Aya Community Markets Begins April 7th

A FARMERS MARKET AND HOLISTIC HEALTH EXPERIENCE

@Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church

(3000 Penn. Ave. SE)

SEASON BEGINS APRIL 7^th 10am-3pm

And continues the 1^st and 3^rd Saturday of each month

Featuring:

• Affordable fresh local produce.
• Handmade goods and crafts.
• Meats, poultry/eggs and more.
• Health services and screenings.
• Live cooking and health activity demonstrations.

Visit: www.ayamarkets.org

Follow Us: Twitter.com/@ayamarkets

Like Us: Facebook.com/ayamarkets

Email: ayamarkets@dreamingoutloud.net

    Here’s how it works: 

• Sign up for Recoup to receive great deals from local DC merchants by clicking here.
• Support what you love, Dreaming Out Loud — choose Dreaming Out Loud as the cause you want to support.
• Buy what you want – purchase a promotion where you save money for yourself or a gift.
• Save what you want – Recoup automatically donates to Dreaming Out Loud with your purchase, but you may increase their donation by converting part of all of the rebate value.

Close your eyes and imagine with me...

Imagine you’re Tanya, a  mother of four raising your children by yourself on an income around $21,000 per year. You have four mouths to feed on this salary, but when you walk outside your door, your options for healthy choices are few and far between: carry-out, fast food or a grocery store that’s either too far away or doesn’t cater to your needs.

Grease coats the inch-thick glass at the carryout window where wings and fried rice are cheaper than a bunch of bananas. 

The smell of salty French fries wafts past, so it’s either enough fries for the family or half a bag of potatoes that only feeds a few. Or you travel  to a grocery store – with poor quality produce and half-stocked shelves – on public transit and you have to not only afford travel for yourself, but all of your children. No one is there to babysit and you have to haul food for the family on a bus or train, or worse, pay an exorbitant cab fare.

You can close the gap for people like Tanya when you support Dreaming Out Loud…

We founded our farmers market and holistic health experience, Aya Community Markets, to help people like Tanya. At our market we provide twice as many fresh fruits and vegetables for people receiving government assistance through our “double your dollars program.”

And our  markets also serve as gateways to community resources that low-income families need to get healthy and stay healthy. Our holistic approach includes experiential education, outreach and empowerment via chef demonstrations and nutritional programs. Local medical schools even help us to conduct screenings for diabetes, glaucoma, blood pressure and body mass index.

With your donation, Dreaming Out Loud can continue to make a difference through Aya Community Markets by engaging youth, positively impacting community health and by bringing greater access to fresh fruits and vegetables to people like Tanya. Together we can turn lives and communities around.

Sincerely,

Chris Bradshaw, Executive Director

Download Tanya‘s story now, or learn about Darryl‘s achievement. And please tell a friend.

A farmers market and holistic health experience.

Aya Community Markets is a farmers market and holistic health experience founded by Dreaming Out Loud, Inc. On Saturday August 29th we will be partnering with the Community Health Planning and Policy Development Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA) for a special Health and Wellness Fair at Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church (3000 Pennsylvania Avenue SE).

Features of the Day:
- fresh local produce, handmade crafts and natural body products

- health screenings (blood pressure, visual acuity, body mass index, and others provided by DC Health Department’s Mobile Health Vans)

- a walking audit of the community; there’s a description below (click the link to signup: http://walkingaudit.eventbrite.com/)

- live cooking/raw foods demonstration

- health activity demonstration

- SNAP benefit signup and outreach

Schedule of Events:
11am – Market Opens

11:30am-1:00pm – First Walking Audit Group Tour

1:00pm – Live Cooking Demonstration

1:30pm-3:00pm – Second Walking Audit Group Tour

3:00pm – Market & Health Screenings Conclude

Help us promote the event on Facebook.

More Info About the Walking Audit:
Click link to signup for the audit: http://walkingaudit.eventbrite.com/

This walking audit is being designed by Dean Bradford Grant from the Howard School of Architecture and Design, Carlton Eley of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Anthony Delucia from the Built Environment Working Group of the American Public Health Association.

Its purpose is to document and discuss features of the built environment and the streetscape that inhibit or promote healthy lifestyles of its residents. The final 30 minutes of the audit will be back at Aya Community Markets and will include a discussion among participants of what they saw and what they think this means for the health of residents and potential next steps to advocate for needed programs or policies.

A farmers market and holistic health experience.

Thank you so much for supporting Aya Community Markets and making our Inaugural Launch one to remember. We received so many well wishes, compliments and great advice from so many folks in the community that we cannot express our thanks enough.  We made a short video (click here) just to show how much it meant to us.  In the video you will see some of the great produce like peaches, greens, blackberries and tomatoes.  Many people also enjoyed smoothies, iced tea, and amazing hats.

We hope that you will join us again on August 20th from 11am-5pm at Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church (3000 Pennsylvania Avenue SE).  We have been working hard to get the word out at events like the National Night Out, but nothing spreads like word-of-mouth.  So enjoy the photo gallery below and please tell a friends and meet them at the market on August 20th.

Sincerely,

Chris

July 30th @ 3000 Pennsylvania Avenue SE from 11am-5pm.

• Following on Twitter
• Becoming a fan on Facebook
• Or via our newsletter

When Dreams Emerge! They emerge in powerful ways!

achievement as a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship Award from Georgetown University.  We first met Darryl as a rising senior during an interview for our program Project Dream Green, an environmental learning and work experience.

Georgetown President John DeGioia congratulated the Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools for Public Policy – Parkside senior Thursday Night for winning the 2011 Presidential Scholarship Award.  The award grants Darryl a full scholarship to Georgetown University for all four years.  Darryl not only enjoys the support of the entire Chavez community, but DOL and the broader community.

P.S. Congratulations Darryl!

Bringing fresh produce to East of the River Communities.

This community-centered project will provide fresh produce, healthy food choices & economic development to underserved communities who are located in “food deserts.” This will be accomplished through farmers markets linked to regional farmers & community gardens. In addition this program engages volunteers & youth (ages 14-21) by building leadership capacity, providing character development & cultivating skills so that they can plan & execute innovative solutions, health outreach and education.

Getting to know the 2012 Ford Focus before the trip back to DC.

After the trip to Madrid, Spain as finalists of the Ford Global Test Drive we are back in DC and ready to start more than a car!  In Spain we test drove the 2012 Ford Focus (see the video here), now we will have the Focus for 6-weeks to drive around DC while accomplishing Dreaming Out Loud’s mission.  With help from Ford Motor Company, Global Giving, and Action Marketing Group we are ready to start more than a car with phase two of this contest.  We will be taking ideas about how to best use the car for good during the six week period.  What are your suggestions?  Here are a few ways to leave your suggestions.
1. Go to our Facebook page (click here) and leave a suggestion on our wall.
2. Tweet a few suggestions by mentioning us @doldc using the hash tags #doldc or #FocusGlobalDrive.

Please stay tuned to our progress with the Focus Global Test Drive and our Walking the Dream Path program at Spingarn Senior High School.  We will be working with ten (10) of their most behaviorally and academically challenged 9th graders, exploring character and leadership development through community asset-mapping and video projects centered around food justice.

Thanks for your support,

Chris Bradshaw