Family and Community Wellness, 2024 Q3

Katelyn Jespersen, Extension Agent, B.S. MLS, M.A. Ed.
Katelyn.Jespersen@ndsu.edu

Greetings, from your local resource for everything wellness! I hope you enjoyed the last days of warm weather as we enter into the fall season. These past few months I have spent a lot of time networking, connecting with people and organizations in our communities, and planning for future programming.

Some of the highlights of this quarter include attending several Williston Area Chamber of Commerce events, participating in the Main Street Market with the Williston Downtowner’s Association, advertising Extension programming at the local job fair hosted by Job Service, and making connections at local Wellness Fairs. I have been able to contribute to larger associations by providing insight to health and wellness needs of our communities through the Opioid Coalition, the Multi-Partner Health Collaborative, and Vision West. I also have been able to continue with my “Wellness Wednesday” articles to provide helpful tidbits of information for the public, and I have received great feedback of appreciation and anticipation for the weekly wellness topics. Among other things, I continue to seek out new ideas to learn from and incorporate into the needs of our community.

Current and future programming includes several plans within the works. I am currently in the middle of Stepping On – a falls prevention workshop for seniors. This class is always so well received and has amazing results with improved balance, coordination, and quality of life. I plan to keep hosting these sessions for as long as there is a need for fall prevention education. Coming up in November, I have a Powerful Tools for Caregivers virtual class scheduled. Watch for advertising and details for registration that will be coming out shortly. I also have a few schools that are looking to schedule On the Move – nutrition and healthy living classes for their students, which is always so much fun to see kids excited to learn about being healthy! Upcoming events in which I have the opportunity to spread wellness education includes Special Assignment Pizza, Marketplace for Kids, and some professional development classes for local organizations.