Posted on
August 19, 2025 by
The VRG Weblog Editor
picture from Christopher Place Employment Academy Catholic Charities of Baltimore
by Chaltu Watkins, VRG Intern
Sitting in on a category at Christopher Place in Baltimore, Maryland was a really eye-opening expertise. This system is designed to help males who’ve skilled homelessness and struggled with dependancy.
Teacher Crystal, intern Ellie, and I arrange the tables earlier than the category started, and when the lads got here in they had been keen to get began. They might not wait to see what recipe was on the agenda. They talked a bit about final week’s class and the way they actually loved the smoothie they made and the conversations they’d. They had been asking Crystal again and again if she would depart the recipe for them and if they might have any elements that had been left over as a result of they wished to attempt to cook dinner on their very own.
In the course of the cooking demonstration, the lads had been very engaged and genuinely grateful for the chance to be taught extra about wholesome consuming. Whereas it was clear that none of them had been vegan, they had been open-minded and keen to attempt the collard greens and beets that Crystal ready. Some even got here again for seconds and thirds. All through the category, Crystal emphasised the significance of males’s well being, which was particularly related on this male-centered facility. I used to be stunned by how a lot I discovered throughout this session, greater than I’ve discovered in a few of my faculty programs in relation to well being points and how you can higher equip your self to attempt to forestall these points from occurring.
As I skimmed the classroom, I observed that Christopher Place affords quite a lot of programs, together with non secular research and periods centered on each tender and laborious expertise. Because the program is designed to help males who’ve skilled homelessness and struggled with dependancy, having lessons just like the one Crystal taught is efficacious. These programs equip them with instruments to assist them reintegrate into society.
Chaltu Watkins sat in on this class whereas a VRG intern. For details about VRG internships, see www.vrg.org/scholar/index.php
Extra details about Crystal Forman, MPH, MHA, might be discovered at www.holistic-wellnessandhealth.com/about/
