I. Hello and welcome to living in the Lehigh Valley, where our focus is your health and wellness.

I'm Brittany Sweeney, and I'm Grover Silcox.

On this episode, hitting the road to bring services to those who need the most.

We'll take you inside a new van that's providing health care resources.

Plus, two local colleges receive a statewide designation for mental health outreach.

Find out what they are doing to encourage their students to stay on the path of mental well-being.

And then the Wellness Kitchen joins us with a tasty treat full of fiber.

She's sharing a recipe that looks like your average fudge sicle but packs a nutritional punch.

Can't wait for that one.

In the meantime, Northampton County's Division of Drug and Alcohol rolled out a new way to reach folks who need addiction recovery and mental health and wellness services.

They call it the Rise Van, an outreach vehicle that travels throughout Northampton County offering access to addiction and recovery services.

Face to face with community members?

Yeah, it's a way to meet people where they are with easy access to services that they need.

In January, Northampton County launched the Rye's Van Rye stands for Recovery Initiative, supporting everyone.

A support team boards the van and goes on site to various locations and events throughout the county.

They offer a wide array of recovery and mental health services to folks out in the community.

It's all about giving access to those who might otherwise never get the help, advice and guidance they do desperately need.

Rise is our new mobile outreach van that we take out into the community, offering our services directly to our Northampton County residents, meeting the people exactly where they are.

We're providing on the spot services such as drug and alcohol assessments.

We can get people into treatment facilities directly.

We can provide case management services as well as mental health services.

Connect them with insurance, food stamps.

When we take the van out on the road, no matter where we park it, we try to make it as homey and welcoming as possible for community members.

When we bring people on board, there's two separate assessment rooms as well as a sliding door for that privacy aspect.

If two things are going on at once.

We do have different features that make it unique and awning to help with the shade in the summer as well as on board.

We have heat in the winter.

Especially for those homeless individuals that we come across, we can bring them on board for a little bit.

If they want to sit down and have a chat and warm up in the in the cooler months.

So there's a lot of really cool bells and whistles about the van.

So this here is a wound care kit.

Inside here there's everything from gauze to antibacterial wipes to medicated ointment.

On board the van we provide Narcan and wound care kits.

Those definitely make a huge impact.

And all the difference in making sure people have those preventative measures in the community.

In addition, we also provide hygiene products such as shampoo, deodorant, body wash. Feminine hygiene products, cough drops, and a lot of additional supplies as well that we offer can be community members.

And then here we have sleep maps that are provided by our senior centers at Northampton County.

The cool thing about these sleep mats is that our seniors take plastic bags and braid them together.

This whole sleep mat here is made out of plastic bags.

Some other things we do are socks, scarves, gloves, hats.

Again, especially for the winter time, for those individuals that are homeless or may be, facing homelessness on the rise van.

We have myself, the coordinator as well as Lauren.

She's our certified recovery specialist, also known as a CRS.

And then we also have Kayla.

She is our outreach caseworker here at the mental health division at the County.

Typically, a lot of the places we like to focus on taking the van are drop in shelters, food pantries, emergency shelters throughout the county.

But a lot of other places, we take it to our churches that offer temporary warming shelters, shower programs, community meals, and day programs.

So far, throughout the summer, we've been to farmer's markets, community festivals, and resource fairs.

I would say the rise van definitely has made an impact in Northampton County thus far.

Just in the six months it's been out on the road.

It's definitely made a difference building those relationships, building those connections, going back to the same locations the first time.

We may not talk to someone, the second time we may not talk to someone, but that third time they may come back and say, hey, I want to give this a shot.

I want to talk to you and sit down and have a conversation.

And that makes all the difference in the world.

It seems like that van is hitting the street with some really helpful services.

And joining us now to talk more about the services offered is Northampton County program specialist Dana de Belsky.

Dana, thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Thank you.

So, why was the van created in the first place?

Yeah.

So kind of the vision of the van was really just to help bridge the gap for certain needs here in Northampton County.

One of those major ones being access to services.

A lot of things we're seeing here in Northampton County specifically are a lot of our committee members don't have, you know, basic connections to essential services being transportation, not having access to a cell phone.

Being able to schedule appointments.

And having that support for, drug and alcohol and mental health resources if they are experiencing those challenges.

Got it.

So, Dana, talk to us about how this is all funded.

I understand there's some opioid settlement money involved here.

Correct.

Yes.

So, the van is funded by opioid settlement funds, which we receive from the state of Pennsylvania.

