And now the 490.

With Gretchen de Bakker might kill them.

And Kevin Mullin.

Oh!

Welcome to the 419, powered by CTE and presented by Retro Wealth Management.

I'm Kevin Mullin alongside.

Just Matt.

Kill him.

We lost one.

Yeah.

Today.

It's a. Dark day.

It is I maybe we need to clarify that Gretchen will be back.

Yes, but for today.

Yeah.

She is out of town.

And so we're we're flying without mom.

That's right.

It is.

In full candor, the show is always at its bes when Gretchen, is fully engaged.

So this is going to be.

Just start hitting your radio dial right now.

It is, interesting to me as I think about it.

And I talk to people about the show, like, we each play a unique role in the show.

And, you know, we'll finish a conversation, we'll finish an episode.

And I'll be like, Gretchen didn't talk a whole lot like.

But when she did, it was like keeping us on the rails and keeping you and I from completely losing our minds.

So really, anything is possible today?

Yeah.

This is.

I'm very uncomfortable.

Yeah, yeah.

We're we're missing a little bit of the show.

Gretchen is, was traveling.

She is at a parents weekend with her beloved niece in Boulder, Colorado.

So we are going to carry the torch to the very best we can, and we will try to fill in, and play the role of Gretchen.

It's when we can.

Yeah, it's wellness Wednesday, presented by Work Spring.

And there is nothing well, about what's happening here today.

It's, I genuinely I genuinely like you, Matt, but it is weird for you and I sitting next to each other because that has not happene yet.

Yeah.

I don't care for it.

Yeah.

No.

Well, yeah.

Well we'll get some people on here.

We've got great guests.

A couple of friends, of me personally and friends of the show.

And I will try to think of questions that Gretchen would have asked, that we're we're poignant and the buffoonery, that will be shown in her absence.

Yeah.

So we've got Michelle Cleveland, and Alison Forema are going to be on the program.

And then, Sonia McNair.

Sonia is with urban.

Urban, holistic, but a champion of all kinds of things, so.

And a real spark plug So I'm thrilled to have her on.

Yeah.

It's a going to be a great Wednesday Wellness Wednesday edition presented by Work Spring.

And we'll continue tha on the other side of the break.

Thanks for joining us here on the 419.

Support for the 419 comes from Row Wealth Management, where we understand that your financial path is personal.

Advisory services are offered through Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC, securities offered through Capital Investment Group member Finra, SIPC.

More information at Retro advisors.com.

The 419 powered by GT is made possible in part by supporters like you.

Thank you.

Introducing the local Fred, a community news series uniting voices and storytellers from across the region in partnership with La Prensa, the Toledo Free Press, the Sojourner Truth, Toledo Public School and Rethinking Jails injustice.

The local thread brings you stories and conversations that connect our community here at weeknights at seven on FM 91, with early access on podcast platforms each morning to local friend only on.

Welcome back into the 419 A Wellness Wednesday.

You can hear it in my throat.

It's wellness.

It's that you can see.

It on my face.

Man.

It's that time of year when it goes like warm to cold, cold.

The war and wellness is out the window.

We are joined now by Michelle Cleveland, the wellness consultant and a registered dietitian with Savage and Associates.

Thanks for being here.

Good morning.

And, Michelle we should be transparent here.

We have been friends for a while.

And.

I love to have you on.

Yes, yes.

So this is, nice for me.

I do want to talk about the title first, because it's important.

It's talk a little bit about the moniker underneath your name.

I have a whole bunch alphabet soup past my name, but I am a registered dietitian, and most people don't, really know the difference between a registered dietitian nutritionist.

Registered dietitian.

That means I went to four years of undergraduate, a year of an internship, and a master's degree, and I'm licensed by the state medical board to provide guidanc for medical nutrition therapy.

Many of your nutritionist titles are just a two week certificate.

I can print this off at the end and, you know, hey, look at what I can do type thing.

Sure.

So the messaging gets confusing or you're down in that type of situation.

But where did this come from?

Like, where did you get interested in this?

Were you as a kid kind of always, you know, judging what the person next to you was eating.

Or.

Actually, most dietitians like, we don't even pay attention what other people eat, so we're never dirty.

But the funny part was, I was trying to figure out what to do with myself.

I, my husband was my boyfriend at the time, and I was like, I don't know what to do.

He goes, I think you can smel fat grams across the room.

Yeah.

And so he and I, what a charmer, right?

Is me.

We sa down together and I look through this is back in the printed catalog time at UT and found a nutrition course.

I grew up in a hom that was all cardiac oriented.

My mother was only 44 years old when she had her first double bypass.

You're kidding me.

I didn't know that.

Yeah, it was, you know, I was 18 watching that happen, and it was.

Yes.

Quite, impactful.

Yes.

And so.

But what the the cool part was, is that she came out the other side and with, you know, changes in how she ate, her activity and of course, medical influence.

She's did great for many, many years.

And so it was amazing.

And that was kind of what impacted me.

And this was a complicated question.

I know this is right.

In your real house as well.

Kevin, one of the love of my life, has had some massive heart traumas.

Well, one of the to my stepfather, and he is able to quit smokin and quit drinking, immediately.

But his diet is and has always been a bit of his challenge.

Yes.

Can you talk a little bit about that?

I'm not sophisticated enoug to ask, sophisticated questions, so bear with me.

But what are all the mechanisms that make the diet such a difficult journey or challenge?

Well, there's multifaceted.

First, the physical part of what happens in the body when you eat, but the emotional part that people kind of forget about.

We all want to look at the sheet and go, this is what I'm going to do.

But then emotion hits right.

And so we have different.

We eat because we're happy, because we're sad, becaus we're social and the holidays.

And so these are the components that kind of come in and impact how we eat.

When it comes to eating, there's no such thing as perfect.

Perfect does not exist.

But yet we always try and strive for that.

When when somebody's talking diet, you're like, ooh, if somebody hands you a sheet that has a list of yeses and no's, take the sheet and throw it in the garbage, because it's not really probably good advice.

That's great.

Yes.

So most of the time what you want to do is make small changes and incremental and make a big impact.

So if there's 365 days in the year and 12 holidays, who cares about the holidays?

Yeah, we look at some of the other ones because we're always like oh, I can't have oh, you know, I feel I'm a bad person because I ate.

And my usual responses will, did anyone di because you had a cookie?

Yeah.

If nobody died because you ate a cookie, then it was just a cookie.

Yeah, sure.

So, you know those things kind of build up.

And so what we look at is frequency or what can you eat more of to get to where you want to be.

Talked to me about that.

Yeah.

All right.

The perfect concept is if you can focus on making sure that you eat some fruits and vegetables through the day, no matter what they are, then you're doing somethin positive that helps your heart.

That helps you know your overall function on your body.

Those are the things that I focus on is what can you do more of instead of telling you no, no, no.

Do you ever tell a child to stop touching something?

Yes.

What are they doing?

Two seconds later, immediately.

You ever told Matt to stop touching nothing?

Yes.

Yeah I just said you were touching.

Yeah.

Put my fidget spinner around you So if you if you take that focus, it's never going to accomplish anything.

So if we take the positive spin and say how can we get more of this in your diet, whether it's a scoop on your plate or mixed into something it still counts as vegetables.

Just make sure there's vegetables somewhere and a couple meals out of the day.

We're talking with Michelle Cleveland from Savage and Associates here on a Wellness Wednesday presented by Work Spring.

I mean that hits it's hit home with me Mat because you know, 20 years ago I had a cardiologist say hey with your family history, you should probably cut back on caffeine and I at the next day, cold turkey.

No more.

No more coffee.

No more soda.

Oh, get cold turkey.

That's right, that's right.

From then on, a. Cold turkey diet.

But I was like, just done, right?

But he said, because there's three things I need from you.

I need you to just cut back on coffee a little bit, eat healthier and exercise.

And I was like, well, I'm not going to do two and three, s I'm going to go all in on one.

I think that's going to make up for it.

And then four years ago I had my own heart trauma.

And the cardiologist again said, hey, with the medicine you're on, no grapefruit, which is a weird thing.

Yes it does.

It does influence how the medication works.

And and no and and no alcohol.

And I was like, yeah, no problem.

Like that was an easy yeah.

Flip of the switch change for me.

But then it was also like there's a specific amount of water I'm supposed to have every day.

Not too much.

Not too little, like you say, like I drink all the water you can, but it was like.

But that makes my heart have to work harder, so let's not do that.

And then I got to eat healthy, and I again struggle so much with that.

And for me, my, you know, the risk of this being a free session for me, like I mean, my struggle is so much that I'm like, oh, I can do it later, right?

I can make this like, oh, yeah, we'll start the number of times I say, we'll start on Monday.

Yeah, sure.

And I don't know ho many Mondays have come and gone.

Right.

And I fall my I fall back into, my ways.

I will every time I try to, like, focus on I'm going to eat healthy.

What I do is I limit, the variety of things that I eat, and that is not sustainable because it's not fun to eat anymore.

Exactly.

So what are some of the I, I maybe I'll start like what?

What is the core like?

This is healthy, right?

This is wha your basic nutrition for a day should look like.

There's there's no such thing as perfect as I mentioned.

It's just not going to be.

So when somebody wants to make a change, the first thing I want to look at is what's your patterns?

You know, I the number one thing I recommend to people isn't anything about food.

It's make every piece of food sit down, pull the focus to it.

Stop eating in our cars.

Stop eating in front of the television.

Okay.

Nice having you on.

Tell me why that's important.

When you eat, the first thing you do is you eat with your eyes.

Yeah.

Then your nose and your mouth, and then even your ears for the crunch.

And so when we eat in front of screens or in the car, it's like, and you're driving and you're going in and all of a sudden you're like there are no fries left.

Yeah.

And so we've never been sensory satisfied enough to know that we've actually eaten.

And that feeling of fullness never quite hits us because we're focusing everywhere else.

You can physically only focus on one item at a time.

You can jump between quickly, but you can only focus on one item at a time.

And so if you're not focusing on the food and you're not tasting it and you're not recognizing that feelin that I am eating and fullness, you'll just keep going in all different directions and you'll overconsume without realizing it.

This is blowing my mind.

I'm embarrassing you, man.

Yeah, yeah, I mean, I'm I'm I. Do watch television shows with people eating that only.

Yeah.

So does that.

Said that.

Yeah that one.

But I mean I, I consider peak of efficiency is working for lunch.

Right.

Like it's like yeah I'm going to I'm going to do this thin and I'm just going to shuffle.

But you're absolutely right.

It's the reason why I, like, you can sit down and watch, you know, you're watching a movie and eating popcorn and you crush an insane amount of popcorn or pretzels or whatever it is an have no idea that it happened.

I for those people who ar interested in the science of it, and I can't imagine people like that listening to our show, but, can you talk a little bit about the signals?

How does the communication work from stomach to brain?

Very complex, but, simplistically, it it's, signaling between actually the taste buds to the brain.

For example if you're only eating one item, we generally tend to keep craving that item.

And that' because this keeps telling this.

Oh, that's really good.

Oh, that's that popcorn.

Oh, that tastes good.

And then the mouth.

