Join us this FRIDAY SEPT 15 for Racism and Our Families’ Health: Connecting the Dots…Why the Conversation Matters from 10AM to 12PM

 

Join us this FRIDAY SEPT 15 for Racism and Our Families’ Health: Connecting the Dots…Why the Conversation Matters from 10AM to 12PM. The presentations and discussions will offer lessons in how to effectively respond to our most pressing social issues employing a lens of anti-racism. 

Click HERE to Register. 

Questions? imoronta@institute.org.

Click here to view Part 1 of a recent discussion with Stay Alive with Church Alive (hosted by Bishop Timothy Birkett) featuring Immaculada Moronta from The Institute for Family Health/Bronx Health REACH, Rev. Dr. Calvin R. Kendrick, Pastor of Grace Baptist Church in the Bronx, and Father David Powers from RC St. Helena Church as they discuss the Racism and Our Families Health series of webinars as they discuss: What is racism? What are the types of racism? Where do we find racism? Why does the conversation about race matters to all?

Click here to view Part 2 of a recent discussion with Stay Alive with Church Alive (hosted by Bishop Timothy Birkett) featuring Immaculada Moronta from The Institute for Family Health/Bronx Health REACH, Rev. Dr. Calvin R. Kendrick, Pastor of Grace Baptist Church in the Bronx, and Father David Powers from RC St. Helena Church as they discuss the Racism and Our Families Health series of webinars as they discuss the following: How is racism making us sick? How is racism affecting our wellbeing? How do you achieve equity goals as an organization and/or individuals?

Health Disparities Workgroup Roundtable Discussion with Fordham University Faculty

 

Bronx Health REACH Health Disparities Workgroup members had a roundtable discussion with several Fordham University faculty to get expertise and feedback on the HDWG’s Asks. 

In the Spring, Bronx Health REACH Health Disparities Workgroup members had a roundtable discussion with several Fordham University faculty to elicit their expert feedback on the HDWG’s Asks. This was the first of several roundtables being planned to focus on different sections of the HDWG Asks. The particular focus of this meeting was on the economic Ask. Robert J. Brent, Ph.D., Professor of Economics, Janis Barry, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Economics, and H. Shellae Versey, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology were the participating faculty members. We are excited to continue working with Fordham University and their faculty and staff on the HDWG Asks and creating opportunities for students to engage with the community on the #Not62 campaign. Thank you to Fordham’s Keisha Shay, Ph.D., Associate Director of Academic Development and Administration and Surey Miranda-Alarcon, Director of Campus and Community Engagement, who are helping to organize the roundtables.

Bronx Health REACH Coalition's #Not62 Rally in the Media

The Bronx Health REACH Coalition's #Not62 rally, held on December 2, received a lot of media attention in December. Our Health Disparities Workgroup members appeared on Bronxnet's Stay Alive with Church Alive and OPEN. Bronxnet also covered the rally and interviewed some of the featured speakers. Finally, the Riverdale Press and the Bronx Times covered the rally as well.

Bronx Health REACH Video Shown at American Public Health Association's 2019 Global Public Health Film Festival

Bronx Health REACH will be showing our video, "Bronx Health REACH: 20 Years of Making Health Equality a Reality," at the 2019 APHA Annual Meeting and Expo as part of the American Public Health Association's 2019 Global Public Health Film Festival. If you are attending, you can view our video at at 9 a.m. at the Pennsylvania Convention Center-114 Michael Nutter Theater. If  you are not attending the Expo, you can view it here.

Bronx Health REACH's Charmaine Ruddock Selected as CDC's Office of Minority Health Equity Champion

Congratulations to BHR's Project Director Charmaine Ruddock who was selected as the Office of Minority Health and Health Equity Champion. Leandris C. Liburd, Director, Office of Minority Health & Health Equity (OMHHE) commented, "Our Health Equity Champion is one of the pioneers who has contributed significantly to the implementation of REACH and its branding as CDC’s flagship health disparities program.  We are honored to recognize Charmaine Ruddock who leads the Bronx Health REACH program. I can personally attest to her tireless commitment to reducing racial and ethnic health disparities in the Bronx and her sustained efforts to support REACH nationally."

Great job Charmaine. We are proud of your leadership!

REACH June Coalition Meeting Celebrates 20 Years of REACH

Bronx Health REACH presented awards to Sue Kaplan and Joyce Davis for their work with Bronx Health REACH. (Left to right): Maxine Golub, Charmaine Ruddock, Sue Kaplan, Dr. Neil Calman and Joyce Davis.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program. And, as one of the grantees funded since the inception of REACH, it also is Bronx Health REACH's (BHR) 20th anniversary as well. At the June 7th Coalition meeting, a panel of some of the founding members looked back at the past 20 years. The panelists included: Dr. Neil S. Calman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Institute for Family Health; Maxine Golub, Senior Vice President of Program Development at the Institute for Family Health; Joyce Davis of Joyce Davis Consultants and Walker Memorial Baptist Church; and Sue Kaplan from NYU School of Medicine, Department of Population Health. The panelists discussed how it all began for BHR in 1999, what was the motivation, the vision, the mission.