Through a nationwide, lawsuit that, has brought in a bunch of different funds from suing a lot of different pharmaceutical companies.

And with those funds, we have been able to start different initiatives, through our drug and alcohol division here at the county.

With doing the rise van, which we'll get more into, as well as other prevention programs.

Like our Narcan is real fentanyl awareness campaign, as well as stuff with our recovery centers and a lot of other, programs we do as well.

So in the rise situation, the funds being put to really good use.

Correct.

And so when we talk about, the folks that you're serving, having mental health issues or, drug and alcohol addiction issues, what what is the balance?

How are those two overlap or, and how are they different?

Yeah, that's a good question.

I definitely think it's important to note that, you know, when you have mental health and you have substance use, a lot of the times they can be co-occurring.

So it's important to know that someone could be battling both at the same time.

We do see individuals that have mental health.

Anything like anxiety, depression, you know, trauma.

And then also individuals that may be using alcohol, they may be using opioids, whatever drug of choice.

But a lot of the times, a lot of the people were experiencing, and talking with whether it's through the van or through our offices, that drug and alcohol.

A lot of the times there are co-occurring diagnoses, such as experiencing mental health and, substance use as well.

So I think it's important to kind of identify that, that, you know, for example, say you have a death in your family.

That death may really may really impact you.

You may go down a bad path.

You may turn to alcohol as a coping mechanism.

And because of that alcohol you start to go in this really deep depression.

So that kind of gives you an example of how that can become a co-occurring, disorder right there, because you have that alcohol usage and you have the depression kind of stemming from that place of grief.

Right?

Dana, what's been the reaction from folks who are using the van, who see the van on the streets?

What's been the reaction from those folks?

Do you see any hesitation because maybe somebody thinks, you know, maybe I'm not.

It's not bad enough yet to need those services.

Like, what would you say to those people?

So are they reacting and and and what would you say to the people to get them to use it?

Yeah, we definitely do see a lot of different reactions, when we take the van out in the community.

For the most part, a lot of them are positive.

I will say the biggest one is, you know, curiosity.

What is this?

You know, people come up.

What is this big van?

What is rise?

So our staff does a really good job of explaining, you know, who rises?

What it means, what we offer on board, the services we can provide for people who our staff are, we really take that opportunity to connect with that individual, share what we do and as well as, you know, learn something about them, learn what we can provide, and how we can help them forward.

I will also say another being a big thing too is, appreciation.

We get a lot of people that we see, see saying thank you for what you're doing, you know, thank you for being out here.

We don't have anything like this in the, in, you know, Northampton County, where you're bringing your services directly to our community members.

And the last thing I'll say, too, is sometimes you just get that hesitation.

You know, we'll see.

People were ever we go out to and we try to strike up a conversation and they may not be interested, and that's okay.

They may feel that they're not ready or, you know, just not ready to talk that day.

So we give them their space.

We say, maybe next time we'll get them.

So the big thing too, is just really building those relationships.

And we've seen that we've come across people where the first time we weren't able to talk to them, the second time we weren't able to talk to them.

And the third time around, that woman, we were like, let's wait for her to come up first.

And she did.

So it really just depends.

Yeah, it's important to just be visible so people see that you're out there, right?

Yeah.

And you had mentioned how sometimes it's just someone coming in and they just need to talk to someone.

Definitely.

It's not like they're even at that point looking for services or, going any further than that, but just the relief of being able to unburden themselves with whatever's bothering them, for sure.

Yeah, a lot of the times.

Well, if someone just wants to sit down and have someone to talk to will be that ear or that voice for them just to lift to just to listen, you know, whatever they have on their mind.

We'll sit down and just have like a quick 20, 30 minute conversation with them and you can see just the quick change in, in their personality when they leave.

So definitely makes a difference.

If folks want more information about where they can find this rise van or get more information on it, where do they find that?

Yeah.

So we do have a website, Rize van.org.

You can also call 610 829.

Help.

That's our 24 over seven line.

We also have a Facebook page and an Instagram as well, which are Rize van Elvie.

They're both the same handle.

Great Dane is the Belsky from Northampton County.

Thanks so much for joining us.

Thank you.

Thanks for having me.

Welcome.

And speaking of mental health resources.

Schools and colleges are doing more than ever to support students mental well-being.

This a suicide was shown to be among the leading causes of death among people aged 10 to 34, according to 2022 data from the centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Now, the state of Pennsylvania is recognizing colleges that are going above and beyond in their efforts to help.

Two Lehigh Valley schools were among 15 schools across the state being highlighted.

For some students.