Is talking to brain at this point.

So the stomach and the brain take a little longer to communicate distance.

And, and you know other focuses.

But then that usually can b like if you're wait, you know, the classic wait ten minutes before you get seconds.

That gives that stomach the time to say, I am full.

There are, hormones that regulate hunger and fullness.

But there's also survival fight or flight.

Sure.

I always say hug.

Hunger is like a super long spectrum.

It's if I don't get something to eat and I'm going to pass out and die.

Yeah, sure.

If I put one more bite in my mouth, I will explode Thanksgiving once a year just fine.

Not going to hurt anything, okay?

But about 4 to 5 hours.

Why we're awake, roughly, is, the quietest cues and the easiest to recognize and stop eating.

The farther we get out here, the more the fight or flight and the cues get louder.

Like, go get something.

Now, you know, I'm going to just pass out or oh my gosh, I need to crawl to the couch quickly.

So if you're trying to ea more of your own internal cues, pulling the focus at the table but also set that time frame of about every 4 to 5 hours, I'm going to assess if I'm hungry, and if I am, I'm going to sit down and have a snack.

Some of the mistakes people make are like, I'm fine, that breakfast and lunch.

But man, the moment I get home I can't stop.

And that's usually if lunch was at noon an you walked in the door at six, you're past that window, right?

You're in fight or flight.

And so at that point, what I usually tell people is sit down to eat a piece of fruit before you make any other decisions, because fruit has that great simple carbohydrate and complex carbohydrate.

So the simple goes up, gets the brain functioning and focusing again where it's supposed to.

And the complex is that, fibrous stuff that stays in your stomach a little bit longer so you're not overly hungry from there, you can make better decisions the rest of the evening that are more guide to what you want to accomplish.

We're talking with Michelle Cleland, wellness coordinator for Savage and Associates.

I have so many more question for you about this because I'm really fascinated by it.

Yeah, I guess I'm just I'm curious.

Well, I'm sure we'll dive back into some food here in a little bit, but why?

Why does Savage and Associates have a wellness coordinator?

Good question.

If you know anything about the company, it started in life insurance moved on to, financial planning, and then they brought in group health benefits because most people who are looking at it need to make sur they have their life insurance or what are you doing for your health benefits?

Do you work for a company individual?

I'm actually house under the group Health Benefits.

So anyone we broke our health insurance for I'm part of their benefits package on it.

That's that's awesome.

So then you are then availabl to go out to those organizations and talk about this stuf with they or with the employees.

Yeah, exactly.

I'm curious to in the career, that you've had, which is the amount of time that we're comfortable talking about out loud.

Yes.

But it's 25 years.

That's right.

Yeah, I knew, I knew do that, but that's right.

Thank you for your show.

I'll start at six.

Yeah.

So, you know, some of the things we talk about, it's reall our standard for wildly complex.

We are both, from an organis standpoint, complex and simple.

How do you stay up on the current science?

You know, I do talk about this in terms of, like, you know, having children.

My mom joked about the things that I did with my kids were the opposite of what they were told.

Is there is there a similar component to your work?

I saw an old advertisement from like the 40s that talked about butter or large.

It was time that you should consume this because it helps, your bloo pass through your veins better because it coats them.

Yeah, that was partially true.

It does cut.

Them.

But it's a clog in nature.

Yeah.

It's not what we want them to us.

Is it?

That's right.

Is there is there a mechanism of change that that you've seen an old 25 years?

I would imagine that to be the case.

Yes.

And in a good way.

What we've done is looked at, we've improved our ability to research nutrition.

It's very hard to research what somebody is actually eating, because if I sat and asked what you ate yesterday.

Yeah, most people don't.

Yeah They don't.

Know.

Yeah, right.

I don't want to tell you actually.

So improving that research and the looking at things in big picture has made advancements.

I'm required for my registration to get 75 credit hours every five years to keep up.

Interesting.

My current, licensure and, certification.

So, I have to take these classes and go to conferences and stay up on things.

What is it?

I'm sorry.

What is the battle, then?

This is not a soapbox question, necessarily, unless it's appropriate to be.

So what is the battle between, nutrition and science in commerce, meaning, juice cleanses and, hot yoga, whic I could actually be appropriate.

Okay.

So most of those commerce is marketing selling the product, right?

Okay.

Medical professionals suc as myself do not sell a product.

Right?

We educate.

We, you know, do no harm.

We do our best to help somebody.

And so what we say doesn't have a hook.

It's not a cool marketing tool.

And so therefore these juice cleanses which do nothin but kind of upset your stomach.

But They certainly do.

Yes, yes, yes.

And very unpleasant experience.

Don't recommend them at all.

Yeah, yeah.

But yes, it's usually some sort of hook because people want that quick fix.

They want that.

Help me do this.

Now, why can't I do this now when where they're at didn't happen overnight, right?

So getting back to where they want to be isn' going to happen overnight.

Yes.

And so it's that, they I in my public health degree, we had a class all on like social marketing.

Oh, sure.

Yes.

Yeah.

Interesting.

One of the, the things at the time was, market and figur out how to sell colonoscopies.

Yeah.

You know, let's make you uncomfortable.

Sure.

You know, and talk about things that are really not fun to talk about.

Yeah, but you should speak for yourself, right?

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

So, it's not that when it when it comes down to real science and things that help your body, it's not that big, You know, and you'll.

Get you'll look thinner tomorrow.

Right.

And it's not going to work that way.

And yes.

At its core and I know this is like the part that's refreshin because it's so simple is that, I mean, it's I've heard people say it's it's math, right?

So if you're burning mor calories than you're consuming, you're going to lose weight.

Yes.

The end.

