{"id":56881,"date":"2024-10-02T14:57:09","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T14:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.communityexplore.com\/test-perthontario\/?p=56881"},"modified":"2024-10-02T14:57:09","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T14:57:09","slug":"cooking-connections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communityexplore.com\/perthontario\/cooking-connections\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooking Connections"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In Cooking Connections participants learn and connect in a peer-facilitated series of workshops focused on overcoming the stigma of living with mental health challenges, while learning basic cooking skills and sharing meals together. Participants co-create a safe and inclusive space for sharing and strategizing how to move forward in their wellness journey. <\/p>\n

Good nutrition is a key part of every wellness strategy, and especially so for those with mental health challenges. Cooking and sharing a meal provides opportunities for hands-on learning about food and mental health while creating an informal and cohesive dynamic with the participants, peer facilitators, staff and volunteers. The program is being offered in Perth in cooperation with Loving Spoonful with financial support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Providence Care and Queen’s University were key partners in the creation of the program and also support our delivery of the program in Perth.<\/p>\n

Here’s what some participants of our first Cooking Connections program told us about their experience…<\/p>\n

“Thank you all for giving me the tools I never knew I needed. I enjoyed this course so much.”<\/p>\n

“I had a reality check on how hard I am on myself.”<\/p>\n

“I felt welcomed, listened to and cared for.”<\/p>\n

Cooking Connections is a mental health program, with the goals of coming together in a socially inclusive environment to:<\/p>\n