Keeping up with college can be a stressful endeavor.

I feel like during the semester everyone gets a little, like, flustered.

Especially like when it's like the end coming to the end times.

You get rough, especially as a college student.

Even if you're a freshman or your second year, it doesn't matter.

I feel like you always need that support mentally for sure.

Maintaining grades while participating in athletics can take that stress to a whole other level.

According to recent Lehigh Carving Community College graduate Joshua Shepard, being a student athlete dealing with basketball in school is a lot.

You know, it's like two times harder.

So definitely using that, using the counseling has helped me gain like mental clarity and help me just push through all obstacles.

Shepard and his friend and fellow student Sadiya Melvin say when times get tough, they lean on the school's resources for support.

So I have seeked out for like some clarity and some help as well, because it does feel good to get it off your chest.

You know, they have like little pop ups when they have the events down in the science hall, in the student union.

And also when you go over to the counseling center, you see a bunch of fliers and pamphlets.

It's those resources that have earned the community college a new recognition from the state called PA cares.

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the office of Post-secondary and Higher Education.

Launch of the CARES campus designation.

Lehigh Carbon Community College.

15 post-secondary institutions, including El Tri-C and Northampton Community College, are the first schools to be recognized for their commitment to preventing suicide and promoting mental health and wellness for their students.

Today's PA designees are prioritizing mental health as foundational to their missions, recognizing that well-being is not an add on but an essential.

PA care stands for connect, assess, respond, encourage support.

To earn the designation, the schools have implemented act 110 mental health and suicide prevention plans, enabling school staff to engage with the campus community and offering help to students when they need it.

It doesn't have to always be focused on psychological disorders or suicide, or it could just be how do people thrive and feel mentally better, even if their mental health is actually okay?

Eric Rosenthal of Northampton Community College says administrators have been implementing resources for years now.

We have our suicide prevention plan.

It's a written plan which includes the types of things we do to enhance mental wellness and prevent suicide.

It includes suicide prevention tips and signs to look for resources for help the school offers on campus mental health screenings and counseling services.

We also do a number of interventions.

So for example we have QPR training.

Question, persuade refer.

It's a suicide prevention nationally recognized model.

So we've trained over 330 students, faculty and staff to date over the last several years.

Rosenthal says the college's interactive approaches, like wellness wagons with calming swag and Zen zones, are popular as well.

Many students have said, we really love them.

They help us find peace in the middle of a stressful day, in a hectic environment where there could be a lot of people around.

I can go in there and just be calm and it's quiet.

Back at Lehigh Carbon Community College in Shanksville.

The mental health programs are equally as successful.

Suicide is permanent.

Solution to a temporary situation.

So whatever we can do to assist our students, we want to do Brian DeLong as the associate dean of student development here at Al Tracy, we have our counseling center.

We have professional counselors who are available to serve our students.

We will, provide appointments for our noncredit as well as our credit students be in community college.

We have both services are free.

As long as your student then enrolled here.

So you don't have to pay anything additional for those fully confidential.

You're awarded all the same services that you would receive outside of a college campus.

So I feel like I see the campus and all like they definitely tried to push the fact that they have like counseling and services here.

So I feel like they're very inclusive.

And to let you know that, like, we're here for you.

So I've had a good experience here.

I got a good support system.

If you believe that somebody may be in distress, ask, somebody is not going to commit suicide because you've asked them if they're having those thoughts.

In fact, you may keep them from taking that next step.

Because so often what we're seeing, especially among college students, is, it's the ideation.

It's it's the thinking about it, before actually implementing it.

And if we can catch them, then, we can make all the difference in the world.

During these times, everyone deals with different stress and anxiety of varying degrees.

So we thought it might be important to talk about counseling.

Everyone deals with different stressors.

The school also has a series of mental health support videos online available to students and the public.

We know we only have our students for a very short time frame, so what we're doing is working with those individuals to make sure they know about, community agencies or resources or therapists who may be able to help them, outside of here as well.

The 2025 CARES designation ceremony was held at Temple University this past spring, and it seems like these programs are well received on campus.

Yeah, they really are.

And Northampton Community College also offers a program to support the well-being of students who are recovering from substance abuse.

As well, counseling services at Northampton and Lehigh Carbon Community Colleges are free to both credited and non-accredited students.

It's good to know.

Right now, let's head into the kitchen for a a recipe that's full of fiber.

You heard that right.

It's packed with a ton of fiber and it even tastes good a win win.