Yes.

Is it that simple?

It is.

But the complexity comes i all the emotional parts of it.

You know, the things that have, you know, impacted how we eat throughout our life, the family gatherings and stuff like that, or even just that whole like, oh, I feel bad about myself because I ate this.

Sure.

So this is where, the complexity comes in.

Yes, it is about calories.

I go ahead.

Yeah.

No, I'm trying to interrupting.

I also it isn't about weight loss, right?

I mean, I think tha that's something to make mention important, too, although that is something that, you know, we are sort of hyper focused on from a cultural standpoint.

But can you talk a little bit about what a goal should be?

It isn't just about esthetics, it is about what?

Right.

And I will tell people, I will never tell you what to weigh.

That's that's personal.

10% decrease in weight can make all the, all the, you know, impact you want.

The rest is just your own personal, and so when you look at it that way, sometimes the small changes are really what you're looking for.

And so you want to make changes that, you're able to stay with.

Yeah.

And so everyone wants to get rid of their favorite food.

It's like I'm not getting rid of my coffee.

Yeah, sure I'll work somewhere else first.

So get rid of the things that don't mean anything and make that small impact and then keep building from there.

Or, you know, maybe my goal is only to eat on whole piece of fruit every day and, you know, keep moving from there.

So small impact is what usually work on and sustainable.

Sure.

Is it.

Is.

Michelle Cleland, wellness coordinator with Savage and Associates joining us here on a wellness Wednesday presented by Work Spring.

Michelle, thank you so much.

Thank you.

That's I think.

This is so many more topics I want to get into.

We got to have you back on the program.

Any time you let me know.

And I'm here.

Awesome.

Thank you so much.

We come back Allison Foreman, the CEO of Mobile Meals, will join us here on the 419.

We'll be right back.

To me, community means connecting to others.

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Where you come to watch, listen and learn.

Welcome back into the 419, a Wellness Wednesday edition presented by Works Break.

We're joined now by Allison Foreman from Mobile Meals.

Allison, thanks for being here.

Good morning and happy.

I don't know, almost springtime but it's like, what did we do?

We leaped forward.

Yes, it's a cheater.

Time of the year.

You know what it is?

You're never wearing the right clothes.

You're either too hot or too cold.

So people should.

Be prepared for this.

Lighting sounds like short sleeves.

You did right?

Yeah.

No, Gretchen.

Today.

So we've already apologized to you and our audience.

It's the real team.

So just bear with us.

You are relatively new to your role.

How long have you been at mobile meals?

About two and a half years.

I've been at mobile meals.

Before that, I worked at another meals on Wheels agency for 12 years.

So, food is my passion.

And older adults, I just love working with older adults.

I was raised, my grandma used to watch me every day.

So I definitely have an affinity for older adults and they need us a lot.

We'll talk to us about that.

What was what is or what was she like?

And then how did that transition into this career path?

So, my grandma, actually, in my family, used to own a restaurant just over the border in temperance called Snyder's.

All right.

I don't know how to cook pies.

So I would get up early in the morning and make pies of my grandma.

And then she would take me to school, because my parents, both my mom worked at the hospital, at the Mercy Hospital, and my dad, like, was a salesman.

So they were up early.

So my grandma always took me to school, picked me up from school.

So I spent a lot of tim with my grandma.

Was her name.

Harriet?

Yeah, I love it.

Yeah, it was the.

What was the big pie?

What was the favorite?

Oh, so what's interesting is our my favorite pie was like a, like, either a chocolate pie or the creme pies, which is interesting, which is probably why our fundraiser that's coming up this week is pies and Pints.

Love it.

And, our chef made chocolate peanut butter pie.

And so I think that kind of harkens back to, like, oh my gosh, my grandma would.

Love that.

Because we talk about pies and pints.

On our Wellness Wednesday, it's important just to remind people that Michelle said one day doesn't matter.

That's right.

And so this one day, one day, one slice.

Yeah that's right girl.

Well, is that even possible when you go to a pie, some planes you can have, you can have more than one slice.

You can make a slice any size you want.

Yeah.

That's fair.

Yeah.

That' we have a pizza pie slice.

Yes.

Okay I love it I love it.

This is.

My nutritionist.

Allison.

What.

What is mobile meals?

So mobile meals is a home delivered meal providers who are providing healthy, nutritious meals delivered right to people's door.

So, again, for folks that are homebound, can't get out, can't prepare meals.

And it's mostly older adults, but we do serve people who are disabled and are under the age of 60 as well.

And so, you know, it's hard for people to stand and cook their proportionate pre-portioned meals.

So you have the right healthy protein, some fruits, some veggies, milk, dairy, bread.

We do specialized meals, vegetarian, vegan, renal diet, cardiac diet.

So I know like Michelle talked about cardiac meals.

That's a rising, type of meal that people are requesting.

We also do palliative meals.

So those are chopped meals.

So say if you have, Parkinson's and if your hand shakes a little bit, we have chopped up meals for folks.

I wouldn't have thought of that.

Yeah.

And then we have, for thos who have, swallowing problems.

So sometimes folks with dementia and Alzheimer's swallowing becomes harder.

So we have those kind of pureed meals, and we provide those not only t people directly to their home.

We also work with the senior centers and in memory lane, which is a dementia adult day program.

And we provide their meals for them as well.

It's I was going to as how people get to mobile meals.

Right.

Is this something where, you know, somebody is, you know, listening to or watching this program, they can pick up the phone and they can call and say, hey, I want to be a part of this, or does it go through another agency?

How do people get their latch away?

So we want to make it as easy as possible for people to sign up.