"You had to go out into the community and do something, so I thought that applying for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) very first REACH grant was the perfect opportunity for us to build on the work inside our organization and to do something outside the walls of our community health centers about bringing the issue of race to the forefront. We were not thinking about the social determinants at the time, but we felt that we had to address the inequities in the health care system," said Dr. Calman.

Maxine added, "At the time I did not think we had the expertise but we wrote the grant and the CDC gave us a year to plan. We held focus groups and we learned to ask, rather than, to tell the participants, and used their feedback to write a community action plan with input from the community."

"One Pastor at a Bronx church told us that he had young people in his congregation with toes cut off due to health ailments and something had to be done to address these issues," said Joyce. It was an open and engaging panel where all agreed that despite the many accomplishments of BHR, there is still much work to be done to eliminate health disparities.

Prior to the panel discussion, both Joyce Davis and Sue Kaplan were presented with awards. Joyce's award was for her exceptional leadership, vision and commitment to Bronx Health REACH and Sue's award was for her exceptional partnership and commitment. Sue in accepting her award noted, "Bronx Health REACH is not a project, it is a commitment."

Health Disparities Workgroup Update

Last October more than 60 Bronx Health REACH Coalition members and community residents held a Not62 Rally on the steps of the Bronx Supreme Court calling on the Mayor, the Governor and all elected leaders to make the health of the Bronx a priority. They chanted, '62 will not do! We can do better! We must do better!'

Earlier this year the the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation along with the University of Wisconsin released the 2019 County Health Rankings Report. And, as in past reports, the Bronx was ranked the unhealthiest county in New York State, i.e. 62 out of the 62 New York State counties. To address the Bronx being the unhealthiest county, the Bronx Health REACH Coalition through its Health Disparities Workgroup took action in March and April to determine the best ways to engage New York elected officials to make the health of the Bronx a policy priority, and a funding priority.

New York State Assemblymember Victor M. Pichardo attended the March 2019 Health Disparities Workgroup meeting (see below for more details) as well as leaders from Bronx Community Boards #5 and #7. The representatives from the Community Boards shared with the Workgroup the challenges they faced including informing Bronx residents of the various services that are available to improve their health. The Community Boards would like to partner with other stakeholders to address health disparities in the Bronx and will work with the Health Disparities Workgroup to get more community participation at community board meetings.

In April, Baretto Bay Strategies, an urban solutions consulting firm that provides strategic advice to public agencies and community development organizations, led an interactive workshop to help the Workgroup create a better strategy to engage elected officials in the #Not62 - The Campaign for a Healthy Bronx. Baretto created an Action Agenda to determine which issues should be addressed and how to identify those individuals who would be allies in addressing the health challenges faced by Bronx residents. A draft SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis was created to help members determine if our target was too big and develop a time frame for reaching our goals. The Workgroup will use the Action Agenda in the coming months to determine the best strategy to promote health equity in the Bronx.

At the May meeting many long time Health Disparities Workgroup members reflected on the loss of Pastor Foley, but found a renewed sense of commitment to keep his legacy alive. Workgroup members vowed to continue to keep the pressure on our elected officials to improve not only the ranking of the Bronx, but the health and well-being of all Bronx residents.

These two workshops were the last efforts of Pastor Foley’s work with Bronx Health REACH before he died.  His leadership will be sorely missed.

If you would like to attend our next Health Disparities Workgroup meeting, join us on Friday, July 12 at 1:00 p.m., at Mt. Zion CME Church, (1148 Elder Avenue), Bronx NY 10472.

Rev. Dr. Theresa Oliver, Always Willing to Help Someone Along the Way

Bronx Health REACH continues its series on individuals who have made a significant contribution to the Institute for Family Health's Bronx Health REACH, and have also been strong activists for needed change in the Black and Latino communities in the Bronx. A notable member of this group of change agents is Rev Dr. Theresa Oliver, Pastor at Mt. Zion CME Church in the Bronx, New York, and a partner in the Bronx Health REACH faith based outreach initiative.

Growing up in Fairfield, Alabama outside of Birmingham, Rev. Dr. Theresa Oliver didn't realize how unjust the separate but equal policies were until a visit to the dentist’s office when she was in college. "I went with my mother to the dentist’s office and the Blacks had to sit in a waiting room in back that was separate from the main room in the front. I was trying to read one of my textbooks but found it difficult to concentrate as there was a lot of talking by others in the waiting room. I noticed that the other waiting room was empty so I sat down in that room, and was able to read in silence. After a few minutes the receptionist came out and informed me that I was not allowed to sit there. I asked her why, and I can't recall if she gave me an answer, but I was so annoyed and ended up going outside to sit in the car. That experience did something to me as I kept thinking, no one else was sitting in that room and I didn’t see why my sitting there and reading quietly to be a problem, but that receptionist was so insistent telling me that I had to leave. That encounter deeply affected me."