I paid a visit to the home of the Wellness kitchen, nurse practitioner Jessica De Louis, to make a cool summer treat that has some hidden health benefits.

We are talking today about something that not everybody always pays attention to.

We're talking about a little ingredient that's in a lot of different things called fiber.

We're here with the Wellness Kitchen East, Jessica De Louis, who invited us into her home and into her kitchen.

Thank you so much for having us.

I am excited to have you here and talk about fiber.

This is a really important nutrient.

We're going to talk about five or now.

I just want to mention your background.

You, have a certification in culinary medicine, right?

And on top of that, you're a physician's assistant.

So you have it all covered, both cooking in the kitchen and seeing patients.

Definitely stay busy.

Yes, you absolutely do.

And so why is fiber so important?

Let's start there.

Yeah, sure.

Well, it is a public health concern.

More than 90% of men and women do not get the recommendation for fiber every single day.

And we know that diet rich in fiber also help to prevent chronic disease.

But it reduces our risk of certain diseases, specifically things like heart disease, diabetes, and it actually boosts longevity.

So really important nutrient okay.

Is it hard to get into some of these recipes.

You know you think fiber you don't always think yummy delicious food.

Yeah that's fair.

That's a fair point.

You know what?

It can be difficult I think, if you don't know what you're looking for.

But what we're going to do today is talk about some swaps that make it really easy to incorporate it into meals.

Your family's already eating, and we're going to do that with some inconspicuous additions, two ingredient things that have great texture and mouthfeel that even your kids, I promise, will want to eat.

Wonderful.

And you're starting with a fan favorite cheese.

Hello, love, Mac and hello.

Exactly right.

So mac and cheese.

I think that a lot of people are grabbing that mac and cheese.

So we're going to we're going to roll with that.

Okay.

So in a blender now a blender if you don't know food processor and blender I would definitely recommend getting one for a lot of these recipes.

It does make the task of incorporating more nutrient density and quality into the meal time a lot easier.

So if you want to hide the healthy foods from either head or your spouse, yeah, get a blender.

That's the secret ingredient.

Yes, and I will say, I hope he's not watching because I do this all the time for my husband.

I will I will puree things into marinara sauce.

Okay, so mac and cheese already done.

Mac and cheese.

Okay.

Ready to go?

I'm just going to move your little, mac and cheese.

This is your sauce, right?

You're just going to move it right over here, if that's okay.

Sure thing.

Yes actually.

Yeah.

So into our cheese sauce we're going to add some beans.

These are legumes.

Great source of fiber.

Then we will add and they're canned right.

Is that okay.

Yeah canned rinsed very convenient I would just rinse the brine out because the brine tends to have a lot of salt okay.

Yep some spinach a little spinach okay.

Now if your kids don't like the green color okay.

Because this is going to change the color will change the color that I would say omit the spinach.

However you could also play with them a little bit and say this is like your monster Mac and cheese, right?

Or any of that, or like, yeah, just name it something different.

Yeah.

Right.

Exactly.

Whatever they like, that's what it's going to be.

Okay.

Okay, great.

A little milk to bring this all together.

Right?

And of course, milk is going to be a great source of calcium, right.

Typically it's fortified with vitamin D, and then we want to add fat because vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin.

So we're going to add avocado.

Great.

Okay.

So last time we met with you you taught us how to cut the avocado.

Let's see if I can do it again so we can you remember.

Yeah.

Walk me through here.

All right.

So your left hand or your non-dominant hand fingers out of the way.

Beautiful grip on that night.

And you're going to slide the avocado right around that blade.

You have changed my life when it comes to slicing avocados with these tricks.

You know what I think?

Proper skills in the kitchen.

Once you know them, you can't unknow them.

And you remember it.

Yes, I this week, let's try it.

But I'm pumped so much easier than stepping away with a knife.

Rock star.

Here you go, Austin.

All right, so let's add maybe half an avocado.

Wonderful.

I'm just going to move that so I don't spill anything.

All right.

So what does the avocado do.

Right.

So the avocado is another very good source of dietary fiber.

And of course it's rich in almost 20 other nutrients including potassium.

So those are two nutrients that are of public health concern because people are not getting enough.

Great.

So we'll pop the lid on and then we'll just let the blender do the work.

And now before you blend that, I know you said we're adding this to cheese sauce, but you've got two other sources too, right?

Yeah, absolutely.

You can add that to other sauces.

And then another tip and say you're making boxed corn muffins or cupcakes actually fat for fat.

If you want to swap out the vegetable oil for something like an avocado, you can do that.