So if it's the weeken and we're not typically there, we have an online system for folks to sign up, and then we'll call you and get you set up, doctor's offices, refer people to us.

Family refers, refers to US area Office on Aging, which is, you know, that would be for folks who maybe are getting Medicare, Medicaid meals, or title three, which is that older adults act money.

So when you hear like at the federal level and they talk about funding for programs that Meals on Wheels we are a meals on wheels entity, we get some of that funding trickled down to us.

We also have if you voted the last November, the senior levy was a not only reauthorized bu also had an additional increase.

So a lot of clients, who are over the age of 60, who live in Lucas County, come to us through that program a lot because you get five meals a week for free.

This, seniors, I think, and please correct me, is our largest demographic right now are certainl a large part of our population.

So we talked to us a little bit about the need.

And then I'll let you talk about the logistics of pulling all this off, because that's got to be pretty complicated.

Yeah, but how many people in our area, are in need of this service?

So it's definitely growing.

So by 2030 will be kind of when we flipped the scales, where I would be the first time in U.S.

history we have more older adults, people over the age of 6 than those under the age of 18.

So that's huge.

And so we're funding is not keeping pace to support all the older adult and all the services they need.

I will say, in Lucas County and in Ohio in general, really good job, because a lot of, fellow neighbors and residents realize there's a need.

And so folks are stepping up, you know, they're, votin yes to support senior services.

So we know probably in the next 2 to 3 years, we'll probably need to serve anywhere from 5 to 8000 older adults in Lucas County.

Wow.

That's a. Lot.

Every day within and within a year.

So people come on and off the program.

But on average, people are on our program about six months to up to two years.

Yeah.

So long period of time.

So we're not a one and done kind of agency.

We're seeing folks every day and we're seeing them for many years, which is good because we're keeping people in their home longer where they want to be with food and supportive service.

And I think that's a win.

Right.

So we want to be out of assisted living and people want to be in the community they love.

That is not something that I would have thought of right away.

I'm glad you said that.

Allison, not just the breadth of, your offerings.

And I hope that's the right way to say that.

That's that's complex to execute in a single day.

But what is the mechanism that accounts for this meals, the preparation and the delivery.

How does it get from, of into seniors mouths?

Yeah.

So logistics is huge for us.

I always told people I never realized when I became a nonprofit person, how much logistics I would need to learn.

I can't imagine.

So we have 11 vehicles that deliver meals out.

So we have some paid driver that are driving those routes, but then we have 44 volunteer routes each day.

So again, we're talking about over 50 routes to get out through Lucas County.

Sure.

So the way we kind of do that and working backwards.

So we have all those routes and Lucas County is big.

Some of it's urban, some of it's rural, some of it's suburban.

So in order to make that work for us.

So we have a central kitchen in downtown, Toledo off of Jefferson at the Mercy College.

So we're in an old Mercy Hospital kitchen and.

Your mom's old stomping ground.

Yep.

Yeah.

My mom worked at Riverside, but, But close, but really close because we have, what, 3 or 4 mercy hospitals in downtown at one time which is just amazing to think that there was that many hospitals.

But because that's a central location that doesn't make sense to getting to people in Watervill and White House in Swanton and, you know, out into Oregon.

So what we try to do is we have five different satellite locations.

So our drivers, before they start doing their deliveries for the day, have a drop off point in various parts of, of Lucas County.

So we have one in Sylvania, we have a location in Oregon and we have them, you know just throughout little different areas of Toledo.

So if you're a volunteer and you're delivering out to, say, Waterville white House, you're picking up at the old Saint Luke's to deliver meals out so you don't have to come all the way downtown to us.

So we try to take that into consideration.

So when you're a volunteer, you know you can get your route done in an hour to an hour and a half rather than, say, two, 2.5 hours.

If you have to come down and get the meals from us.

We're talking with Alliso Forman, the CEO of Mobile Meals.

It's just like that.

So we got a mutual friend, in Wendy Huntley, with connecting kids to meals.

I think she's.

Is she still serve on your board or.

She does.

And the logistics of.

Okay.

I mean, it is hard enough for me when my wife is gone to make a meal and get i from the kitchen to the table, let alone get it from the kitchen to Waterville.

And it's still it's still warm, still tastes good.

It's still all of those things.

What what are the different?

I mean, on the volunteer side, I mean, where where are your volunteers coming from?

So a lot of our volunteers are retired.

We actually, as April is national volunteer Month, we're we're gearing up fo our volunteer recognition event, and we probably have over 75 to 100 volunteers who have been volunteerin with us for over 20 years.

Wow.

So really making a part lon term of their general every day where they're coming out delivering a meal.

And that's great for your wellness too.

As we're talking about wellness, volunteerism is so good for your health and so good for just positive energy.

It's so good for you.

And I'm telling you, it's the best part of my day when I get to go out and delive a meal, too, I'd like to be able to talk to someone for a couple of minutes, ask how their day is going, and deliver that nice meal.

Ask what they're looking forward to, you know, this sprin or the upcoming Easter holiday.

And people are just really generally excited.

I was going to ask you, there's probably, dozens of them, but do you have a favorite story?

And on your journey of meal delivery or nonprofi or an moment when you're like, this is what my like my calling is.

So I there's many I. But yeah.

Recently you know the we always say volunteers are that lifeline and they help save lives.

It goes both ways.

Like every week or every other week, there's someone who has com across a client who has fallen, and we're able to call 911 and hel get that person to the hospital much quicke than if it had been a day or two before someone had noticed they had fallen.

But a story that kind of flips it on, on its ear a little bit is we had, a volunteer.

She'd been volunteering for 15 years with us and she knew this client really, really well.

Well, she came to the door and she didn't look right.

