RDN Day: Celebrating Our RDNs

 

Director of Nutrition Services
Years at God’s Love: 21
Area of interest: Gerontology, HIV
Joys outside of work? Running, reading, my son
What made you want to become a RDN? An influencer of mine is Susan Knightly. She co-authored a book called Food for Recovery which focuses on the nutritional aspects of recovery. This book inspired me to go back to school to become a RDN.
What do you like about working with God’s Love clients? I appreciate learning from our clients and their openness to share with us.
Lisa’s nutrition tip: Eat more plants, drink water, and keep moving! 

Years at God’s Love: 12 years
Area of interest: HIV, Oncology, General Nutrition
Favorite God’s Love dish? The quinoa-corn cakes. I rave about them!When did you realize God’s Love was special: I was a volunteer in the Nutrition Department for 2 years prior to being hired. I used to walk in and see how happy everyone looked, and I’d think, “I’d like to work here.”
Who is/was your biggest influence as an RDN? I’ve been most influenced by our clients. They are inspirational.
What are your favorite foods? I like most vegetables, walnuts, fish, and milk chocolate. I’m a foodie.

Year started at God’s Love: 2021
Joy outside of work: Exploring and finding new elevators for my son to play with, and playing all the random games my daughter thinks up.
What made you become a RDN? My love for food and scratch-cooking. I spent my childhood watching my mom cook in the kitchen when I was growing up. That’s how we bonded. I wanted to learn about what is in our food and how it affects us holistically.
What do you like about working at God’s Love We Deliver? Many of the people that we serve are facing challenges they’ve never considered or imagined. We have the unique opportunity to help these people, who need good nutrition, who need support, at a moment in their lives when they are not at their strongest, and who might otherwise not have these resources if weren’t here to answer the call. It is a privilege to work with our clients.
Steven’s nutrition tip: Eating supports your hunger, nutrition supports your health. Food that is convenient may support your hunger but not your health. It is important to give conscious thought to what you put in your body when deciding what to eat.

Bilingual English/Spanish
Years at God’s Love: 6 years
Joys outside of work: Being immersed in nature, walking, cooking, watching Gilmore Girls with my 13 year-old daughter, relaxing at home with my pets Zucchini and Pepe (parrots) and Coco (cat), being creative, reading, traveling the world, talking with mom and dad who live in Argentina, sharing a meal, caring for my plants.
What do you like about working at God’s Love We Deliver? The opportunity to connect with another person and support them in their path to self-love and a healthy life. They are connected.
Ana’s nutrition tip: Cook from scratch.

Years at God’s Love: 5
Joys outside of work: I love to spend time with animals, close friends and need to engage in a hiking trip soon.
What made you want to become a RDN? My intention was to learn and share about living a life with fewer additives and chemicals to improve overall health outcomes. My family health history includes diabetes and cancer.
What do you like about working at God’s Love We Deliver? I am thrilled to be able to serve people in their homes intervening with our meaningful and critical mission.
Mary’s nutrition tip? Live life, fuel in a balanced way throughout the day — minimize additives but remember to sprinkle in treats.

Bilingual English/Mandarin
Year started at God’s Love: 2023
Joys outside of work: Playing and coaching volleyball, cooking and eating new foods, and visiting my family in Asia!
What do you like about working for God’s Love? All of our clients are kind and wonderful, and I love working with our growing number of Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking clients.
Sabrina’s nutrition tip: Like Michael Pollan says, Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Years at God’s Love: 3 years
Joys outside of work: DIY craft projects
What made you become a RDN? Assisting my grandmother with her nutritional needs.
What do you like about working with God’s Love We Deliver? Getting to know a client as a person and learning about their culture and views regarding nutrition.
Emily’s nutrition tip: Healthy diet is not one size fits all.

Year started at God’s Love: 2022
Joys outside of work: Pizza, sleep, and my family
What made you become an RDN? The problems with our food system
What do you like about working at God’s Love We Deliver? I love New Yorkers (and New Jerseyites).
Katie’s nutrition tip: Small changes work best!

Year started working at God’s Love: 2022
Joys outside of work: Sports! I grew up playing soccer and running cross country. I also spent two years as a sports RDN for football and other Olympic sports at the University of South Carolina.
What made you want to become a RDN? To help others change their relationship with food (from a negative one to a positive one) and to educate others on how food fuels your body.
Caroline’s fun fact: I’m graduating with my MPH this spring!

Year started at God’s Love: 2022
Joys outside of work: Reading, baking my way through What’s for Dessert? by Claire Saffitz, going to plays and musicals on/off Broadway, running, and riding my bicycle
What do you like about working for God’s Love? Working with God’s Love clients, I feel really lucky to be a part of their medical care and to help them manage their illnesses by providing them with food that is nourishing and a comforting and listening to their stories and experiences.
What made you become a RDN? Growing up with a sibling who suffered from epilepsy, I learned about the Ketogenic diet as a way to reduce seizure activity and essentially treat the disease and allow patients to live relatively normal and healthy lives. My brother ended up not being a candidate for the Keto diet, but I did find it fascinating that food could do something as powerful as stop seizures. I wanted to combine my love of food with helping real people live health  lives.
Catherine’s nutrition tip: Coffee and dessert can be part of a balanced and healthy diet.