Do you remember the first few months after being diagnosed with celiac disease? Navigating the scary grocery store with no idea what was okay to buy or eat, going through your kitchen and learning that even your pans were not safe to eat out of any longer? The Portland GIG group is in the process of starting an outreach mentor program for newly diagnosed celiacs. We plan to have a kick off for the program at the Gluten Free 101 meeting in October.
This program is meant to give those newly diagnosed patients a head start. They will be paired up with a more knowledgable celiac or gluten intolerant to help ease them into the world of gluten-free living. They will help with figuring out what is OK to eat, how to clean out a kitchen, food shopping adventures, eating out, social events and more via one-on-one sessions, e-mail and phone calls. It is an individual run support system that will provide answers to questions and emotions that occur during the transition to gluten-free.
Since Portland GIG is in the process of getting the program started up, we are in search of people willing to be mentors for newly diagnosed celiac patients, or those starting a strict gluten free diet.
If you are interested please contact Kristina Squires at:
Phone: 208-484-0544
E-mail: Kristina.squires@gmail.com
The commitment for the volunteer mentor position will be a training session as well as varying hours a week in communication with a new celiac.
If you are new to the diet and would like to be set up with a mentor, please be patient. I am currently getting this program up and running and it should be launching in October. At this point if you have any questions or suggestions please feel free to contact me.
~ Kristina Squires
Grain Damaged - A blog for celiacs, non-celiac gluten sensitive, gluten intolerant and gluten sensitive people in the Portland, Oregon area, from the Gluten Intolerance Group of Portland
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