The volunteer, her, face had sagged a little bit.

Her lips had been turning a little bit blue, and the client called us and said, you know miss So-and-so was I miss Smith delivered my meal today and she just didn't look right.

And so I wanted to call you.

And sure enough we looked on the route delivery, app, and she didn't do any more deliveries after that first stop.

So we called.

She didn't respond.

We found out that she lived, in a older adult, independent living facility.

So we called it the management, office.

And so, you know, we're trying to get Ahold of Mrs.

Smith.

We think something happened, and sure enough, they went to into her apartment, and she was, she was breathing, but she wa she was having the early signs of a stroke.

Sure.

And so they were able to cal 911 and get her to the hospital.

You only have about a four hour window there, so that's a big deal.

And it speaks to the relationship that the drivers and the, kind of clients have that they get to know each other well enough to say or care.

Yeah.

Hey, well, that's right.

Yeah.

That' a, that's a big piece there too.

We're talking with Allison Foreman with mobile meals.

Let's talk about your pies and pints, event coming up.

Is there still an opportunity for people to be able to support?

Yeah, absolutely.

So Pies and Pint will be on March 12th this year.

We we decided not to have it on the actual 314 this year.

So it's going to b this Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m.

at the Brew Works location on South Detroit and West Gate.

Folk can swing by between that time.

No ticket needed.

You just come, purchase your pie and pint for $10, and $7 comes back to us.

And that's notable because by you coming out and enjoying that wonderful beer and have a slice of pie that also provides a meal for a homebound senior delivered to their door.

That's awesome.

That's awesome.

All right, Allison, that you also hear as, Michelle was leaving and coming in, you guys know each other because, Michelle works with your team, at Mobile Meals on Wellness and Nutrition as well.

She does.

They're really great.

We've used Savage for a really long time for our health and wellness benefits, but they recently just started a new program for medical nutrition counseling.

And probably it was like 2 or 3 weeks ago, I went to the offic and she told everybody about it.

I've already had six of my staff go there, and one person said, this is really going to make a difference in my wellness journey because she recently had a new health diagnosis and she was feeling really down about the changes it was going to mean and she came back and she said, Michell is the most personable person, and she really made me feel like she cared and gave me stuff to start right away that are small, that are really going to improve my, my health.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

All right.

It's now time.

She's she's not here, but we're still going to play what quiz?

I'm asking you for rapid fire questions.

I'll also ask you for your favorite thing in the region.

I'll be playing the role of Gretchen.

And then Matt's going to work with you.

Describe Toledo in exactly nine words.

You ready?

I'm ready.

All right.

Have you ever lost a bet?

Yes.

Sometimes I love when they answer just directly the question.

Yeah.

I was expecting you to give me more details.

But good for you for not doing it.

No boundaries.

What's the last text message that you sent?

Oh, my gosh, that's so boring.

My last tex message is I'm on my way home.

Yes, sir.

On a night out with friends, are you the first to go home or the last to be out?

I'm usually the last.

All right.

And then what's the one possession that you cannot live without?

Books.

What's the last book you read?

Sarah Marsh, from the Throne of Glass stories.

There's six of them.

I'm almost done with them.

Okay, so good.

Favorable or good?

You recommend them?

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

One word.

One word to describe to leader of the region.

What's the best thing about Toledo?

Community.

All right.

I heard you say Metroparks.

All right.

I like nine words to describe the region I'm going to put down.

Community is one.

So you're already off and running.

What else.

Oh it's not one word.

Can it be like nine hands.

We'll give you two words for that.

Keep going.

Great.

See?

Hot dogs.

Hot dogs.

Do you have a favorite hot dog emporium?

No, because I'm vegetarian, so a. Great place for vegetarian hot dogs.

Or give you one of the words for that.

I got three left.

Okay.

It's certainly caring.

Yeah, definitely.

All right.

Volunteering.

Volunteering.

Get one left.

Ooh.

Okay.

What's the last one be?

Oh, gosh.

I say green, I love it.

You did it.

Nailed it.

So you made it through all my words and still didn' talk about the Metroparks, man.

That's okay, but Green makes me think of Metro.

Yes, I'll take it.

I was thinking generosity.

And the folks that are gonna come out and support pies and pint tomorrow at Ernest Brew Works.

Well, you're going to show us some green.

That's exactly right.

You're right.

That's exactly right.

Allison, thank you so muc for joining us on the program.

Love to talk more about, as you guys have got cool things going on.

Are you doing a drive for volunteers at that?

Maybe if folks want more information on mobile meals, where do they find it?

Mobile meals at org.

And then same website if they want to volunteer.

Yeah.

And when you go right at the to toolbar I'll say get involved.

You click on that, you fill out a little bit of information.

You'r how we get Ahold of you, your, you know, your phone number and your email.

And someone will be in touch within probably 24 hours.

What's the what's the minimum commitment I have to mak if I want to be a volunteer?

Oh.

Maybe four times a year.

Awesome.

We can do that.

That's doable.

Yeah.

Yep.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

When we come back, Sonia from Urban Holistic is going to be joining u on the program here on the 419.

We'll be right back.

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Welcome back into the 419 It's Wellness Wednesday, presented by Work Spring.

And we're talking to folks that are growing wellness in all different ways across the region.

We're joined now by Sonia Flunde McNair with Urban holistic.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thanks for being here.

Thank you for having me.

Tell me.

I'm so excited to be here.

I am amazed that you and I have not met.

Him as well.

Because I know you very well.

So am I, but today is the day.

And I'm also here.

Yeah.

I'll just sit in between you guys.

Totally excited.

Yeah.

Tell me about all of the things.

