CDC, Centers for Disease Control, US Gov’t – Need Fast Facts? Get them here! The CDC HIV surveillance page.