Health

The report for Year 2 of the Los Angeles Urban League's Neighborhoods@Work initative is now available. From Chief Neighborhood Officer Pamela Bakewell:

The Neighborhoods@Work Report for Year Two includes an overview of our work from July 2008 through June 2009. We are proud to report our key accomplishments and key learnings to date, which demonstrate how we are “moving the needle”—the theme of this report. In Year One, we concentrated our efforts on infrastructure development; in Year Two, we implemented integrated activities and programs to achieve measurable impact in each of the five disciplines—Education, Employment, Health, Housing and Safety. In Year Two, we also moved further into the evaluation process of our model. We engaged experts who helped design intricate logic models for each discipline. We are excited to share a key learning of our work which indicated the need to develop a strategic approach to outreach. This resulted in the decision to add a sixth discipline in Year Three—Community Engagement and Outreach.

National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) is a national observance that was established to highlight the importance of continuing influenza vaccination, as well as fostering greater use of flu vaccine after the holiday season into January and beyond. This year's NIVW is scheduled for January 10–16, 2010.

Two years ago, civic leaders in south Los Angeles started an integrated social service program for improving literacy and job-career readiness in an impoverished neighborhood of about 10,000 people.

Today, program sponsors are looking to close a key gap in coverage – a lack of broadband and internet access that not only inhibits adults getting and retaining good jobs but also presents big educational challenges to the area’s youth.

“There’s a technology access gap that continues to persist today in urban communities across America,” said Blair Taylor, president of the L.A. Urban League, which launched the Neighborhoods@Work program in 2006. “We are convinced that a large part of the income disparity and educational issues can be bridged, if we are able to get timely information to people in low-income communities,” he said.

The Los Angeles Urban League applauds the passage by the House of the landmark health care bill (H.R. 3962) that will extend insurance coverage to 36 million uninsured Americans. With respect to healthcare access, this legislation has the potential to help close the gap between people of color and the rest of the population - a gap that has continued to widen at an alarming rate.

Whether it is mortality rates, lack of prenatal care, life expectancy, the stratospheric rise of HIV among minority women, higher death rates from preventable diseases, or our rising number of families without health insurance, studies show that minorities continue to face alarming health statistics all across this nation. African Americans in particular face health disparities that literally threaten survival. It is time for serious action, and we are pleased to see the House answering the call.

More than 145 African American men dispelled the prevailing myths of cultural biases by showing up for free prostate cancer screenings and private medical evaluations held on Saturday, May 2 at the Los Angeles Urban League’s Milken Center on Crenshaw Blvd. The event was hosted by the League in partnership with Real Men Cook Foundation and USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. Men stood in line for up to two hours before the doors opened for the screenings. They stood in line with the support of wives, girlfriends, best friends and partners. Most admitted that this was their first screening. Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men and can be cured if detected early. African American men have the highest prostate cancer incidence and mortality rates in the world.

Do your dependents have Health Insurance? Do extended members of your family have Health Insurance? If you answered no, we may be able to help. Ask about the League’s Uninsured Screening Program! You may be eligible for government sponsored Health Insurance. The Los Angeles Urban League has developed an unprecedented partnership with the CoverMe Foundation aimed at providing health insurance to qualifying Los Angeles residents. The CoverMe Foundation, seeking to ensure that as many Los Angeles residents as possible have access to health care, has asked the League to provide referrals of individuals and families who are in need of health coverage. The CoverMe Foundation assists individuals and families in accessing government sponsored health insurance. It is estimated that as many as one-third of people without insurance are eligible for some type of assistance. Of the individuals referred, approximately half will potentially receive health coverage as a result of working with the CoverMe Foundation.

The report for Year 1 of the Los Angeles Urban League's Neighborhoods@Work initative is now available. From Chief Neighborhood Officer Pamela Bakewell:

As Chief Neighborhood Officer, I am excited to be part of an innovative and creative initiative that allows me to serve this community in groundbreaking new ways. The authority and success of this initiative lies with the residents of the targeted 70- blocks of the Park Mesa Heights community. The mission of Neighborhoods@Work is to provide access and opportunity in the five disciplines, creating pathways of maximum potential to each man, woman and child who lives in this community.