Maternal Wellness Project

Integrative Wellness Groups for Low-Income Moms

The Maternal Wellness Project was founded by Jaclyn Long of Mind Body Moms, and now runs under Organizacion Edificando Vidas. Through OEV the Maternal Wellness Program offers FREE services to low-income moms in East Palo Alto and Half Moon Bay, including the following integrative wellness classes in 8 to 10 week modules:

  • Nutrition Program – to promote overall physical health and prevent chronic disease, such as diabetes and obesity
  • Zumba / Yoga Program – to promote overall physical health and prevent chronic disease
  • Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program – to promote mental / emotional health and stress relief
  • Parent Eduction Program – to promote healthy relationships and encourage healthy child development

Our Mission & Vision

Our mission is to promote maternal health & wellness for the benefit of children, families and communities.

Our vision is to empower low-income moms with mindfulness tools, physical wellness practices such as yoga and Zumba, and effective parenting / communication skills so they can establish safe and healthy home environments as a gateway to success for their children.

Our goal is to serve all moms, regardless of socio-economic status. We currently offer free wellness programs for disadvantaged mothers in East Palo Alto and Half Moon Bay, CA. We believe that by supporting the leaders of the family – the “Chief Emotional Officers” – we are helping children feel safe and secure in their own homes, thereby giving these children a greater chance to experience a nurturing and healthy home environment and to live a fulfilling and successful life.

We are deeply grateful for the generous support of our donors, working in partnership with us to promote a culture of wellness. 

Our Schedule

SCHEDULE OF OUR FREE WELLNESS GROUPS: For low-income moms (Sponsored by our donors)

Group Day & Time Dates Location Facilitator Weeks Cost
Zumba Tuesday 6-7pm July 23- Sept 24 Moonridge Low-Income Housing, Half Moon Bay, CA Claudia Forth 10 weeks FREE Email jaclyn@mindbodymoms.com to pre-register
Yoga & Zumba

(Spanish)

Tue 6:15-8:15pm 4/23/19 – 6/11/19 Hatch Elementary, Half Moon Bay, CA Claudia Forth & Vicky Avila 10 weeks FREE Email jaclyn@mindbodymoms.com to pre-register
Zumba

(In Spanish)

Saturday 10:00-11:00am 4/27/19 – 6/29/19 East Palo Alto Library, East Palo Alto, CA Vicky Avila 10 weeks FREE Email jaclyn@mindbodymoms.com to register
Parent Education

(In Spanish)

Tuesdays 4:30-6pm 2/26/19 to 4/23/19 East Palo Alto Library, East Palo Alto, CA Martin Lamarque 9 weeks FREE Email jaclyn@mindbodymoms.com to register
Positive Discipline

(In Spanish)

Wednesdays 6:00-8:00pm 4/3/19 – 5/29/19 Hatch Elementary, Half Moon Bay, CA Andres Perez 8 weeks FREE Email jaclyn@mindbodymoms.com to register
Emotional Intelligence (In English) Mondays 6:30-8pm 4/29 and 5/2 Hatch Elementary, Half Moon Bay, CA Multipurpose Room Emilie
Jobson
and Karen Hoffman
2 weeks FREE Email jaclyn@mindbodymoms.com to register
Building Emotional Understanding and Mindfulness
(In English)
Wednesdays 6:00-8:00pm 5/1/19 – 6/12/19 Hatch Elementary, Half Moon Bay, CA Room C-4 Emilie
Jobson
and Karen Hoffman
7 weeks FREE Email jaclyn@mindbodymoms.com to register
Zumba 6-7 PM 10/1-12/10 Hatch Elementary, Half Moon Bay, CA Claudia Forth 10 weeks FREE Email jaclyn@mindbodymoms.com to pre-register
Yoga 7-8 PM 10/1-12/10 Hatch Elementary, Half Moon Bay, CA Claudia Forth 10 weeks FREE Email jaclyn@mindbodymoms.com to pre-register
Positive Discipline & Mindfulness 6-8 PM 9/26-12/12 DeLeveaga Elementary School, Santa Cruz Andres Perez and Lorenia Parada 10 weeks FREE Email jaclyn@mindbodymoms.com to pre-register
Promoting Emotional Intelligence 6-8 PM 9/29 & 10/6 Half Moon Bay Jaclyn Long FREE Email jaclyn@mindbodymoms.com to pre-register
Positive Discipline & Mindfulness 6-7:30pm 11/4-12/16 South San Francisco Unified School District
398 B Street SSF CA 94080 District Board Room
Pablo Gonzalez FREE Email jaclyn@mindbodymoms.com to pre-register
Find out more about the free services we have been offering in 2019 and the impact we are making in the lives of moms in East Palo Alto, Half Moon Bay, South San Francisco & Santa Cruz!