After graduating from Miles College Rev. Oliver married and moved to New York starting a career as a registered medical technology staff member at Bellevue Hospital working the overnight shift. "I preferred the overnight shift because it was good for my mental health. During my breaks I would open up my bible and this particular scripture would always pop up:


The Year of the Lord’s Favor
    The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
      and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.
Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV

After seeing this scripture always pop up at various times the turning point came when one of the church members told me that I was going to be a pastor at another church. As he was speaking to my heart, I put my faith in the Lord and enrolled at New York Theological Seminary. I received a Masters in parish ministry and eventually got a doctorate. The pastor at my church decided to move to South Carolina and requested I replace him as pastor, so I have been a pastor at Mount Zion CME Church since 2000."

In 2010 Rev. Oliver was introduced to Bronx Health REACH through Dr. Sandra White, a sister of a Mt. Zion pastor. "Dr. White told members of our congregation about a program that would introduce healthy eating to our congregation. "I became interested because my doctorate was on holistic ministry and improving the health among African- Americans. There has always been a stigma around discussing health within our congregation - that's from the secrecy that we always had in the South with people; you just didn’t go to the doctor on a regular basis for a check-up. If you did, by that point it was too late and there was nothing that the doctor could do to make you better.”

Bronx Health REACH started a nutrition program with Mt. Zion, and at the first meeting, staff from Bronx Health REACH passed out survey sheets for the congregation to complete. It consisted of questions around the health and eating habits of those participating. “Other than a few members, I was surprised to find that everyone completed the sheets. Our church would go on to host a couple of health fairs, and eventually we began serving healthier food at our church dinners. We also eliminated soda. To this day we use the fruit infused water pitchers to serve water flavored with pineapple and orange. The parishioners love it and I like to see them drinking that rather than soda."

When funding for that program ended, Rev. Oliver was asked if she would continue to work with Bronx Health REACH, even though there was no stipend to do the work. "My answer was yes, I wanted to continue working with Bronx Health REACH because the work that has been done is so important in improving the health and well-being of those in our church. We have gotten people to open up about their health, talk about improving their diets with fresh fruits and vegetables, do blood pressure checks and hold exercise classes.”


Rev. Oliver’s past encounters with racism motivates her to fight for health equity on behalf of African-Americans and Latinos residing in the Bronx as a member of the Health Disparities workgroup. Looking back, the path Rev. Oliver chose turned out fine, "If you can help somebody along the way, then your life won’t be in vain. I am happy where I am.”

Bronx Forever

Image: comicbook.com website

Are there lessons from Wakanda, the fictional country in the movie, Black Panther that we can apply to the Bronx, our own special place? Maybe not specific lessons, but for the only NYC borough with a majority population of color used to being discredited and disparaged we feel a kinship when Carvell Wallace from the NY Times in an essay on the movie “Black Panther” writes,  “Wakanda is a fictional nation. But…[it] must also function as a place for multiple generations of black Americans to store some of our most deeply held aspirations. We have for centuries sought to either find or create a promised land where we would be untroubled by the criminal horrors of our American existence.” Like director Ryan Coogler with Wakanda, Bronx Health REACH's vision for the future Bronx is a place where its residents are no longer troubled by its history of poverty and want but a place where triumph is the watchword for the new order. Where it is not 62nd out of 62 counties in health outcomes.  Where it is not the poorest urban congressional district.  Where housing is good and affordable. Where safety is the new watch word.  Where people live long and healthy because they get to eat right and exercise more. Where graduation rates are the best.  Changes not brought about through gentrification but through a changed socio-economic circumstances for the Bronx black and brown people. In his love letter to the filmgoers who went to see Black Panther, Coogler’s post script, was ‘Wakanda forever’, our postscript is “Bronx forever” #Not 62 #wedreamaworld #Bronxforever. 

Pastor Robert L. Foley Sr. Receives Award for Commitment to Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities

At a ceremony commemorating Pastor Robert L. Foley's many years of service as pastor of Cosmopolitan Church of the Lord Jesus, Bronx Health REACH's Charmaine Ruddock presented Pastor Foley with an award for his exceptional leadership, vision and commitment to making health equality a reality in the Bronx. Pastor Foley has been a partner with Bronx Health REACH for over seventeen years, starting when the Institute for Family Health launched a community coalition whose goal was the elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities in the South Bronx.

Pastor Foley Sr. has been a leader in the Bronx advocating for long term sustainable change to the conditions that contribute to Bronx residents living sicker and dying younger than they should. In addition to his work with Bronx Health REACH he had been a leader in the Black United Leadership in the Bronx (BULB). He also serves as a member of the Community Advisory Board of Montefiore Hospital, the Advisory Board of the Bronx Region of the American Cancer Society, the New York Yankees Community Relations Council, and the Police/Clergy Liaison of the NYPD.

He has been a force to be reckoned with in ensuring that Bronx residents live in a Bronx that allows them to have long, healthy lives.

Read about the Bronx Health REACH profile on Pastor Foley.

The Atlantic's CityLab Cautions Cutting REACH Funding Would Harm Organizations such as Bronx Health REACH

Bronx Health REACH was featured in The Atlantic's CityLab online story describing how the impact of cutting funding from the REACH program affects not only the work Bronx Health REACH has done in the Bronx, but the other forty-eight local entities across the U.S. that receive REACH grants and funding from the Center for Disease Control. You can read the article, "The Fight to Close the Racial Health Gap Just Got Harder," here. Photo: Laura Bliss.

