It’s hard for me to believe that I have been working here in Jefferson County for three years. It has been a wonderful experience working in this community and partnering with wonderful people. While I have loved living here, a new opportunity is taking me elsewhere and this will be my last column. I will be joining the Colorado Extension office in March.
For those of you who have attended programs we have put on through the University of Florida Extension Office, I hope they have positively impacted you. For those of you we haven’t reached personally, I would encourage you to see what Extension has to offer.
I’m proud of what Family and Consumer Sciences programming has done in this community over the last three years and I’d like to leave you with a few highlights.
Family and Consumer Sciences brought in $17,000 in sponsorships, grants and donations that were used for programming expenses and over $45,000 in kind donations and volunteer value.
Over 1,286 people were impacted by 219 classes or programs related to health, wellness and food safety. We offered classes including Dining with Diabetes, Keeping the Pressure Down, monthly health lessons at the senior center, health-related 4-H camps, the Let’s Walk FL physical activity challenge, outreach at health fairs, cooking classes and food safety certification training.
Eighty-six percent (196/228) of participants who completed a follow up evaluation reported implementing a healthy lifestyle behavior/practice. Sixty-one percent of (72/116) participants who completed post or follow up surveys reported a health improvement such as lowered A1C, lowered blood pressure, weight loss, lowered cholesterol, etc.
208 financial education programs were held over the last three years covering topics like estate planning, workplace skills, life skills, consumer decision making, budgeting, credit and tax education. Seventy-four percent (353/474) of participants indicated change in knowledge, skills, confidence, attitude, or behavioral intention related to financial health and wellbeing. Fifty-three percent (99/186) who completed post or follow up surveys took action to improve their financial wellbeing.
Free Tax Preparation for low to moderate income families was offered at the library through the UF VITA site where 295 tax returns saving individuals an estimated $55,427 - $64,351 in tax preparation fees.
For anyone not familiar with Extension and what we offer, I hope this gives you a snapshot of the impact Extension can have. The goal of Extension is to bring the university and its resources to the people. Extension provides practical education you can trust, to help people, business and communities, solve problems, develop skills and build a better future.
It has been a pleasure serving Jefferson County and doing my small part to contribute to a better future. I can’t express how much I will miss this community and I wish you all the very best!
Upcoming Programming: Free Tax Prep VITA site at the library February – April for low to moderate income families. Call (850) 342-0205 to make an appointment.
For more information on upcoming events, check out the UF IFAS Extension – Jefferson County Facebook page or call us at (850) 342-0187.
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