Healthy lifestyle habits can be difficult to adopt, but fitness trainer and wellness coach Robin Little-Bowman says that it doesn't have to be complicated. To reduce processed sugars, eat fresh fruits and meal prep at home. To increase your daily step count, park farther from where you need to go. Instead of paying for a gym membership, get workout equipment from Five Below.
These were just some of the tips Little-Bowman gave to attendees on Saturday at the annual West Hills/West Rock Neighborhood Festival. The festival, held at the West Rock Stream Academy at 311 Valley St., was hosted in conjunction with the International Festival of Arts and Ideas and West Hills/West Rock Planning Committee. Festival-goers heard from community health resources and guest speakers covering topics such as nutritional literacy, mental health, and grief. There were around 10 to 12 tents between vendors and community initiatives, like Elm City COMPASS, and about 30 attendees at the start of the festival.
"A lot went into planning. We wanted to make sure that it could be as effective as possible, to give education, to promote, to acknowledge everything," said West Hills resident and festival organizer Andrea Daniels-Singleton. "We just wanted to better our people, better our community, better just us as a whole."
"It's a great opportunity to come out and meet your neighbors, meet your local community, to meet your extended community," she said, describing the atmosphere of the event.
Included in the lineup of speakers was domestic violence advocate Steffon Jenkins. For Jenkins, the issue is personal, as she experienced domestic violence firsthand as a teenager and young adult and lost her mother to the cause.
"Here in Connecticut, approximately 41 percent of of women have faced contact with violence," she said. "These aren't just numbers. They represent our mothers, our sisters, our friends, our neighbors."
Since then, Jenkins has created resources for women, publishing an autobiography and two prayer journals for domestic violence survivors: More Than a Survivor and Beautiful Transformation. Most notably, Jenkins has founded the group Women Winning Over Fear to support and uplift domestic abuse survivors.
"If you're the person directly involved, understand that love doesn't hurt, physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, financially -- love does not hurt. And so if you're hurt more than you are loved, you got to make a plan of escape," she said before heading onstage.
Perusing through the tables and booths was Tia Williams. It was her first time attending the event. Williams came out to support her daughter, who was performing with TVE Dance Studio, but stayed for the community. In the end, she walked out with some cookies and a young children's book: Lessons by Nicole S. Jackson.
"Every vendor I went up to has been very nice and [I've been] able to network with some of them," Williams said.
"Look at the environment. It's very peaceful. It's calming. No one's rushing you to buy things. You get to buy at your own pace."
At another table was 50-year-old Keesha Davis selling eclectic crocheted goods with colors so bright it stopped festival goers in their tracks. From custom crocs to bags and hats, if there's a crochet pattern out there, Davis was determined to make it.
Davis first started crocheting when she was 10 years old after watching her mother crochet for her, giving her a pastime to enjoy while following instructions from crafting books.
"I used to just sit in my room. I was the only child in the house, and I would just sit there and mess with it [crochet yarn], mess with it, mess with it," she said.
Davis lost the habit after her adolescence, until five years ago when she picked back up her crochet hooks. With the help of some YouTube tutorials and inspiration from her family, Davis quickly regained her passion for the craft, so much so that she started her own small business venture.
"It relaxes me, and I love to see people's reaction to me," she said. "It's more of the art of knowing how much time I put into it."