From a Church in the Living Room to Feeding Thousands in the Bronx

Bronx Health REACH continues its series on individuals who have made a significant contribution to the Institute for Family Health's Bronx Health REACH, and have also been strong activists for needed change in the Black and Latino communities in the Bronx. A notable member of this group of change agents is The Reverend John Udo-Okon, Senior Pastor at the Word of Life International in the Bronx, New York, and a partner in the Bronx Health REACH faith based outreach initiative.


The Rev. John Udo-Okon's first Bronx location for his church, Word of Life International, was the size of a living room. In fact, it was his living room where his parishioners gathered in the one bedroom Bronx apartment he shared with his family. Born and raised in Nigeria, Pastor John worked with missionaries from the Sudan United Mission-Christian Reformed Church in Northern Nigeria to develop Christian shows for television and film productions in Nigeria. In 1998 Pastor John took a two year sabbatical from his work in Nigeria to spend time with his wife, Rev. Felicia Udo-Okon, who lived in United States. He lived in the Bronx intending to return to Nigeria after his sabbatical, but , as Pastor John puts it, “God had other plans for him.”

“I was praying and talking to other people of faith, and I was thinking of starting a ministry in the Bronx, but I kept asking myself, how do I start it? Then I heard a voice, ‘Start where you are.’ We were living in a one bedroom apartment on the fourth floor, and I was convinced that God wanted me to start a church in the apartment, so I told my wife let’s turn our living room into a church. Neighbors began attending every Sunday."

After seeing many people visiting the apartment, a neighbor informed Pastor John that he could not have people coming to his house for church every Sunday; “If you want to have a church, you need to find a larger space.” So Pastor John began to pray, and again, he heard a voice: “Go to White Plains Road by 214th Street.” He went to White Plains Road and 214th Street, and as he was standing on the corner a man came up to him and asked if he was looking for a space for his church. Pastor John was led to 3636 Holland Avenue, which became the new location for Word of Life International. Even though he now had a larger space, the area was drug infested. “Gun shots could be heard during services and drug dealers would run into the church and leave their drugs behind. The parishioners became wary of the new location. So we began to go out into the neighborhood and stand on the street corners along with the drug dealers and talk and pray with them. Eventually the drug dealers moved on, and after a few months with police involvement, the area became drug-free."

New York Knicks player Carmelo Anthony, founder of the Carmelo Anthony Foundation assisted with a November 2015 food drive providing 800 families with food at Word of Life International.

As his congregation grew Pastor John moved Word of Life International to 1299 Louis Nine Boulevard in the South Bronx. One day, as he was driving with church members along Park Avenue he saw a well dressed man looking for something in the garbage can. "I said to my wife, look at this man - he is looking for drugs.”  My wife said, ‘No, that man is hungry.’ “We began to argue, and just to prove my wife wrong, I parked and went up to this man and asked if he was looking for something in that trash can. The man told me that he was hungry and looking for food. I gave him $5 dollars to buy food, and we decided to turn our church into a food pantry." At first Pastor John and his parishioners would donate food from their own homes. Eventually they organized and collected food donations from local restaurants, grocery stores and other food banks. The program currently serves up to 8,000 people each month. Other services offered by Word of Life International include a fitness and nutrition education program as well as a senior wellness program for those 55 and older that meets every Thursday.

 So what is his secret for reaching so many in the community? "It's not the size of your congregation, but how you respond to the needs of the community. Whatever you do for your community eventually will benefit you. The community members we have helped joined our congregation because of the work we did for them and others. Some of them came in as volunteers, fell in love with the work we were doing, and today they are worshiping with us.”

Pastor John continues to strengthen his network of volunteers every day, whether it is from the youth that have put in over 6000 community service hours to the partnership with other Bronx churches, where he mentors four other churches in Bronx Health REACH’s faith based initiative. A few days prior to Thanksgiving he received a call from a former parishioner currently living in Baltimore. The parishioner asked if it was possible for Word of Life International to help out Baltimore residents in need. “I filled a van with food the day before Thanksgiving, and it was delivered to hungry Baltimore residents.” To Pastor John, caring for the needy is not limited to just the Bronx, nor to those inside the church. “The time has come for us to get out of the church, get out to the streets and do something because at the end of the day, the best way to preach the gospel is to lift somebody up.”

Council Member Ritchie Torres - Civic Empowerment Lies at the Heart of Everything He Does

Bronx Health REACH’s Kelly Moltzen with New York City Council Member Ritchie Torres following the announcement of Torres’ $10,000 allocation towards Health Bucks in 2015.

Bronx Health REACH continues its series on individuals who have made a significant contribution to not only the Institute for Family Health, but to the  Black and Latino communities in the Bronx where they have been strong activists for needed change. A notable member of this group of change agents is New York City Council Member Ritchie Torres, representing the 15th Council District in the Central Bronx that includes the communities of Fordham, Mount Hope, Belmont, East Tremont, West Farms, Van Nest, and Allerton.

