El Pueblo’s Health Club Graduated More Than 180 People in Nutrition and Wellness
RALEIGH, NC — More than 180 people from Wake County and surrounding areas graduated from El Pueblo’s Health Club, in partnership with the federal EFNEP program (Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program), which offers nutrition workshops aimed at improving families’ quality of life.
This initiative, which began in 2025, included informative talks on topics such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and mental health, as well as information about available services and food distribution support.
“Through the Health Club, El Pueblo seeks to close some of the gaps related to the barriers our Latino community faces in accessing prevention-focused healthcare and essential resources. In this first stage, our work alongside EFNEP has allowed us to advance the path toward education in health and wellness for a significant number of people,” said Karina Neyra, Community Development Director at El Pueblo. “In 2025, NC Cooperative Extension of NC State University gave us tremendous support for the impact achieved through this partnership.”
Nutrition Workshops
The Health Club began in February 2025 and was divided into three groups of around 60 people each. In every group, participants attended nutrition workshops over the course of six weeks. The final group graduated on May 16, 2026.
“In each session, we demonstrated that it is possible to prepare nutritious and healthy meals at a low cost. We also promoted choosing healthy options for a balanced diet, complemented by physical activity as the foundation for a healthier life,” said Hiliiana Patiño, EFNEP educator in Wake County.
More Community Resources
This year, due to the impact of immigration policies, El Pueblo decided to include a mental health session for program participants.
In most sessions, food distributions were also added with support from the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina and Latino-19, during participants’ free activity time.
“I had many health issues. I had prediabetes, high blood pressure, and after joining this group I learned things that helped me a lot. Since Latinos are not used to following a diet, this really helped me. I learned how to read labels and know whether a product is good for me or not,” said Lucía García, one of the Health Club participants.
Community Promoters
The work of El Pueblo’s community promoters has been fundamental in developing this initiative. They have been responsible for sharing information and resources and maintaining ongoing communication with participants. As part of their work, they have also taught participants how to monitor their blood pressure at home.
In what remains of 2026, El Pueblo’s Health Club will continue organizing activities to engage the 180 participants and follow up on the changes they have experienced, as well as other community needs.
