Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Uhrman.
Hi Lauren, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
The idea of Juice House came into being in 2014 while a group of us were contemplating how to improve and invigorate our city – Toledo, Ohio – a post-industrial city in the midst of revitalization but still struggling to provide an attractive, bright, and healthy ecology for young people. Growing up in Toledo, I understand the ideal of fleeing to somewhere “bigger and better” as soon as you turn 18. I did just that but ultimately found myself back in Toledo with a drive to be a part of cultivating this city into something better.
Being an alumna of the University of Toledo’s College of Nursing and practicing as a pediatric nurse practitioner in the city today, I have seen firsthand the needs of young people in the university and the city. Fast forward to today, after the world has been flipped upside down with the pandemic and all of the global situations, it is no wonder that there are so many young people who are struggling — especially with mental health. What’s the solution? How can young people live healthy, live well?
This is where Juice House comes in — a community organization dedicated to fostering a healthy, diverse, and alternative social ecology on college campuses to cultivate mental and physical wellness, promote student success and build public connectedness. Our primary slogan is, “Dare to live well.” Everyone needs a way to “live well,” and no one can do that on their own; it requires a healthy and vital community that has a vision. I’ve been very fortunate to be surrounded by a healthy and vital group of people (many of whom are UT alumni) with the mutual view and desire to cultivate the potential of a place in dire need of bright, young, healthy minds and a healthy ecology.
We started operating on our homebase of the University of Toledo in 2015, providing an alternative social ecology with creative, vibrant, and healthy activities to engage with young people and provide them with diverse experiences and mentorship. Throughout the years, we have done many activities with students, staff, and community members, such as juicing, dancing, singing, health-based and plant-based seminars, and much more. Fast forward to today, we host over 40 creative and engaging activities we call “blends” and have developed relationships with different departments and organizations across the campus and the city. Most recently, we created our own app as a one-stop shop for all students need for a colorful college experience. The app, called “The Juice,” is a hub for student activities, campus news, study and career opportunities, social connection on and off campus and more, and is out now on the Apple Store and Google Play Store.
We do all sorts of activities, but those are only tools; Juice House provides people with the real “juice” — a healthy and vibrant humanity!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As Midwest universities struggle with student enrollment declines and budget cuts, starting something new on campus (and beyond) has taken the dedicated effort of many Juice House members, community members, faculty, students, and volunteers. While changing a campus and eventually city ecology isn’t easy, the challenges our region faces also provide great opportunities for us to foster a healthy and bright ecology here.
Another struggle was the onset of the pandemic, which drastically limited our physical operation for 2-3 years. While re-establishing our presence on campus was a challenge, it has also created a vast amount of opportunities for us to reconsider the current needs of the student population post-pandemic and create new channels to meet people. Now, with all of these experiences, Juice House is blooming again, more revitalized than ever before!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Juice House?
At first glance, some people might think Juice House is just an organization that promotes healthy eating or drinking juice. But Juice House is so much more than that. When we talk about “healthy ecology” or even “juice,” we are approaching the topic of health from individual, campus and communal/city perspectives. We believe that health goes beyond the physical to encompass all aspects of human life and that a healthy community is essential to individual wellness and success. And the reason we start with college campuses as a community is because we believe college campuses and young people are at the heart of city and regional development.
The way we approach our mission is through a vital, organic, and interactive lifestyle that can encompass all the crucial perspectives of a healthy, enriching, and successful campus ecology. Our Juice House “blends” use healthy activities to bring students into a connected and interactive network, from fitness to arts & culture to career & community. We don’t view activities, hobbies, studies, or professional development as separate entities, but rather use “blends” to form an ecology where all these needs of a student can be met.
But we also know that most of student life happens in the digital world. For this reason, we provide 24/7 access to this ecology through our homebrewed app, “The Juice,” a hub of campus and “blend” information, personal and communal connections, local business support, campus-to-campus opportunities and our JuicePress, which hosts vibrant news for a vibrant campus.
At the end of the day, however, what sets us apart from other organizations is that we are focused on people, not on events or activities. The activities we do serve as a tool to meet new students, provide them with new opportunities and experiences, mentor them, and prepare them to be leaders not just now but in their next stage of life. Ultimately, Juice House provides hope and opportunities to a generation that has been deeply impacted and oftentimes isolated by the pandemic and chaotic global situations. Every student — or really, everyone — needs hope, needs “juice!”
Most importantly, Juice House envisions itself to impact campuses and communities across the region and even the nation. Toledo is our home base, and Juice House’s student organization on the University of Toledo campus is our model for bringing life and vitality to young people.
Alright, so before we go, can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
There are many ways people can get involved with Juice House!
1. If you’re a student or interested community member, get involved! You can sign up as a member here: https://www.juicehouse.org/join-us.html
2. If you’re a school administrator, professor, faculty member, community organization or business and want to collaborate, send us an email at JuiceHouseToledo@gmail.com.
3. Download our app, “The Juice: Dare to Live Well,” on the Apple Store or Google Play Store.
4. Like and follow us on social media (links below).
5. Share about Juice House to your friends, family, and colleagues!
The opportunities and things we can do together are endless. Dare to live well with us!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.juicehouse.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juicehousetoledo/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JuiceHouseToledo
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/juicehousetol
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@juicehouse
- Apple Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-juice-dare-to-live-well/id1668000937
- Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.juicehouse.the_juice&pli=1
Image Credits
Juice House
Anton Becca
Charm image