Growing up in New York City public housing Council Member Ritchie Torres knows all too well the poor housing conditions faced by residents of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). The mold from his childhood apartment triggered asthma attacks, resulting in many hospital visits. When his mother would call NYCHA staff about the mold, they would just paint it over. The problem would continue. As Chair of the NYC Council Committee on Public Housing, Council Member Torres is making sure public housing residents do not suffer as he did. In April, Senator Bernie Sanders and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, candidates for the Democratic Presidential nomination, were were invited by Council Member Torres to tour public housing to see firsthand the living conditions residents must endure. Senator Sanders accepted the offer and was led on a tour by Council Member Torres to public housing developments in the Central Bronx and Brownsville, Brooklyn. Secretary Clinton toured public housing in East Harlem.

"By inviting Senator Sanders and Secretary Clinton to tour public housing I was sending a simple message: You cannot confront inequality from the ivory tower. By visiting these public housing projects, you see the abysmal conditions residents live in every day. What you see is the impact from federal disinvestment. How could this be, in a city that has an $80 billion budget, a state that has a $140 billion dollar budget, and a country that has a $4 trillion budget? The tour led Secretary Clinton to commit to secure more funding for public housing."

A central issue of concern Council Member Torres hears from his constituents is affordable housing. "Among my constituents there is anxiety and fear over losing their homes and neighborhoods. We have seen neighborhoods that have been gentrified out of existence, affordable housing has been gentrified out of existence, and my constituents, who are living paycheck to paycheck, are fearful that their neighborhood is next. We need more investment from the federal government to solve the affordability crisis here in New York City.”

Council Member Torres also knows that his constituent’s limited income restricts their ability to purchase healthy food. To address this the Council Member pioneered the use of discretionary funding for Health Bucks, worth $2 each, they are used to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables at participating farmers markets. For the past three years the Council Member has allocated funds towards Health Bucks for his district. "There is nothing more important than your health. With the funding for Health Bucks, more people in my district are able to purchase more fruits and vegetables at farmers markets. My hope is that more Council Members will take it up as a priority for their own districts."

The Council Member’s recent legislative efforts have included improving access to mental health services. "If you lack mental wellness, then a whole host of problems can arise. I have struggled with depression in my own life. It's a genuine disease in which you have no control, and can inhibit your ability to live a fully functional life. Knowing this I have introduced legislation requiring the city to create a mental health plan, specifically for LGBT seniors and others in the LGBT community who have been found to have some of the highest rates of depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide.”

With the Bronx being ranked 62 out of 62 counties in New York State by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation County Health Rankings & Roadmaps Report, Council Member Torres believes that no single policy will solve the problem. "Since the Bronx has some of the highest rates of obesity and diabetes, I believe improvements in the public health of the Bronx needs to come from several initiatives such as Health Bucks, expanding the number of green markets, encouraging more healthy food options by creating a zoning or financial incentive for super markets and bodegas to offer healthier eating options. The solutions are there. What is lacking is the political will to overcome the health challenges in the Bronx.”


He also contends that change comes when community members take an active role in civic engagement. “Civic empowerment lies at the heart of everything I do. Communities that are civically empowered attract more economic development, and are in a stronger position to hold elected officials accountable for addressing the community’s fundamental needs. My number one goal is to build civic infrastructure in those neighborhoods I represent. That is why I am a strong supporter of participatory budgeting - it is an effective tool for building civic engagement and improvement. It’s a way for people to take ownership of their neighborhood. You have a right to have a voice in how money will be spent in your neighborhood, and you have a right to expect services that address the core needs of your neighborhood.”

Community Engagement and Empowerment Through Visioning Sessions

Parishioners from Calvary Victory Bible Church participating in a Visioning session.

The following post was written by Bronx Health REACH staff member Immaculada Moronta.

Recently, I led two visioning sessions for the Complete the Grand Concourse Initiative, which is an effort to bring life-saving improvements to the entire Grand Concourse with traffic calming measures, protected bike lanes, curb extensions, and dedicated bus lanes. The visioning sessions were held at two Bronx churches, who are partners in the Bronx Health REACH Faith Based coalition.

Visioning sessions are a great way to hear from the community about the concerns and improvements needed. Created by James Rojas, a visioning session involves a group of community members using objects such as small blocks of wood, string, artificial flowers, pipe cleaners etc. to design their ideal neighborhood/community. At both visioning sessions participants were instructed to use the material provided and design their community as they would like it, whether that was making streets safer, improvements to the parks or more places for physical activity in their neighborhood.

The first visioning session involved nine parishioners from Christ the King Church located off the Grand Concourse at Marcy Place. It plays a vital role in providing community support for getting the Complete the Grand Concourse Initiative done working with Bronx Health REACH’s partner, Transportation Alternatives. One participant mentioned that the Grand Concourse needs more lighting since it is quite dangerous to cross the street at night. Others mentioned that the Grand Concourse could use more cameras and give pedestrians more time to cross. One participant would like the Grand Concourse to be more aesthetically appealing such as Park Avenue in Manhattan. Another participant spoke about improving the park by having more benches, swings, trash cans, water fountains, more trees and flowers. Other park improvements participants wanted to see include having a first aid kit available and EMS responders at the park, water fountains for children to play, an area for dogs/pets, and benches in the shade for seniors to sit.

