In Fair Haven, a group of health care providers grew tired watching patient after patient, family after family, contract a disease that it seemed most had forgotten was completely preventable. With an army of support, they founded the Diabetes Prevention Program.

Fair Haven Community Health Clinic‘s patients and their families with metabolic abnormalities are invited to participate in the Diabetes Prevention Program. The DPP is a twelve-week intensive lifestyle program that focuses eating well and exercising. Following forty-five minutes of education, the families have individual meetings with a medical provider. The group then participates in an hour of supervised physical education. Additionally, participants are encouraged to join the Diabetes Prevention Program Community Garden, where their nutrition education comes to life.

This is the story of the program’s trials, tribulations, and ultimate success in curbing the prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes in New Haven, Connecticut. Our hope is that it will seep into the operations of healthcare facilities, lifestyles of pre-diabetic families, scrutiny of researchers, and attention of policy makers – thereby severing the disease’s presence in an estimated fifty-seven million Americans (NDIC).