The Economic Opportunities Council of Indian River County has received $330,000 in federal funding to improve nutrition services at its Head Start and Early Head Start centers, including kitchen renovations, a greenhouse and a dedicated space for mothers.
The grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its Administration for Children and Families will support improvements at three centers in Indian River County and one in Okeechobee County.
The project is designed to strengthen the facilities where the organization prepares meals for young children while providing opportunities to teach them about healthy eating.
Angela Davis-Green, executive director of the Economic Opportunities Council, said the funding will help address the needs of families served by the program.
“We serve low-income families with the rising costs and the different things that our families face,” Davis-Green said. “You know, sometimes just making sure the children that are in our presence are getting the meals that they need is essential, so it definitely will help all of our families to ensure the children are receiving what they need.”
The centers serve nearly 90,000 meals annually to approximately 350 children, according to the organization.
The funding will cover full kitchen renovations at the Douglas center in Wabasso and the St. Helen's center in Gifford, along with kitchen equipment upgrades at four centers to support a transition from gas to electric appliances.
The project also includes a greenhouse at St. Helen's to complement its existing raised-bed gardens.
Davis-Green said the improvements will help the organization provide meals that support children's health.
“Not just the fast foods or whatever. A combination of the gardens as well as the ingredients that we'll be preparing in the kitchen,” she said. “We're going to make sure that those are healthy choices for our children.”
The organization also plans to purchase a nutrition curriculum to help children learn about food through hands-on activities.
Davis-Green said children already participate in growing produce in the centers' gardens, with harvested ingredients used in the kitchen.
“We're actually cooking it in kitchen,” she said. “Even if it's like lettuce or something like that to give our children the opportunity to taste things that they may not experience on a day-to-day.”
The curriculum will build on those activities by introducing children to unfamiliar foods and helping them understand how nutrition affects their health.
“Introduce them to things that they're probably not familiar with. Learning how to grow their own foods and just knowing that it's good for their bodies,” Davis-Green said.
The grant will also fund a dedicated mother's room at the Douglas center, providing a private space for mothers participating in the Early Head Start program.
The project requires a 20% nonfederal match, according to the organization, highlighting the role of community support in sustaining its services.