The second visioning session involved fifteen parishioners from Calvary Victory Bible Church including the Pastor of the Church and 8 children. At Calvary Victory Bible Church the first to share was a father and his four year old son, who I designated his special assistant. They had constructed what I thought was a basketball court, but was actually four camera poles that would be in their ideal park. They felt parks in the Bronx needed more lighting, and with increased lighting and surveillance the drug dealers would move elsewhere. The lighting would also help police with investigations. Another participant created a farmers market and a store that offered salads since she felt that did not currently exist in her neighborhood. One participant said that more community centers are needed with a focus on job training so young adults would stay off the streets. Another highlighted public safety, and would like to see more police involvement. Another participant went further by saying that since there are multiple ethnicities in her community, the police need to be trained better so they can be more welcoming to diverse communities.

I did not expect that racial inequality would be such a charged topic during the sessions. When I introduced the workshops I was expecting participants to focus on wider streets or on ways to improve the park, but those were not their immediate needs and wants.

Participants highlighted the violence and other public safety issues they face. Many feel unsafe when they visit their local parks and are afraid to bring their children because they see people smoking and breaking the law and do not want their children exposed to that. Being a Latina living in the Bronx, and, though, aware of the racial inequality that exists, because it is not part of my lived experience, I was caught by surprise that the issue of race was the big elephant in the room in both sessions. Many asked: “Why do we not have access to healthy food? Why is our rent increasing and we are being pushed out of our community? Why is gentrification happening?”

I strongly believe that real change can happen and Bronx Health REACH, along with our partners’ efforts, are addressing this head on. But it is a community effort, and many stakeholders must take action. The Bronx has a bright future, and even though eliminating health disparities is hard work, we should not grow weary in our efforts, but persevere. The #Not62-The Campaign for A Healthy Bronx! brings together Bronx community organizations and residents to eliminate health disparities. After holding these visioning sessions with Christ the King and Victory Bible Church members it is clear that community members must have a seat at the table and be actively involved in the decision making since they know best the problems and can offer solutions.

Pastor Robert L. Foley Sr. – From Civil Rights’ Marches of the 60s to Championing the Cause of Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities in the Bronx.

Bronx Health REACH continues it’s series of individuals that have made a significant contribution to not only the Institute for Family Health's Bronx Health REACH, but have been strong activists for needed change in the Black and Latino communities in the Bronx. A notable member of this group of change agents is Pastor Robert Lewis Foley, Sr., D. Min, D.D. Pastor of Cosmopolitan Church of the Lord Jesus in the Bronx, New York. Rev. Foley was raised in Georgia, graduated from Morris Brown College in Atlanta, and received a master of divinity degree from the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, and a doctor of ministry degree at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. 

Pastor Robert Lewis Foley, Sr. was born in Marietta, Georgia. His father had been a pastor serving several congregations in Georgia and Birmingham, Alabama and would become an influence on Pastor Foley's decision to enter the Christian ministry in 1956 and a pastor himself in 1962. After becoming a pastor in Atlanta, Georgia, Pastor Foley became involved in the civil rights movement by attending meetings in Atlanta with  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  and Dr. Ralph Abernathy,  participating in events with Julian Bond and Stokely Carmichael, and marching  from Selma to Montgomery. At the time Pastor Foley did not realize that working with and marching alongside these historical civil rights leaders would put him on the path to becoming a community leader and providing a voice for underserved communities. "During the time of my involvement with these civil protests, I had no idea that what we were doing would have the impact on this nation that became the reality. I did it because I thought it was the right thing to do, and now I realize it is part of the reason God sent me to this world," says Pastor Foley.

While attending the ITC Seminary in 1965, he married and continued his pastoral ministry in Atlanta. In 1967, after a meeting with the late Bishop John Bright (the leader of all the New York based AME churches), Pastor Foley was transferred to New York where he continued his pastoral ministry in Tuckahoe, New York and in Harlem. After a few years, he decided to organize and establish an independent church. The first worship service of this new church named Cosmopolitan Church of the Lord Jesus, took place at a Prince Hall Masonic Lodge in Manhattan, and the next several services of worship were held in the auditorium of a public school also in Manhattan.

As fate or more likely providence would have it, a colleague of Pastor Foley spoke to him about a realtor who had placed an advertisement regarding a church building for sale in the Bronx, New York. The owner of the Bronx church invited Pastor Foley and his congregation to hold a service in the space, and soon after accepted an offer to purchase the church. At first Pastor Foley was uncertain if the congregation would be able to pay the mortgage, but soon discovered his congregation wanted to stay permanently. “We never missed a payment on the mortgage and retired that 18 year mortgage in 16 years, even though many of our members at that time were retired senior citizens living on a fixed income,” says Pastor Foley, and he continues to serve this congregation after 38 years.

