(SAVANNAH, GA) Healthy Savannah and Ashford Tea Company are brewing up something special. The two organizations are introducing a new product to Savannahians called “Health Equi-TeaTM.” The new tea will be introduced to celebrate Healthy Savannah’s 15th anniversary on Monday, May 16 at the Ashford Tea Company.
“This is a loose, tasty tisane with a special blend of chamomile, turmeric, peppermint and sweet blackberry leaves,” said Wayne Ashford, CEO, who also developed the special blend. “I wanted to focus on full-body health. Research also suggests these herbs may assist with aliments that affect us presently and as we age. My focus with this blend was to have a caffeine-free tisane that would have numerous dimensions to overall health.”
The process that led to this partnership between Healthy Savannah and Ashford Tea Company grew out of a shared commitment to instilling a culture of health in Savannah and building power within the community. Together, the two organizations looked for ways to reach beyond and break down the barriers that create and exacerbate health disparities.
“The initial significant inspiration came during one of our #healthywalks, said Paula Kreissler, executive director of Healthy Savannah. “I met Wayne and visited his store and we briefly discussed a tea blend for Healthy Savannah and invited him to join us on one Tuesday morning. It was there that Healthy Savannah’s Nichele Hoskins and Wayne started talking about the ‘blend’ and calling it ‘Health Equi-Tea.’ After that, we had more conversations and Wayne invited our team over for a tasting, and the team overwhelmingly voted for this blend. It was delicious!! It is delicious!”
Kreissler hopes this collaboration will promote health equity, the ability for all people to attain their full health potential and freely live, learn, work, and play.
“When I first discovered tea as my business widget after falling in love with it as a kid; the more I researched it the more I wanted to live life to the Tea,” said Ashford. “All the potential benefits of tea drove me to the need to share what I believe is the second most important beverage in life within our communities that are disproportionately affected by a vast amount of ailments. Tea may assist with lowering the percentages of being affected by those ailments. With that said from the very first meeting with Paula and her beautiful zest for health and wellness, both personally and humanely, while understanding the big picture of inequalities and how they influence our community’s decisions on all quality of life choices. I needed to get involved. Our dreams and passions can’t live alone you have to attach your dreams and passions to other dreams and passions. Paula has enabled me to attach my dreams and passion to further assist the communities I love.”
Healthy Savannah strives to achieve its mission of making the healthy choice the easy choice for all Savannahians through community education and engagement with the goal of achieving equitable outcomes for all. The organization further supports equity initiatives with the YMCA of the Coastal Georgia as joint administrators of the $3.4 million Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant. REACH aims to help close the gap in health disparities among African Americans in Savannah and Chatham County.
“For the past 15 years, the work of Healthy Savannah has always been around addressing and closing health equity gaps within Black and Brown neighborhoods and community members,” said Kreissler. “Health Equi-Tea becomes a resource to bring the health benefits Wayne notes to our community and to educate everyone on how real it is right here in Chatham County. We want to be a healthy community and we can do that by addressing and closing the gaps through community engagement followed by policy, systems, and environmental change!”
The Health Equi-Tea launch will be held on Monday, May 16 at Ashford Tea Company at 406 E. Oglethorpe Ave in downtown Savannah. The public is invited for free tastings from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
Health Equi-Tea will be available for sale starting May 16 and a portion of the proceeds will directly support the work of Healthy Savannah.
For more information and to purchase Health Equi-Tea, visit www.ashfordtea.co. To learn more about Healthy Savannah, visit www.healthysavannah.org.
ABOUT THE YMCA OF COASTAL GEORGIA/HEALTHY SAVANNAH GRANT FOR RACIAL AND ETHNIC APPROACHES TO COMMUNITY HEALTH: In September 2018, Healthy Savannah and the YMCA of Coastal Georgia were awarded a five-year, $3.4 million grant called Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health. Awarded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the funding is being deployed in an “upstream” approach by the Savannah/Chatham County project team to foster sustainable health equity among Black residents in low-wealth neighborhoods. The aim of the local project, called Healthy Opportunities Powering Equity, or HOPE, is to increase the availability of high-quality nutrition; promote physical activity through creating greater access to safe places to walk, run, bike and play; and foster stronger connections between people and the healthcare providers who serve them. Working with more than 200 community partners and organizations, the team is committed to elevating the health and wellness of the community through policy, systems, and environmental change.
healthysavannah.org ymcaofcoastalga.org.
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