REACH Visits Senator Schumer and Congressman Serrano's Offices

In May, Bronx Health REACH and Bronx Community Health Network met with representatives from Senator Charles Schumer's office and Congressman Jose E. Serrano's office. As with our visit to Senator Kristen Gillibrand's office in March, our community partners spoke powerfully of the impact of this work on the health of the community.

The partners at the meeting with Sen. Schumer’s staff included members from Cosmopolitan Church of the Lord Jesus, Friendly Baptist Church, Mt. Zion CME Church, and WellCare Health Plans.

Dorothy Faison, representing Cosmopolitan Church of the Lord Jesus spoke about the exercise ministry that has begun at the church and which meets every Saturday using exercise equipment provided by a grant from WellCare Health Plans. Rev. Dr. Theresa Oliver from Mt. Zion CME Church spoke about a culture of health growing in her church, and gave as an example the fruit infused water in pitchers provided every Sunday for the use of her parishioners.

At the meeting with Congressman Serrano’s staff, Bronx Health REACH Coalition members included representatives from Citizens Emergency Response Network Inc., WellCare Health Plans, and Walker Memorial Baptist Church. Wali Abun, from Citizens Emergency Response Network Inc. shared that even though his organization deals with emergencies such as hurricanes and other disasters, he became involved with the Bronx Health REACH Coalition because he believes the Bronx ranking as the least healthiest county in New York state according to the 2017 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation County Health Rankings & Roadmaps Report is a state of emergency to the health of all Bronx residents, and should be addressed by elected officials.

Flora Goldston, representing Walker Memorial Baptist Church, spoke about the healthy changes happening in her church - parishioners are exercising more and drinking more water now provided as the beverage of choice at church events. She went on to say that it is now standard practice to disseminate health information in the monthly church bulletin.

The goal of these visits to law makers representing Bronx districts is to let them know the extent and impact of the work being done with the funding for REACH.

Bronx Health REACH Helps Schools Meet Federal Mandate with a New Professional Development Course

Last summer, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) passed a regulation requiring all schools participating in the National School Lunch Program or other federal Child Nutrition programs establish a local school wellness policy.

Bronx Health REACH (BHR) understands that developing a wellness council alone is a challenging process — on top of everything else required of teachers and administrators throughout the year. BHR is making it easier than ever to reach wellness goals in school by offering a three-hour professional development course that helps the designated wellness representative learn all they need to know.

BHR will provide school wellness leaders with the skills, strategies, and knowledge to build wellness policies. The training, "Beyond the Champion: Laying the Foundation for a Successful Wellness Council and Healthier Culture," helps the school community understand the building blocks necessary for a successful wellness council. This training explains how to navigate the current federal school nutrition policies, implement sustainable school wellness policies that fit the school's culture and needs, and promote a consistent message about good nutrition and healthy eating beyond the cafeteria to include beverage and food marketing, healthy celebrations and fundraisers. The training also promotes non-food rewards.

At the end of the training, participants will leave with a wellness policy council toolkit with worksheets, resources and best practices for policy council development, policy writing, revising and implementation, and monitoring/evaluation of policies.

The training will be held on June 8th in the morning at P.S. 294 for all teachers and school nurses in Districts 7, 8, 9, & 12. Parent Coordinators and other school staff who intend to manage the wellness council are encouraged to attend. Breakfast and lunch are provided.

Click to RSVP for the Laying the Foundation for a Successful Wellness Council & Healthier School Culture seminar to be held on Thursday, June 8 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

A second training in Nutrition Education is offered in the afternoon for all participants. The course, "Integrating Nutrition Education and Food Literacy into the Classroom" is led by Marissa Burgermaster, PhD, MAEd, an accomplished nutrition education curriculum expert. In this course, Marissa teaches participants how to incorporate nutrition and food literacy into lessons that motivate students to adopt healthier eating habits. Participants will leave the course with a nutrition education toolkit and plenty of activities and lesson plans to adopt for classroom use.

Click to RSVP for the  Integrating Nutrition Education and Food Literacy Into the Classroom seminar to be held on Thursday, June 8 from 1 to 4 p.m.

Bronx Health REACH Nutrition and Fitness for Schools Workgroup Hosts Forum on Lead in School Water

On April 24th, more than forty teachers, parents, staff from community-based organizations and students came to together to learn about the status of lead contamination in school water.  A teacher from High Bridge Green Middle School brought one of her classes that is learning about lead contamination and how it is affecting their school. Speakers included Christine Appah, Senior Staff Attorney of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) and Dr. Michael Weinstein, a professor at NYU Department of Population Health. Representatives from the Department of Health and the Department of Education were also there to answer questions from the audience during a Q & A session. Audience members had the opportunity to share their most pressing concerns about the health impact of lead contamination on the school community and the process for testing and remediation.

During their discussion, the speakers summarized the issue of lead contamination in New York City schools and the potential health concerns. Christine Appah explained that the New York State Safe Drinking Water Law passed in Fall 2016, ensures all schools follow the same testing protocol and timeline. Dr. Weitzman pointed out that “while any level of lead in the water is considered bad from a public health perspective, the level of lead in the water is not at a level comparable to the levels reported in Flint, Michigan."

The Department of Education’s Operations Department provided details on the robust protocol for testing and remediation that they manage in cooperation with Office of Facilities/DOE, NYC School Construction Authority, consultants from the Department of Health, and an external laboratory. While there is no set timeline for remediation, they don’t believe it would take more than a year. The Healthy Homes/Department of Health representative advised the audience that a good practical step to take to lower lead consumption similar to the advice they give to people for water consumption at home is to let the tap water/water fountain run for one minute before using it, especially if it hadn't been run for a few hours. An important fact that was stressed is that boiling water does not get rid of lead.

Workgroup members and the audience stressed the importance of a larger community wide communications campaign on the lead testing and remediation process for schools.

For more information on lead contamination in water,  read the Department of Health’s handout.