In 1999 Joyce Davis and Maxine Golub from the Institute for Family Health met with Pastor Foley as the Institute for Family Health was launching a community coalition whose goal was the elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities in the South Bronx. A special emphasis of the soon to be formed coalition was to focus attention on the discrimination and health disparities in health services provided by many of New York City’s teaching hospitals. "They gave an overview of how widespread the problem was, and it was an eye-opener for me since I was not aware how large and devastating health disparities were, and seeing how the minority communities were not being properly attended to by the medical community motivated me to join," says Pastor Foley.

Pastor Foley continues to be an active participant in many Bronx Health REACH initiatives. He not only graciously provides his church as a monthly meeting place for the Health Disparities Workgroup, but Cosmopolitan Church of the Lord Jesus has been host to several of Bronx Health REACH’s pastors breakfasts.  The most recent event was the hosting of a meeting of local elected officials and clergy leaders to address the Bronx being ranked 62 out of the 62 New York State counties in health outcomes and health factors in the Robert Wood Johnson’s County Health Ranking Report.

The pulpit is the one place Pastor Foley believes he has the most influence. "Every week I try to say something that speaks to the importance of maintaining your physical and mental well-being. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is an extension of our ministry, and the church must maintain relevancy to the community if we are to serve effectively and meaningfully," says Pastor Foley. Additionally, he serves as a member of the Community Advisory Board of Montefiore Hospital, the Advisory Board of the Bronx Region of the American Cancer Society, the New York Yankees Community Relations Council, and the Police/Clergy Liaison of the NYPD.

Rev. Dr. J. Albert Bush – A Strong Voice for the Bronx Community and Beyond

Bronx Health REACH  will be featuring individuals that have made a significant contribution to not only the Institute for Family Health's Bronx Health REACH, but have been strong activists for needed change in the Black and Latino communities in the Bronx as well as elsewhere. A notable member of this group of change agents is the Rev. Dr. J. Albert Bush, Sr. pastor of Walker Memorial Church in the Bronx. Rev. Bush is a 1983 graduate of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina where he earned a Master of Divinity degree, and later earned a Doctor of Ministry Degree from the Drew University Theological Seminary in New Jersey. 2016 marks his 34th Pastoral Anniversary at Walker Memorial Church.

Growing up in South Carolina as the second of nine children, Rev. Dr. J. Albert Bush was the first in his family to graduate from college. Adopting a liberationist approach to theology, Rev. Bush started to see and understand how God could use poor people as an instrument to make change in their community.

Answering the call to serve at Walker Memorial Church in 1982 provided a wake-up call for him. Walker Memorial Church had been at 116th Street in Harlem, and moved to the Bronx prior to his arrival. “The Bronx at the time had no housing, no industry, just burned out buildings and depression all around. Many of the people in the congregation saw my arrival as a ticket back to Harlem,” says Rev. Bush. Believing that his time in the Bronx would only be two years, Rev. Bush found himself asking God, “Why did you send me here? Do I belong here?”

Out of his quest he discovered that Walker Memorial Church did not need to return to Harlem. He could learn to love and care for the people of this community and lead them so that they could take responsibility for the change that needed to come. Looking back Rev. Bush admits that was a painful decision, but is convinced that it was the right one at the time. “God was making plans for me to do something, and when I embraced that concept, I led my congregation to become involved in the renewal and rebuilding of this community,” says Rev. Bush.

That renewal and rebuilding has included the Grand Concourse Academy Charter School. “We purchased the empty lot next door twelve years ago and built Grand Concourse Academy Charter School without any federal, state, or grant money. The school was built with all the financial support coming from members of Walker Memorial Church,” says Rev. Bush.

Rev. Bush has also been a long time member of the Bronx Health REACH Coalition where he provides Walker Memorial Church as the meeting place of the Faith Based Outreach workgroup and the quarterly Coalition meetings. He has seen the damage health disparities has done to the community. “This community unfortunately has some of the highest breast cancer rates, highest heart disease rates, and highest amputation rates from diabetes. The thing that surprised me most was the lack of awareness in the community itself. People did not know they were unhealthy,” says Rev. Bush

He believes that healthcare should be more affordable, and more accessible. “You are talking to a man that was once paying $2,500 a month for health insurance over four years to cover his family. That is crazy! One needs a full time job just to pay for health care and that is senseless. It seems that we are comfortable in America keeping and maintaining an underclass,” says Rev. Bush. Rev. Bush adds, “I have experienced a great deal of what the people I seek to help have experienced. I was born in poverty, raised in poverty, and knows what it is like to not have health insurance. I feel every American should have the same level of healthcare that every Senator and Congressman receive. If we can grant it to them, they can return the favor.”

One thing Rev. Bush would change to make health care more equitable would be the elimination of the two class system where those with insurance can see anyone faster than those without insurance that have limited options. “I know of people that have died in the emergency room that had been waiting up to fourteen hours to be seen by a doctor, but people with same problem that have health insurance, they can be seen by someone lickety-split,” says Rev. Bush.