So cup for cup, three measurements for lots of ways to incorporate it in really kid friendly opportunities here.

Absolutely.

All right.

Let's blend latte.

Here we go.

That's it.

All right.

About 30s.

And that's your sauce.

Right.

So make it too green.

It didn't make it too green.

Not at all.

And now some.

If you had the white mac and cheese, it might turn it a little.

Okay.

Yeah.

So I'm like, you also recommended, the green monster truck.

You know, it's a green machine.

I love it I it so make it kid friendly, right?

I feel like my kids would go for that around Halloween, right?

I don't know which year I have it.

All right.

So why don't you pour this?

If you wouldn't mind?

I'm absolutely into our cooked pasta and you can use any pasta you want.

I swapped in whole grain pasta.

Okay, another way to get that fiber into the diet.

And if you're not telling anyone, it's whole grain pasta.

They are not going to know the difference.

Okay.

So it doesn't look it doesn't look like that in the bowl.

No it doesn't actually I0I overcooked it a little bit because I want it to be super soft.

And the color does lighten up when you do it like that.

But you don't ever know.

The kids are never going to know.

This is all about tricking our kids into veggies.

That's right.

And you and yourself too.

I think it's you know, it's nice to have a cozy bowl of mac and cheese.

Delicious.

You right.

Well, played it up a little bit in our bowls.

Here you go.

I don't want to get you all dirty here we go.

All good.

Perfect.

That looks delicious.

Spectacular.

Delicious.

Now this is, like we said, a fan favorite.

Mac and cheese.

Who doesn't love it?

Having a little bit of extra help in there.

But there's also a way to add a little bit of healthy ingredients to our desserts as well.

So you're showing us some great desserts as well.

Absolutely.

So fun fact is, more than 80% of people do not get the recommendation for fruit, okay, on a regular basis.

And fruit is another really great source of fiber.

I think some people are just a little nervous because of the sugar.

Right?

Right.

And I think, yes, to that end, I would say the fruit sugar is not considered added sugar.

Okay.

So even when the American heart or, you know, the USDA recommend limiting added sugar, they're not talking about fruit, okay.

Because you're getting fiber and antioxidants.

So I used these ingredients here.

Banana milk cocoa powder dates and avocado.

So three fruits okay to make popsicles.

So this is a silicone popsicle tray.

And this recipe because we have avocados and it does come directly from loved one today I love their recipe Rolodex.

Yeah.

And the silicone mold is fine.

I mean, there we go.

But it is easy to that.

Yeah.

Oh, look at that perfect little sheet right there.

And if you don't have a popsicle mold, I wanted to give you another option.

You could also just put it into an ice cube tray.

Oh, these I like these popsicle.

So they have a little straw in case your ice cream right now how cute is that?

I love it so.

So tell me one more time what's in this at state?

Oh, we had Otto.

Yep.

Dates for sweetness.

Okay.

Bananas.

So overly ripe.

Bananas also for some sweetness.

Avocado for that creamy mouthfeel.

And then for milk and cocoa powder.

That's all you need.

Wonderful.

Easy as that.

And about how long does it take for them to freeze?

I would say overnight is ready.

So awesome.

What a great way.

By the way, it's not too late to start incorporating some of these nutrient dense foods into your diet.

And what a great way to get your kids involved and learn those skills that they're carry with them for the rest of their life.

Yeah, this is easy enough for the kids to pitch in and make, oh yeah, I love it.

Jessica De Louis, where can folks get more recipes like this and check out some heart healthy food?

Yes.

So this recipe comes directly from love one TODAY.com.

And if you want to check me out, the Wellness Kitchen is on all the social media platforms.

Wonderful.

And before we go full fiber, this has all kinds of fiber.

Let's talk about that.

Yeah.

So we have a fiber count.

So let's talk about the whole grain pasta seven grams of fiber per two ounces.

So a typical serving our white beans for about a half a cup.

We have five grams of fiber spinach not as much as you think only one gram of fiber per cup.

So I think that's a big misconception.

And avocados come in at 11% of the daily recommendation for fiber per serving.

So about a third of an avocado okay.

Really banging out a lot of fiber in these recipes.

Awesome, awesome.

So make sure you get that into your diet Jessica De Louis, The Wellness Kitchen Easter thank you so much for inviting us into your home and sharing these awesome recipes.

Thanks for stopping by.

I can't wait to try them.

Thank you!

That will do it for this episode of living in the Lehigh Valley for PBS 39.

I'm Grover Silcox and I'm Brittany Sweeney.

Hoping you stay happy and healthy.