For Matt, recovery has been more than breaking free from addiction. It’s been about reclaiming his body and health. When Matt joined the Food is Medicine class, he wasn’t just looking to lose weight; he was looking for a new way to live.
“I gained about 100 pounds, and I needed help,” he said. “So, when I found out about this class, I jumped straight on it. From the moment I stepped in, there was a shift happening.” 
The Food is Medicine Program offers free, medically tailored groceries and recipes for diabetic patients who are also nutrition insecure. The program provides support from nutrition educators, access to produce, and weekly hands-on lessons.
Matt had already taken steps in his recovery journey. Living in an Oxford House, he had left behind the substances that once controlled his life, but food had become a coping mechanism.
“You don’t realize how much harm you’re doing, even when you’re not using anymore. It’s just as bad as any other addiction if you’re not putting anything good into your body. A lot of little changes made a huge difference,” he said.
Matt says he felt supported by everyone in the program, from the nutritionist to the nursing staff to the K-State Research and Extension Office.
“There were many things I knew going in; I just didn’t know how to start. From the very beginning, I started becoming more mindful of what I was putting into my body. Even in the three months I participated, my A1C dropped significantly. And I’ve also lost almost 25 pounds since I started.”
He learned creative ways to incorporate healthier ingredients into his meals and ways to swap out sugar from recipes, and he now enjoys reading nutrition labels. The class also changed how he grocery shops; he finds himself on the edges of the store where the fresh food items are. The class also gave Matt access to a juicer, which gave him more energy.
“I’m not a huge vegetable person either. But I started juicing. And the amount of energy I get from those juices is insane,” he said. “Especially coming from addiction and having all these unnatural things in your body, it made me realize this is what I was always searching for. But I’m getting it from nature now.”
An Oxford house housemate also took the three-month-long class with Matt. They were both able to keep each other accountable for their food choices. 
Wellness has now become a significant part of his life. After graduating from City Pointe Beauty Academy in November 2024 with a focus on massage therapy, he co-founded Whole Human, a trauma-informed, holistic wellness center. He and his colleagues Calley Sassin, LMT, Charrisa Castillo, LSCSW combine massage therapy with mental health support, treating both mind and body.
The Food is Medicine program wasn’t the beginning of Matt’s wellness journey, but it was a turning point. It helped him connect the dots between nutrition and long-term health.
The program was made possible by the generous support of the Sunflower Foundation: Health Care for Kansans, a Topeka-based philanthropic organization dedicated to improving the health of Kansans. Thank you to the partners in the planning and implementation of this program: CHC/SEK’s Wellness Department and Diabetes Center of Excellence, Dr. Casey Hudson of CHC/SEK, K-State Research and Extension Wildcat District, Ron’s Supermarket, Kansas Food Bank, and Wesley House.