Jodi Mann-Bella has two passions: helping the older adults in her community and taking photos. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Mann-Bella works as a business development manager for Meals on Wheels of Northwest Indiana and also runs a photography business with her husband.
Mann-Bella chose to stay in Northwest Indiana because she fell in love with the people and the location.
“I enjoyed the area; I like being close to a major city and close to the lake,” Mann-Bella said. “The diversity of the people around here, I just loved it.”
In her position with Meals on Wheels of Northwest Indiana, Mann-Bella takes on many different projects to help better provide for the community.
“Marketing and business development are the two areas I’m involved in. I work with healthcare entities to create contracts for nutrition, and I do a lot of special projects,” Mann-Bella said. “I also work on our largest fundraiser, so I do a little bit of everything. I love the variety of the things that I do.”
Mann-Bella decided to turn her career to the nonprofit world to help change her community for the better after hearing about the open position at Meals on Wheels.
“This new position was created to integrate meals more into the healthcare world, and I heard about it, and I had a marketing background,” Mann-Bella said. “I was looking for a change of pace, and my husband was working in the nonprofit world. I was just ready to see if I could make an impact in my community and make it a better place to be.”
As a self-proclaimed foodie, Mann-Bella really connected with the mission of Meals on Wheels.
“I fell in love. I’ve always been a foodie. That aspect of how food is medicine and can be used to improve your health, I’ve always been a supporter of that,” Mann-Bella said. “Food is part of who we are. It's our culture, and it's our lives, and we should continue that belief all the way through to older adults because sometimes in our society we’re not really great about seeing the value of older adults.”
One specific demographic of importance to Mann-Bella is the older adult population in the Region. According to Mann-Bella, this demographic is often overlooked, and because of that, it’s one that she enjoys focusing on.
“We tend to forget about older adults in our community and as long as they’re still around and valued, it makes the community a better place,” said Mann-Bella. “I think I really found a passion here that I was not expecting, and it makes me happy.”
Through Meals on Wheels, Mann-Bella helps to ensure that older adults are provided food, allowing them to continue to live on their own and be independent.
“I have incredible respect for older adults and a lot of our clients are older adults. I grew to love what this meant in terms of the respect for the older generation,” Mann-Bella said. “Dignity, living on your own, being empowered, all of these are inspired by what food brings to individuals in terms of being comforted.”
In Mann-Bella’s eyes, a community cannot grow until every member is taken care of, regardless of their demographic. In fact, according to Mann-Bella, a healthy community is a diverse one, emphasizing the importance of caring for older adults.
“A viable community is one that has a wide variety of individuals and demographics. It makes a community more whole, and it gives us the chance to experience all of life, to see the value in life at all different stages,” Mann-Bella said.
In addition to her work with Meals on Wheels, Mann-Bella has a photography business – Bella Photography & Design – with her husband.
“I’ve always enjoyed doing photography, it’s a great creative outlet for me. I love that moment of just capturing something, an image that you look back on, and it's amazing to me how you can visually see something and emotionally feel everything that was attached to it,” Mann-Bella said.
In her free time, Mann-Bella loves riding her motorcycle, gardening, reading, and trying new restaurants throughout the Region.