Rev. Bush still continues his work assisting those that have been displaced by disasters in places such as Mississippi and Georgetown, South Carolina. “I am the lead for our denomination (National Baptist Convention) for the disaster response team to any man-made and natural disasters. I have fifteen men on the ground in Mississippi providing relief to those affected by the tornadoes. I have thirty-seven men in Georgetown, South Carolina who are working in partnership with the American Red Cross, FEMA, and other disaster relief agencies, as well as congregations, to aid and assist the people of South Carolina with emergency supplies, such as food, water, and clothing, helping people rebuild homes damaged by the floods,” says Rev. Bush. Currently Rev. Bush is working with officials in Flint, Michigan trying to resolve the man-made disaster of poisoned water.

And the relief efforts are not limited to the United States. In response to the Ebola crisis in Liberia, Rev. Bush Sent aid project through his missionary organization, So Send I You to Providence Baptist Church in Monrovia. “We have sent food relief to Liberia by shipping two ninety foot containers to Liberia with $90,000 worth of food. We also have a daycare center in South Africa in the poorest section of Soweto, and a food kitchen in Swaziland that feeds seventy-five orphan children that have lost both parents to AIDS. We are also building a church and library in South Africa,” says Rev. Bush.

Addressing the Social Determinants of Health Disparities

As those of us who work in public health know, improving health outcomes has a lot to do with improving the environment in which people live, work, and learn. Addressing the social determinants of health, such as education and income, is critical in order to create healthier communities.

At the New York REACH US Health Disparities Summit a few weeks ago, Dr. Robert Fullilove gave a keynote address on the social determinants of health disparities, exhorting the audience to look at a variety of factors when working within communities to improve health. Dr. Fullilove, the Associate Dean for Community and Minority Affairs and a Professor of Clinical Sociomedical Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, has an extensive background working on minority health issues, especially in urban environments. He spoke about rebuilding communities as a way to improve health and referenced the breakdown of family cohesion in crime-blighted neighborhoods as an impediment to public health.

Though Dr. Fullilove touched upon many social determinants of health, one of his major points was the need to engage formerly incarcerated people, especially men, in the public health field. He examined the health needs of the so-called “million dollar blocks”, single city blocks with residents whom the state spends over a million dollars per year to incarcerate. Dr. Fullilove spoke about efforts to engage these men as partners in improving the health of their community upon their reentry into society. He also addressed the plight of at-risk populations, positing that risky behavior is not always a personal decision, but a factor of the environment. He called on the audience to realize that it was necessary to rebuild communities and the social fabric in order to improve health outcomes. As Dr. Fullilove said, “We don’t need a mass movement, we’re looking for people and for communities.”

The push for a community-based solution to eliminate health disparities remains a central component of Bronx Health REACH’s mission. As a number of Bronx Health REACH’s projects have shown, building support within a community to improve health outcomes does lead to positive results. Our work in churches and schools to promote healthy eating and increased physical activity has led to behavior change, as well as changes in the environment. To take one example, Bronx Health REACH’s Culinary Initiative, which aims to introduce healthy options in church meals, has led to less fat and salt being used by church culinary committees in preparing meals. Our efforts to engage all facets of the community also resonate with Dr. Fullilove’s call to action. In the fight to achieve health equity, it’s necessary to reach out to new partners and work with them to improve health outcomes.

Racial Justice: Why we need to be talking about race

Are we living in a post-racial society? That question has been bandied about frequently since the election of President Barack Obama, the assumption being that electing an African-American to our highest office was proof enough that America’s complicated, and often ugly, past was long behind it. But for people of color and the activists and community groups that work to achieve racial equity in health, education, employment, housing, and everything else the answer is simple: no.

Confronting race to achieve health equity was the theme of a racial justice training that Bronx Health REACH and staff from REACH communities around the country received earlier this week in Washington, DC. Presented by the Applied Research Center, a racial justice think tank, the group learned how to frame issues with a racial equity lens and to recognize the different ways that racism can appear (internal, interpersonal, institutional, structural). The major takeaway was that we need to be explicit in addressing race as a key component in our work. If we shy away because we are afraid of being accused of playing the “race card”, we may unintentionally derail the policies necessary to address structural and systemic racism.

In an earlier blog post, we wrote about a recent study that found that race and ethnicity was the primary barrier to proper follow-up after an abnormal breast cancer screening. Another study, published in May in the Journal for the Poor and Underserved, looked at Emergency Room wait times based on race. The researchers found that African-Americans coming to the ER with chest pains were 1.42 times more likely to wait longer than 60 minutes than whites. Similar trends occurred with Hispanic patients. Race, whether intentionally or not, is a factor in this decision-making and it needs to be addressed head-on.

Taylor Branch, Dr. Martin Luther King’s biographer, said that King saw race as part of everything, but not all of anything. In Bronx Health REACH’s work to achieve health equity in communities of color, we know this is true. Race is a major factor in our work, but it’s not all of it. Like everything else, health equity requires a multi-faceted approach and, as the ARC trainers taught, we should be race explicit, but not race exclusive. Though bringing up race can be uncomfortable and often unwelcome, these are necessary conversations. If we don’t keep having them, study after study will continue to show the blatant disparity in access to health care between whites and people of color and the people we work with will continue to experience unfair treatment. Advancing the premise of America being a colorblind society benefits no one and doesn’t move our country any further along in realizing the equity for all that we so need.