Our Donors

 
We are deeply grateful for all of the people, foundations and corporations that have partnered with us to help us carry out our mission of creating a culture of wellness by promoting maternal health and wellness. With sincere appreciation, we would like to acknowledge the following donors, as well as those who have chosen to remain anonymous.

We give special thanks to our generous donors.

Ellis L. Phillips Foundation, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, lululemon, John Lyddon Family Foundation, Stephanie and Charles Knowles, Asawari Agrawal, Matt and Aryn Grossman, Karen Allen, Mina Elbouihich, Kelly Koski, Casey Hirsch, Stephanie Lazar, Arlene Kansora, Teodora Ngo, Donne Davis, Lynn Kearney, Dan Garrison, Evan Cranston, Leslie McNeil, Katie Renati, and Yosi Amram of the Knowledge Freedom Foundation.

Our Facilitators

 

Vicky Avila

Facilitator
Vicky is a community health advocate and has collaborated with Santa Clara’s public health for 10 years as a promoter of physical activity. She is a certified Zumba instructor and serves as a champion for healthy change in the San Francisco Bay Area. Working in the community as an active aging counselor for over 17 years, Vicky is passionate about encouraging healthy family habits and inspiring others to live healthy, active and productive lives.

Lorenia Parada-Ampudia

Lorenia Parada-Ampudia is a leader in the field of mindfulness and leadership training. She supports clients and organizations in the USA and Mexico through a highly effective leadership training style that integrates transformative learning, mindfulness, emotional intelligence and body consciousness. The result: higher-performing, less stressed and more effective leaders.

With Lorenia’s guidance you will:

– Improve decision-making skills.
– Learn to cultivate healthy relationships with yourself and with others in your family, community and work place.
– Increase self-awareness and self-regulation by learning to identify bodily sensations, emotions, thoughts, habits, patterns of behavior and beliefs.
– Enhance abilities to consciously listen, communicate and effectively relate with others.
– Identify internal resources to develop resilience and establish better ways to deal with stress.
– Transcend ones’ edges towards personal, group and societal growth.

Dr. Andrea Castillo

Dr. Andrea Castillo is a mindfulness and Insight Meditation teacher. She grew up among artists, especially dancers, watching and partaking in rehearsals, and performances of her parents company Ballet para Todos in Mexico City. Andrea graduated from Stanford University with a Ph.D. in the Humanities; her multi- disciplinary dissertation dealt with Goethe, music, dance, and the visual arts. She launched the undergraduate music program at the Universidad de las Americas Puebla, Mexico where she taught and was chair of the department for four years. She also taught at Stanford University for three years as part of the Ph.D. program.

The guiding principle of all of Andrea’s studies has been finding meaning, depth, and happiness in our lives. This interest has dovetailed with her deep involvement in mindfulness and meditation, which she started practicing in 1998, at the Insight Meditation Center, with her teacher Gil Fronsdal. She has been teaching since 2007. Presently Andrea teaches at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City and at Against the Stream in San Francisco. She has also taught many mindfulness workshops throughout the Bay Area.

Andrea has danced in a dance improvisation group in Palo Alto for 18 years. She believes in the power of dance as a meditation in movement that allows emotions to flow through us, through movements that originate deep within us and are unique to who we are.

Motherhood has been a very rewarding experience for Andrea and a rich terrain for learning. Her son is a fun, awake, and creative young man working at Google.

Carmen Escobar

Carmen Escobar is a bilingual mindfulness teacher and has been practicing mindfulness meditation since 2012. She is also certified as a skilled nursing assistant and provides therapeutic activities in a skilled nursing facility. Carmen has witnessed the beneficial power of mindfulness in the healing process and is passionate about sharing these simple yet transformative tools with others, especially those who are disadvantaged.

Karen Hoffman

Karen Hoffman is a wellness coach, mindfulness facilitator and community relations manager with Mind Body Moms.  With over 30 years experience in human development and leadership, she is passionate about making health, wellness and personal growth practices accessible to all.

Emilie Jobson

Emilie has over fifteen years of experience working with children and families in a variety of settings. She is a former classroom teacher and has a Master of Arts in Special Education. In addition to teaching Hand in Hand Parenting, Emilie currently works as an Educational Specialist and a Postpartum Doula. She utilizes the Hand in Hand tools whenever she is working with children.