Graduate’s Goal of Promoting Healthy Living Comes to Fruition

After overcoming childhood obesity, Laura Bien-Aime realized there was a severe lack of health literacy taking place at some schools. Bien-Aime looked for a way to fill that gap and educate children and families on how to live a healthier lifestyle, and from that vision, Laura’s Children Foundation (LCF) was born.

“Our mission is health education and physical fitness for children and families. Through my nursing education, I have learned that especially for minorities, there are a lot of harrowing statistics showing that they are more susceptible to high disease processes. There are a lot of deficits when it comes to health literacy, and our program is geared towards health education,” Bien-Aime said.

The nonprofit serves Delaware County and Philadelphia. The organization seeks to help promote healthy habits by educating individuals on how to read a nutritional label, how to determine what foods should be consumed in moderation, weave in regular physical activity into their daily routines and more.

“Childhood obesity is directly linked to adulthood obesity, and I definitely experienced that continuum myself. Through finding my own health journey and educating myself, I wanted to share that with other people and guide them towards making healthier lifestyle choices,” she added.

In 2017, Bien-Aime graduated from Delaware County Technical School’s (DCTS) Practical Nursing Program (PNP).

“It’s always been something I wanted to do when I was younger. I come from a family of healthcare professionals, so I wasn’t sure exactly where I would fall in the cracks, but I ended up becoming a nurse and it was a great decision for me,” said Bien-Aime.

After graduating, Bien-Aime continued her education and became a Registered Nurse. She has worked in the liver and kidney transplant unit at the Jefferson Medical Center since August of 2023.

When she officially launched LCF in 2018, Bien-Aime was still in nursing school. After completing her education, the non-profit organization has ramped up and began providing programming in local school systems, conducting an annual 2.5k walk, community days and other pop-up events to promote health education. On May 5, LCF hosted its second annual Mile & More run. Among the volunteers at the event were current students of the PNP.

In the next few years, Bien-Aime hopes to have a community center for LCF, continue to partner with local gyms and schools, and increase the organization’s Healthy Home Initiative outreach.

“With the Healthy Home Initiative, we want to provide supplemental income and fresh produce to low-income households to help get them out of the high-risk zone for future health problems. The main goal is the child, but because the child cannot support themselves, we are taking a familial approach. We hope to expand that program in our future community center and provide access to dieticians and mental health advisors,” said Bien-Aime.

To learn more about LCF, visit https://lauraschildrenfoundation.godaddysites.com/.