[ad_1]
Lowell Community Health Center. (Julia Malakie/Lowell Sun)
LOWELL — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recognized Lowell’s efforts at addressing the health disparities of its Southeast Asian and Hispanic communities, and awarded another Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health initiative grant to the Lowell Community Health Center, the project’s lead organization.
“Our health center’s mission is to eliminate health disparities in our Greater Lowell community, and the REACH LoWELL program has made substantial progress in this work thanks to partners like the City of Lowell Department of Planning, who work with us as we build a just and healthy community,” LCHC Chief Engagement and Equity Officer Sheila Och said in a statement.
The first grant, in 2018, totaled nearly $700,000. The latest award is an additional $30,000.
For more than 20 years, the CDC has worked through its REACH program to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities among Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian, American Indian, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and Alaska Native communities.
Cambodian Americans and other Asian groups make up almost a quarter of Lowell’s population, with Latinos comprising another 18%. It was a demographic that was historically underserved by traditional health care systems, which the city, in concert with community partners such as the LCHC, sought to address through the CDC award.
In 2018, the city’s DPD collaborated with LCHC for its first REACH grant application. Lowell was one of three cities, including Worcester and Boston, to receive funding.
The $700,000 CDC grant focused on diabetes education, outreach and support in the Southeast Asian and LatinX (the health center’s preferred, gender-neutral term) communities.
Last month, the CDC awarded another $30,000 to LCHC to advance the REACH LoWELL program.
A coalition of partners including the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association, Coalition for a Better Acre, Greater Lowell Health Alliance, Merrimack Valley Food Bank and Mill City Grows will work with LCHC to focus on culturally-tailored health programs to increase physical activity and access to healthier foods in the community.
At the Feb. 28 meeting, Assistant City Manager/DPD Director Yovani Baez-Rose presented the Neighborhood Improvement Plan, funded through the city’s American Rescue Plan Act allotment, to the City Council. The more than $9 million allocation will improve eight existing parks and two other locations, including: Father McGuire, Pawtucket Memorial, Saint Louis, Shedd, O’Donnell, Clemente, North Common, Hadley, Swamp Locks Ramp and 68 Jackson St.
“Working in collaboration with LCHC on this grant has been such a valuable experience for DPD,” Baez-Rose said in an email Monday. “The planning staff has had the chance to engage directly with the community and we have learned so much about how people interact with their physical environment.”
The North Common Village housing development in the city’s Acre neighborhood is home to more than 500 families, primarily Hispanic, but with a large Cambodian population, too. The property, which is owned and managed by the Lowell Housing Authority, backs up to an 11-plus acre park and features playgrounds, ball courts, greenspace and a pool.
The $1 million funding in the Neighborhood Improvement Plan will upgrade the older playground with new, accessible equipment, poured-in-place rubber surface, upgrade park murals and improve the landscaping along the walking paths.
The Jackson Street park, which is currently an empty lot across the street from the Jackson Street garage and LCHC’s main campus, is slated to receive $1.1 million to build a new downtown park/urban playground featuring poured-in-place rubber landforms, green space, site amenities and public art.
Clemente Park, which is home to the Cambodian community’s Healing Garden, is budgeted for an almost $1 million upgrade to the existing playground, two new basketball courts, four new volleyball courts and new Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible paths, among other projects.
“This (grant) will allow us to continue focusing on improving health outcomes by engaging our community in the creation and implementation of a Neighborhood Plan that looks to increase physical activity in Lowell’s Cambodia Town,” Ochs said.
The fitness aspect of the grant will also be strengthened with access to healthier foods in the community. The CBA walk-in food pantry on Merrimack Street now offers culturally-appropriate cooking spices.
Mill City Grows encourages residents to shop fresh and local at any one of its mobile markets, with the next event on Wednesday, March 15, from 2 to 4 p.m., at 220 Pawtucket St., at UMass Lowell’s University Crossing. The market accepts cash, credit and debit, SNAP/EBT, WIC, HIP (Healthy Incentives Program), senior coupons and Mill City Grows E-gift cards.
Baez-Rose thinks the city will continue to capitalize on the CDC’s investment.
“We work to improve our community and prioritize planning and infrastructure projects to better serve the needs of the residents,” she said. “DPD staff have all felt really energized by this project and we hope it will act as a precedent for other neighborhood projects in the future.”
[ad_2]
Source link
