At Lifelong, we believe food is medicine.

For people living with serious illnesses like diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease, and HIV, it’s vital to have access to nutritious food to better manage their illness and reduce symptoms. For those who can’t access healthy food that’s tailored to their medical needs, they risk seeing their health decline further or worse: it can end up costing them their life.

March is National Nutrition Month but for us, nutrition care is a year-round priority because for so many people, their health and lives depend on it.

Our food and nutrition program, Chicken Soup Brigade, focuses on nutrition as a critical part of someone’s care. We provide medically tailored meals, nutritious groceries, nutrition counseling, and cooking classes, along with serving those who have recently been discharged from an inpatient hospital stay.

Hear from Paul, Lifelong’s Chief Mission Officer, on the importance of using food as medicine and why this work is so crucial.

The best health outcomes happen when people have access to food that is both familiar and nutritious. In the past few years, we’ve expanded our food options and services to be culturally relevant to the communities we serve through our medically tailored meals and groceries, along with offering nutrition counseling and cooking classes in multiple languages.

As we continue to help more of our Native and Indigenous, Latinx, Asian Pacific Islander, and East African neighbors, including immigrant and refugee populations, it's vital for us to create a culturally inclusive and equitable food environment.

This National Nutrition Month and beyond, you can make a life-saving impact for your neighbors living with serious illnesses who rely on our critical nutrition care: