BEL INIZIO
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Mission Statement
Bel Inizio, “Beautiful Beginning”, was founded to help disadvantaged women develop self-confidence and life skills through nutrition education and exercise. To date, Bel Inizio has helped over 250 disadvantaged individuals courageously cross the finish line of local races after completing our 8-week fitness and nutrition program. Many have received their graduation medals and certificates with tears, having never before completed anything positive in their lives. Bel Inizio’s program gives each woman the tools to not only change her health, but revolutionize her self-concept. No longer a failure, a victim, a hopeless case, we help these women know they can make decisions that will change their lives and their children’s lives for the better, one step at a time.
About This Cause
Bel Inizio is a Houston based non-profit organization serving women in transitional housing, recovery programs, and/or serving prison and jail sentences; administering an 8-week fitness/nutrition and empowerment program to facilitate successful independence. Bel Inizio was founded in July 2010 after the founder, Theresa Strong, experienced personal tragedy when her husband died and employer went bankrupt within two months of each other. During this period she was volunteering actively at homeless shelters and relying heavily on exercise and healthy nutrition to maintain a positive attitude and strength of purpose. Ms. Strong’s recognition of the vitality of these activities during periods of crisis and personal growth, led her to explore the existence of exercise and nutrition programs offered in short-and long-term homeless/recovery shelters. Her research revealed that not one shelter was offering programs of this sort to facilitate client success. After a series of meetings with shelter staff, business people, social workers, and a research review, it was determined that this was not only a needed service but one with potential life changing effects for clients. The organization received IRS nonprofit designation (501c3) in July 2011. Need for Bel Inizio program: Low self-worth is a significant underlying factor when women become involved in substance abuse, abusive relationships, and criminal behavior that may render them at risk for homelessness. In addition there are various cognitive variables that are common to substance abusers, such as poor decision making, high risk taking, and lack of self-control. These individuals generally lack coping mechanisms and proper stress management that make them vulnerable to poor choices and relapse. Most transitional housing facilities provide those at risk of returning to homelessness or relapse with case workers, recovery programs, and job skills training. What gets lost, and is critically needed, is a program to help individuals achieve the confidence and stress management success that can come from an ongoing exercise and nutrition program. Bel Inizio’s training program is specifically designed to strategically respond to this gap in services. Program Description: There are many key elements required to teach a person with addictions, criminal history, low education, and dysfunctional social relationships how to succeed in society. Sobriety meetings, GED training, job skills training, and parenting classes all play a pivotal role. But, ultimately if a woman does not have the confidence and effective coping skills to succeed, it is a quick and easy fall back into negative relationships and destructive behavior. A proven way to build self-confidence is by setting and achieving measurable goals, engaging in accountability, acknowledging self-improvement, and mastering the tools to keep moving forward. To that end, Bel Inizio has developed a three-pronged strategy for engendering transformation in the lives of disadvantaged women. Bel Inizio is a proven physical fitness program. Bel Inizio uses the Run-Walk-Run method of training that stresses walking interspersed with intervals of running – with distance increasing each session. This method reduces the aches, pains, and injuries associated with other approaches. Most importantly, this, combined with better nutrition opens the possibility of finishing a distance race to everyone. Bel Inizio is a short-term therapeutic model that uses a brief intervention of eight weeks to change the life direction of its clients. The program asks participants to identify a major life concern – physical fitness - and set a goal – the commitment to complete a 5K race event (3.1 miles). Staff and volunteers then help participants develop strategies, adopt active and effective techniques, and use problem-solving skills in order to achieve that goal. Third, Bel Inizio is an empowerment program that seeks to help participants by placing them on teams. Each team identifies its own leadership and generates the mutual commitment, increased energy, encouragement, and collaborative effort necessary so that each individual and every member of the group can generate the power to achieve the goal. A typical program begins with an agency approaching Bel Inizio for services. Once it is determined that an organization has a client base that fits within Bel Inizio’s framework, Bel Inizio conducts a kick off meeting with clients. Since participation