I mean we don't have that long for you to fill in your activities, but, you and I have been friends for a while, which I'm proud to say.

And my life is better because of it.

But let's take it from the top.

Recently, given, a pretty important, certification, proclamatio from our county commissioners.

But tell m all the things that is, Sonia.

So, what we're working on is, Minority Healt Month is coming up on April 4th.

That is an event that will happen at the farm.

I do want to say that our space, it's always been a green space, but now it's registered with USDA.

So it is an actual farm.

Urban farms are getting the clout that they deserve.

And, we are actively just trying to make sure that everybody, even outside of Toledo, knows that there is a model that can fit in any space.

And to be successful.

Tell me about this space and where it's at and how it started.

Okay, so in 2019 I called up the land bank and I said, hey, I see some empty lots and I have an idea.

And from 2019, I started building Tatum Park, which is a, holistic green space that sits next t the historical Art Tatum house.

And the goal for that space was to, give people in the neighborhood a sense of, you know, how you fee when you go to the Metro Park.

Yes, ma'am.

Or the botanical gardens or wherever.

A place is beautiful when yo go, it change the way you feel.

And when you don't feel, left out.

Or if you don't feel like everything is unpretty, you act that way.

So when you feel better because things are better in the communit or have a holistic environment, the community, thrives behind that.

So the goal was to create space to see how it would work.

And it worked so well that we've continued to build beyond, Tatum Park and now is, close to three and a half.

It's probably three and a half acre top of the, farmland for children.

It is a youth farm.

Okay.

Yes.

What are you farming?

We farm everything.

Everything like herbs, veggies.

Gourds, squash, whatever you can think of.

Or the kids may think, is there.

And then where does it go?

Oh, we also farm 25 silkie chickens as well.

So we have livestock on our land.

So we have fresh eggs and things like that.

So where does it go on Tuesdays?

One of my great friends, pastor Mike at Salem Church, we make sure that he has food from our farm to feed the 3 to 400 people he feeds on every Tuesday.

So we offer that to Salem Church.

And then on Thursdays at our farm, it's senior day.

Okay, so we have items for dollar.

We cater to our seniors and we just make it to where you have a relationship with your producers.

Yeah, where food comes fro and you're not driving a way out because that's where food was.

Yeah.

Put way out rural areas.

We have to drive.

So since we don't want to do oh, that's too far.

We're so spoiled here.

We don't want to drive way out to rural farmers.

So we serve as an inlet to rural farmers and our partners.

So we partner with them and we bring in produce.

We also, worked with Legacy Farms this year and did a huge initiative, cost and AP forward.

It forward was an initiative to say, hey, Kurt, we have an issue here with food.

Your contracts are, met and most of the food that's on your grounds will go to compost.

So we mobilize the kids that we teach volunteers, and we ended up all together.

Harvestin 9,000 pounds of organic produce.

So you let me ask you a question.

Where does this energy come from?

I mean, this is a passion of yours.

Sure, but you could have an ornate garden and just make it bill.

Or grow your own tomatoes.

Yeah.

Family.

You have to do it for everybody.

Yeah.

Where's this drive come from?

What gets you out of bed to do this?

Well, I, I know it made me better.

It made me feel better.

My health improved.

My mental improved.

So I felt that, you know, it's kind of selfish to show everybody my super powers over and over and over again.

It's best to teach.

Them.

How to do.

And when will you look at the inner city community that suffers a lot because, lack of education or the lack of knowledge or skill?

I've learned that the skill has been the key to, bringing the community in.

So we just don't, show people what we know how to do.

It's the goal is to teach.

Yeah.

And when we teach the kids, the kids go home and they teach their parents, they go to school and they tell the schools that, hey, we this is what we learned about food.

Yeah.

And it kind of changed the dynamics of, children and a community's relationship with food and holistic surroundings.

So it gives them the initiativ to say, hey, I want to do that.

Yeah.

And then, you know, we have, a huge amount of open lots in the community.

Yeah.

Yes, ma'am.

The goal is to take them over.

That with kid in not to age the three of us.

Right.

But, you know, kids and not so boxy either.

But, you know what's step one?

Getting kids on the farm.

I mean, everyone is different, but what's the first thing you do to get there?

Get them to learn about the soil, because that's very, very far from your traditional upbringing.

Now it.

Is.

Computers to phones.

It is because I don't have a slide, a swing, any toys.

It's really an organic draw.

Yes.

Kids are drawn to plants.

They're drawn to anything beautiful.

They're drawn to food.

They want to taste things.

It it hasn't been hard.

I love that.

Not at all.

It's been such an easy task because one thing we all have to do is eat.

Yes, ma'am.

And one thing I've learned about kid is they know what's good, right?

And they know how food makes them feel.

So when they have good food and they feel good, they'll continue to come back.

What's what's your dream for this organization?

My dream is for this model to be nationwide, and we're on our way with doing that, idea.

Just live from Washington, DC with advocating on a federal level.

And I also go to, the state House and do it, on a, on a state level as well.

So the model is a is a model for everyone to be able to follow for revitalization of open spaces that can serve as food hubs.

If the risk of asking an I'm sure is an overly complicated question, I mean it they go into DC and Columbus to advocate for this.

What's the barrier like?

What's the barrier to you doing this that you're advocating for.

Well, the barrier with urban farming is land ownership.

And it's hard to own land you don't really inherit.

John Deere's in the city.

Yes, ma'am.

You don't have equipment.

Unless you have friends that can come along and say, hey, we know that you're trying to do this for the community.

So this is what we're going we're going to do for you.

But the barriers are having what we need to do the job.

And when I started, I had to show people that you can start with a shovel, and small, tools.

