Pierson

Pierson Office

111 Fountain Drive

Pierson, FL 32180

386-749-9826

FWAF Programs in Pierson

* FWAF launched the innovative Youth Empowerment Program in Apopka, Fellsmere, Pierson, Immokalee and Homestead. An HIV/AIDS education, awareness and prevention program for Haitian and Hispanic youth in at-risk and farmworker communities, the program uses the internet and social networking tools to keep the young people engaged and connected through interactive, relevant, continually evolving communications networks. With a three-year grant from the Florida Department of Health’s HIV/AIDS Bureau, YEP’s aim is to be a model program that can be replicated in other communities around the country, helping to educate and inform young people, and even helping to save lives. Just completing its first year, the program has already engaged over 72 young people in youth group sessions, a camping trip, and digital storytelling workshops which were not only fun, creative, and community-building, but also helped to raise the consciousness about disease risks and prevention. January ushers in the beginning of the second year of this already very successful project.

* Baby, I Love You is a newly launched program that provides healthy pregnancy and well-woman education to women of childbearing age in farmworker communities, funded by the Florida Department of Health’s Closing the Gap program. Outreach workers connect with at-risk farmworker women in all five satellite office areas of FWAF, helping women to become better informed, more self-confident, more knowledgeable, and better prepared for pregnancy and for a healthier life. Through this program, women are empowered to gain control over their own health by understanding the importance of good nutrition, preventive health care, managing stress, avoiding risky behaviors, home and car safety, addressing domestic violence and the availability of services and assistance in their community. The program started in July, and expects to reach 1000 farmworker and rural, low-income women in its first year.

* Pregnancy Health Among Florida Farmworkers is a research study that was launched late in 2009. A four-year community-based participatory research project in conjunction with Emory University, the aim of the project is to identify occupational risks to the pregnancy health of farmworker women working in nurseries and ferneries in Central Florida. One of the goals is to develop a manual and training specifically designed to educate farmworker women about how to protect themselves and their unborn children from pesticide exposure and other threats to their health from the hazards of the work environment. The project is especially significant as emerging scientific research reveals previously unknown threats of pesticides on fetal development. Project results will help farmworkers not just in Florida, but around the country as well. The research project is funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

*The Latino Small Farmers Outreach Initiative is a new project initiated in October that will reach Latino limited-resource farmers in the areas of Homestead and Pierson. Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, this project will provide important information to these farmers about Farm Service Agency programs and assistance they may be eligible for to improve and maintain their farms. Small farmers play a critical role in our food systems; however, it is often difficult for them to maintain their farm operations, especially following natural disasters. FWAF’s new outreach program will work with Latino small farmers to identify their needs, and connect them with useful resources.

Agricultural Products Grown in the Pierson Area