is voluntary and commitment is required it is essential that the clients know of the opportunity and requirements presented by the Bel Inizio program. Each program lasts 8-10 weeks and comprises two workouts per week with Bel Inizio volunteer coaches. The workouts are designed for women that have rarely or never exercised. They include stretching, race walking, yoga, wellness counseling, nutrition education, and exposure to therapeutic massage. An emphasis on accountability and discipline is the cornerstone of Bel Inizio’s success. The women are expected to be active participants: Each member signs a commitment form agreeing to the terms described and learns that the capstone event to her training is to complete a 5K (3.1 mile) event. Each woman is allowed two absences in order to remain in the program. They further earn the right to participate in the program by showing up on time and with a good attitude. The training includes events and activities that emphasize the personal value of each individual, fosters teamwork and offers incentives for keeping their commitment. Each group determines their own team name by brainstorming and voting. A skilled graphic artist offers her services pro bono and creates a team logo which is placed on t-shirts the women receive prior to race day. Periodically during the training, water bottles, gloves, socks, and new shoes are given to the clients to help in their training. Donations of athletic wear often help to maintain enthusiasm and improve the exercise experience. Finally hands-on wellness and nutrition presentations are made weekly by a registered dietician and modelled by providing fresh fruit after each work out. Upon completion of the training, Bel Inizio clients participate in a local Houston 5K race. To date each woman that has started a 5K has finished it. This event honors the commitment they have made and the subsequent graduation ceremony celebrates their success. Members of the community are invited in and a special guest speaker, most recently, Cherita Andrews, past participant in the Biggest Loser, provides an inspiring presentation of dedication and success. Each woman is then rewarded with a gift bag, a finisher’s medal, a framed team photo, a certificate of completion, and booklet filled with workout and nutrition tips. Through Bel Inizio’s unique program participants are empowered to build a foundation of making and keeping commitments, relying on and helping others, learning how to value and achieve a healthy lifestyle, and becoming a role model to their children. In the end, Bel Inizio strives to see clients increase overall health and the likelihood of success once they leave transitional housing. Changing Lives: Bel Inizio has the privilege of walking alongside clients as they embark on the race toward a better life. Consider this testimony of Bel Inizio’s impact recounted by a Bel Inizio volunteer, “I recently trained with Sharon, a 50-something formerly homeless woman who is overweight, a candidate for double knee replacements, and has a serious heart condition. Four months ago Sharon was in a wheel chair, unemployed, unable to find work that wouldn’t require her to stand or walk beyond her capabilities, and was denied candidacy for knee replacement surgery due to her poor heart condition. She had little hope facing the next hand that life might deal her and could never imagine walking a 5K. Incredibly, Sharon joined the Bel Inizio training group that started meeting at the supportive housing facility where she lived. With the help of her rolling walker Sharon ventured out for a tough half mile walk, occasionally using the seat to rest and roll, pushing herself backwards down the course. Day by day, week after week Sharon faithfully turned out, increasing her mileage and improving her outlook. Good news – she had lost 12 pounds and her cardiologist noted real improvement in her heart function! She was gradually becoming the cheerleader for the group; leading from behind but leading nonetheless. Then the other shoe dropped - her rollator suffered a blowout during a training walk and she had to turn around after just a half mile. Dejected, she was convinced this was just one more of life’s failures; one that was about to drag her hopes down with it. Replacement wheels for Sharon’s rollator were not to be found, but a local ministry that provides medical supplies to people doing front-line medical missions said they had a rollator she could have, for free, just like that! Sharon was back on the road and determined to accomplish her goal, although I’m not sure if that was just finishing the 5k or possibly something much, much bigger. During the training walks in ninety degree heat under a blazing sun she’d just press on, occasionally reminding herself to “dig deep Sharon.” Sharon completed that 5k course in under one hour (10 minutes below her personal Bel Inizio challenge time!) with the help of her new rollator and a little encouragement. In just eight weeks she'd lost 20 lbs., significantly improved her cardiac function and, most importantly, has an entirely new outlook on future possibilities. At the graduation ceremony Sharon was the picture of a new creation in body, mind, and spirit, and she reported that her cardiologist had cleared her for knee replacement surgery. A truly Beautiful Beginning!