St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea to promote healthy eating programs for older adults at the Chelsea Senior Center

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Bobby Maldonado

248-858-6662

Bobby.Maldonado@stjoeshealth.org

July 13, 2018

CHELSEA, Mich. (July 13, 2018) – On July 19, 2018 from 11am to 12:30 pm, St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea will attend the Chelsea

Senior Center alongside the Washtenaw County Health Department to register people for this year's Senior Market Bucks and Senior Project FRESH programs. Both programs were developed to encourage local seniors to eat better and to make healthy food choices.

Senior Market Bucks, a program administered locally through St. Joe's Chelsea, provides local seniors with coupons to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, cheese, milk, yogurt, meat, poultry, fish, and honey through participating farmers markets.

Packets of ten $1.00 coupons will be available.

Senior Project FRESH/Market FRESH, a program administered locally by the Washtenaw County Health Department, helps incomeeligible seniors eat healthier as they age. The program provides participants free nutrition education and $20 in coupons to be exchanged for Michigan-grown fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices and honey from participating farmers markets and roadside stands.

The last day to use coupons from either program is October 31, 2018.

To be eligible for either program, participants must be 60 years of age or older and live in Washtenaw County. Senior Project FRESH also has an income-eligibility requirement. The Chelsea Senior Center is located at 512 E. Washington Street in Chelsea, Michigan.

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About Saint Joseph Mercy Health System

Saint Joseph Mercy Health System (SJMHS) is a health care organization serving seven counties in southeast Michigan including Livingston, Washtenaw, Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Jackson, and Lenawee. It includes 537-bed St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, 443bed St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac, 304-bed St. Mary Mercy Livonia, 136-bed St. Joseph Mercy Livingston in Howell, and 133-bed St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea. Combined, the five hospitals are licensed for 1,553 beds, have five outpatient health centers, six urgent care facilities, more than 25 specialty centers; employ more than 16,200 individuals and have a medical staff of nearly 2,700 physicians. SJMHS has annual operating revenues of about $1.9 billion and returns about $120 million to its communities annually through charity care and community benefit programs.

SJMHS is a member of Trinity Health, a leading Catholic health care system based in Livonia, Mich. Trinity Health operates in 22 states, employs about 97,000 people, has annual operating revenues of about $15.8 billion and assets of about $23.4 billion. Additionally, the organization returns almost $1 billion to its communities annually in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs.

For more information on health services offered at Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, please visit www.stjoeshealth.org.