You don't have to have the mechanics, but it's good to have that.

Don't work as hard.

Please, please.

No, this this.

We don' we don't want you to work hard.

We just want you to work smart.

Go ahead.

As it were, talking with Sonya Flood of McNair, urban, holistic.

I've got a question.

And I know it's a you never ask a question without knowing the answer, but I know you very well.

But I don't answer this question.

What does a day off look like?

I don't have.

Days.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, that doesn't surprise me.

And, it's it's a lot of work, but it's fulfilling.

Work is work that we've, w we may all be pushed to do this.

And so the, the, the job for me is to teach, we're looking at higher gas prices right now.

Yes, ma'am.

And what does it take to get food to the stores?

Right.

Gas.

Right.

And so the price of foo will be pushed on to consumers.

Absolutely.

And so we just want people t understand that they can grow.

What are we holding here.

Even in containers you can grow pollination is an issue.

When I was little plant in the metro parks.

I used to have butterflies and bees and everything flying around my head because we had the surrounding, we created the surrounding for pollination.

But I found it hard in the city to have good pollination becaus there is nothing there for them.

So when there's nothing there for them they fly out and they leave.

And so to create the environment, we should be worried whe we don't see that type of live.

The but we grew up.

That's right.

You know, it should be around.

Yes, ma'am.

So the environment, It healed during Covid just as well as, you know, your land, your people.

We needed a space to g insane on park served as a place for children and is continuing to do that.

So we, we're excited with what's going on.

We're going to have a new program this year in collaboration with Lucas County Departmen of Developmental Disabilities.

We're looking to create, Ada accessibility in our space because we want, this progra to be accessible to all people.

Want more information?

Where can I find it?

Urban, holistic.org holistic.

I have a W in front of it, because the goal for that phras was to make the community whole.

Love it.

All right, it's no time for Gretchen's wacky quiz.

Ready to go?

Yes.

You, Gretchen.

We do.

Miss, I'm asking you for rapid fire questions, and then you'll give us your favorite thing i or about Toledo, and then you.

And that'll work together to describe Toledo in exactly nine words.

Do you play any instruments?

I played the clarinet.

Get out of town.

If you found a magic lamp and the genie inside granted you three wishes, what would they be?

An ixnay on wishing for more.

Wow.

Okay, s I would wish for a green house.

Okay.

I would also wish for, clean energy solar panels.

And I will also wish that, food was accessible to all and every place.

I love it.

Are you scared of spiders?

Yes.

And then final question.

What is your silliest dance move?

I think I did it when we there.

Yeah, there it is.

There it is.

We came on and so, Yeah.

Just my.

Yeah.

It's also your anti spider dance.

I don't know how to describe that to the radio listeners, but it was better if we dance Yeah it was good.

It was good.

All right.

Favorite thing in or about Toledo.

Favorite thing.

And we're about Toledo is the, I was born a metro Park kid, so it's not because Matt is here.

Yes, it is.

It's not.

He knows it's not.

But it is.

It is too.

But I am a metro Park kid.

My mom retired from the Metro parks.

I was there as a child all the time.

And it's just something that's beautiful.

I love everything about the metro parks.

So I'm a metro Park kid.

We're going to give you just five now, because I have such a great answer.

So we've got five, five words that represent the city or region to you.

The when you when you think about it, what are the words that come to your mind?

Community is one of them.

I know that there's nobody to build a communit better than you.

So I would say five words.

Yes, ma'am.

That describes.

The city or community, the.

City or community.

I would describe my first wor as a resilient, resilient love.

It could start.

Second is, Passionate.

Passion.

Yes, ma'am.

I would say my third word would be sustaining.

Love it.

Two more.

Fourth would be, gritty, gritty group.

Yes.

And I would say five would be collaboration.

Collaboration.

Proof.

Love it.

You're the best, Sonia.

With urban holistic.

So you check them out online.

Urban holistic with the W. Yes with W. Thank you so much for being here.

When we come back, we'll wrap up this Wellness Wednesday edition of the 419.

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Welcome back into the 419 as we wrap up a Wellness Wednesday edition presented by Work Spring.

And I can't believe we did it.

I know, yeah, it was not as good.

But we did the best.

You know what?

Yo sometimes you get what you get.

Yeah.

That's right.

We tell our kids, you get wha you get, you don't throw a fit.

Great show, great guests.

Again, I met Allison for the first time.

But they're all sort of interconnected.

Thanks to our good friends at work.

Spring.

Right.

They, Michelle has a very earnest and approachable way to talk about, the sort of the function of food.

And that's not always an easy topic.

Well, and a key piece of, of nutrition and wellness is certainly access.

Right.

And so you've got, you know, the folks, mobile meals making sure that our seniors have access.

Right.

And then, of course, the work that Sonia is doing, making sur the folks that live in the city have access to, fresh produce, I was gonna tell her when my, my kids school has a, garden.

And the things that, you know, my boys will not eat anything that grows in the ground, but because they grew it and they help grow it.

Yeah.

They come back and they're like, oh, I ate this and this.

And I'm like, what are you deaf?

That's a vegetable child.

Like that's an interesting thing.

And it's really not, to push back on that.

But I also want to give credit where credit's due.

There's something that makes that farm approachable.

Right?

It isn't.

The kid don't just come off the street and say, hey I want to see what's going on.

Then stay.

Yeah.

Sonya and her team of volunteers, her energy is infectious, right?

And they've been doing great work.

I'm not surprised or answe to what her days off look like.

Ben.

We'll have them.

Thanks to Michelle, Allison and Sonia for joining us on the program today.

And thanks to you for being with us as well.

If you missed any part of the show.

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