Bel Inizio

Bel Inizio’s is trying to accomplish two primary goals:
1. To help as many disadvantaged women as possible improve their self confidence and life skills through fitness and nutrition education.
2. To continuously improve all aspects of our program to maximize the effectiveness of training programs at each agency with every client.

Bel Inizio is working with many agencies throughout Houston to help women living in transitional housing build a foundation of success. Our approach is three-fold.

Bel Inizio is a proven physical fitness program. Bel Inizio uses the Run-Walk-Run method of training that stresses 30 minutes of walking interspersed with intervals of running – with intervals increasing each week. This method reduces the aches, pains, and injuries associated with other approaches. Most importantly, this method combined with better nutrition opens the possibility of finishing a distance race to everyone.

Second, Bel Inizio is a short-term therapeutic model that uses a brief intervention of eight-ten weeks (Is that right number of weeks, how many days a week?) to change the life direction of its clients. The program asks participants to identify a major life concern – physical fitness - and set a goal – the commitment to complete a 5K run. Staff and volunteers then help participants develop strategies, adopt active and effective techniques, and use problem-solving skills in order to achieve that goal.

Third, Bel Inizio is an empowerment program that seeks to help participants by placing them on teams. Each team identifies its own leadership and generates the mutual commitment, increased energy, encouragement, and collaborative effort necessary so that each individual and every member of the group can generate the power to achieve the goal.

Bel Inizio continuously evaluates our program through pre and post self-esteem and nutrition tests, agency debriefing, and client follow-up. Programs are reviewed and adjusted three times a year after each session to increase efficacy.

Bel Inizio has a very active and involved board that has direct experience in managing and participating in our programs. We also receive feedback from agency partners, registered dieticians, trainers, case managers, and program directors. In addition, we work with experts from the University of Houston and MD Anderson in program evaluation and client follow-up. With over 2,000 volunteer hours provided in 2014 and nearly $100,000 in in-kind contributions, Bel Inizio also thrives because of significant community support.

Bel Inizio has grown tremendously since starting in 2011 with one group of just a few graduates. Most recently we had 80 clients and volunteers complete a major Houston 5K and that is only one of three training sessions we do annually. We are currently serving seven agencies and expect this number to grow.

We are not yet satisfied with client follow-up. Our clients are transient and difficult to reach after they leave our program and their transitional housing. We are in the process of developing a more robust, incentive-based follow up system which has had proven results with similar clientele.