A hub for students with hidden disabilities. An initiative to end mental health stigma. CPR certification training. A food insecurity garden. Healthy eating workshops. Fitness programs. These are examples of projects faculty, staff and students have launched within the past year to promote health and wellness within the university community.
These initiatives support Kent State’s mission to become a model for a healthy campus. With support from Kent State of Wellness, the university-wide initiative to promote health and wellness, members of the Kent State community at all campuses can obtain mini-grants through the Seeds of Wellness program to fund their health and wellness projects that benefit the university community.
The Seeds of Wellness program provides a limited number of mini-grants, up to $1,000, to fund Kent State community-focused, health and wellness projects on all campuses that address any of these priority areas:
- Alcohol and Other Drug Use
- Mental Health
- Nutrition
- Physical Activity
- Preventive Care
- Safety
- Sexual Health
- Smoking and Tobacco Use
“The Seeds of Wellness program encourages collaboration among students, faculty and staff from different campus departments and organizations and at all Kent State campuses,” says Melissa Celko, director of Kent State of Wellness. “Our mini-grants support wellness initiatives that help to make Kent State a healthy campus, and we encourage the university community to come up with creative ideas and projects for engaging our community in health and wellness habits and behaviors.”
Deric Kenne, Ph.D., assistant professor of health policy and management at Kent State, served as faculty lead for the Talk On project, an initiative that encourages members of the university community to share their personal experience with mental illness as a way to let others know that they are not alone and to end mental illness stigma. The project was funded partly by the Seeds of Wellness program.
. Kim Laurene, who conceived and directed the initiative, and I were honored to receive a Seeds of Wellness mini-grant to create Talk On,” Dr. Kenne says. “We believed it would be a successful initiative, but we were not prepared for the outpouring of heartfelt and inspiring stories we received of people’s experiences with mental illness and recovery. Though the mini-grant has ended, we are continuing to work on new ways to promote the powerful stories shared with Talk On in order to raise awareness of mental illness and provide hope.”
Other projects that received funding from the Seeds of Wellness program included a Canning 101 class, relaxation stations as part of the inaugural Leadership Week program, mindfulness meditation and yoga at at Trumbull and the KSU Heart Climb, where participants climbed the stairs from the first to the 12th floor of University Library.
Applications are being accepted for the 2018-19 Seeds of Wellness program. For more information and to apply, visit www.kent.edu/stateofwellness/seeds-wellness-program. Direct questions to Ms. Celko at mcelko1@kent.edu.