Lay leaders proudly display their awards for volunteering their time to support the Better Choices, Better Health program. From left are Sarah Adams, Virginia Hart, Carol Ann Horne, Kim Mazzilli, Debbie Craft, Diane Troupe, Nancy McGilivray, and Devin Wisham.

MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Moultrie YMCA recently held a luncheon to honor local volunteers and community members that supported one of their health programs that was funded by a grant from the Healthcare Georgia Foundation. The YMCA was able to secure the grant thanks to United Way of Colquitt County’s provision of their grant writer, Amanda Beaty. 

The Better Choices, Better Health (BCBH) program is designed to help those with a chronic illness or caregivers for anyone with a long-term health issue by emphasizing self-management techniques including stress reduction, better sleep, family and provider communication, nutrition, physical activity, and much more, according to a press release from the Moultrie YMCA. BCBH is led by two facilitators, called lay leaders. Each lay leader must go through a four-day training before they can co-lead a workshop. Workshop sessions are once a week for six weeks, 2-1/2 hours each session. In total, one workshop will equal 15 hours, not including additional travel or preparation time for a leader. Many leaders volunteered for multiple workshops over the past year.

“Without their help, we would not have nearly had the impact in our community that we have,” Community Outreach Director Sarah Adams said. “So far in 2018, we have logged over 200 volunteer hours for this one program. This year we partnered with the Georgia South Family Medicine Residency and received several referrals from their office. The Arts Center also partnered with us to provide an attractive, centrally located space for workshop sessions free of charge. The Senior Center allowed the workshop to take the place of other programs so our seniors could participate. I am grateful for these compassionate community leaders and volunteers who gave their time to help others have a better quality of life.”