OUR YEAR-ROUND CHARLOTTE, NC PROGRAMS
With a focus on shifting lifestyle-driven chronic illness and addressing systemic inequities, all of our programs begin with the acronym “EDD,” which stands for Eat Drink Disrupt. Each EDD program meets community where we gather, delivering culturally aligned, whole food, plant-based, evidence-informed lifestyle education for Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, NC.
MISSION STATEMENT
Delivering culturally aligned, whole food plant-based lifestyle education that equips underserved communities with tools to prevent, arrest and reverse lifestyle-driven chronic illnesses and advance wellness equity.​
​
​VISION STATEMENT
A future where intergenerational wellness, equity and opportunity are realities in every community.​​​​
​
CORE VALUES
​
-
EQUITY AND ACCESS
Wellness equity is a human right. We deliver whole food, plant-based lifestyle education that supports the removal of systemic barriers and poor access for historically underserved and systemically disenfranchised communities. -
EVIDENCE AND RELEVANCE
Our work is grounded in peer-reviewed science and embraces the whole food, plant-based lifestyle, integrating nutrition, movement, stress management, rest and cultural foodways. Every program is delivered in culturally resonant ways that honor lived experience and traditions. -
EXPERTISE WITH SHARED LIVED EXPERIENCE
Our physicians, chefs, nutrition professionals and subject matter experts bring evidence-based knowledge and share the lived experiences of the communities we primarily serve, while welcoming and engaging others who attend. This ensures our programs are culturally resonant, trusted and community-rooted.
WHY OUR WORK MATTERS
Lifestyle-driven chronic illness remains one of the most urgent health challenges facing Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, NC. Under-resourced communities experience the highest rates of diabetes, hypertension and heart disease, while also facing the lowest access to culturally-aligned nutrition education, affordable produce and optimal wellness support. Far from individual failures, these rates represent predictable outcomes of systemic inequity.
​
Many of the neighborhoods we serve live with what public health experts call food apartheid, which is a system where race, income and geography shape who has access to fresh, affordable foods and who doesn't. It’s not solely about distance to a grocery store, it’s about the political, social and economic decisions that create health gaps in the first place.
​
Power is Giving exists to interrupt these patterns by bringing whole food, plant-based lifestyle education into trusted community spaces, as our work is rooted in evidence and culture that empower youth and families with the tools they need to shift outcomes.