Benton Harbor Community Health Revival

On December 7th 2011, we hosted a Community Health Revival in Benton Harbor. At this event, we had our Photovoice pictures up for display as well as a short movie we made about health equity featuring more of our Photovoice pictures. We had more than 60 people at our event, and everyone in attendance had an interest and excitement to learn more about the social determinants of health and what that meant for this community. We had representation from many of our Health Equity Alliance (HEAL) members there, as well as community activists, local policy makers, health care workers, and interested individuals.

Overall, it was a wonderful event that showcased the diversity and empowerment of this community. You can check out some pictures from the event at our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/bentonharborhealthequity. Please read the article from our local paper, the Herald Palladium (below), for more on this event! And, stay tuned for more on what will be coming next for our Health Equity work in Benton Harbor...

BH residents express hope at Health Revival

By JOHN MATUSZAK - H-P Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, December 8, 2011 1:06 PM EST

BENTON HARBOR - The illness has lingered, but there are signs of recovery and the prognosis is good.That appeared to be the diagnosis for Benton Harbor among those attending Wednesday's Community Health Revival, sponsored by the Berrien County Health Department."If you're healthy physically, spiritually and emotionally, you can do more things in the community. Health is a necessity right now, and we need everybody to put a foot forward," said Stephanie Maben, a recent college graduate who returned to her hometown because she wants to make a difference. "I think we're really, really headed in the right direction."

The event was organized by Gillian Conrad, the health department's health equity coordinator, and included images from the Photovoice project, which allowed 11 photographers to illustrate the challenges and changes taking place in Benton Harbor.

"Abandoned" by Carol Harris showed boarded-up houses and condemned properties, which she said are "hotbeds for vagrants and vandalism" that create "potential health hazards for children and adults."A more lasting effect is that "young children come to see them as the norm," Harris noted in her caption for her photo of foreclosed buildings in "Scenes Along Pipestone.""I couldn't stand blight, even as a little girl," said Harris, a social media marketer who grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y.Not far from these rundown neighborhoods Harris captured images of the Lake Michigan shoreline, "a place to relax in mind, body and spirit."

Dr. Lynn Gray, director of diversity for Lakeland HealthCare, discussed health inequities in the community and ways to turn things around."We want to achieve the highest level of health care for everyone in the community," Gray said.Environment has more to with health than ethnic background, Gray believes."Where a person lives, and how a person lives, their environment, has more of an effect on their health than where they came from," Gray said during the event. "It's not a black-and-white issue. It's about all of us. If you put people in an unhealthy neighborhood, they will suffer the same health consequences."Many Americans, particularly blacks, do not have access to health care, nutritious foods, safe housing or a good education, all factors that have an impact on health, Gray said.Twenty million Americans, mostly in urban areas, do not have a grocery store within a mile of their homes where they can buy fresh fruit and vegetables, Gray said. Almost 30 percent of blacks live in unsafe housing, with lead paint and no smoke detectors.

Christie Bowman, a photographer for 20 years who participated in the Photovoice project, saw advertisements for cigarettes, liquor, the lottery, fried foods, "all unhealthy choices promoting quick fixes for people, not long-term solutions."Bowman brought home the good, the bad and the ugly in Benton Harbor in her photographs.She said she first came to the city when it was in its "glorious state" and has witnessed its decline.She sees signs of revival in the arts district and other places."I hope it turns around soon," Bowman said.

Nicole Britten, the health department's director of community health planning, agreed with Gray that education is important to promoting health."Educating children and adults is one of the fastest way out of these inequities," Britten said.Benton Harbor City Commissioner-elect MaryAlice Adams said urban gardens can be a source of fresh produce. Gray said this was a "low-tech and low-cost" way to bring fresh food to people, that also builds a sense of community.

Gillian Conrad said she liked Adams' idea of creating a traveling art gallery show with the Photovoice images."We're open to suggestions," Conrad said."This is only the beginning of the dialog," Britten said.A video featuring the Photovoice pictures will be posted on the health department's website, www.bchdmi.org, and results from a residents survey will be posted soon.

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Photovoice Benton Harbor 2011

Greetings fellow Capacity Building Grantee bloggers! For Berrien County’s debut on the blogosphere, I wanted to share a bit about our Photovoice project that we conducted in Benton Harbor in 2011. For our project, we had a good group of very passionate and dedicated individuals who deeply care for their community. Armed with their new digital cameras that we provided, our participants bravely ventured into their community searching for what health “looked like” to them in their neighborhoods. We asked the participants to try to see their community from a “social determinants of health” perspective – to see how their environments, their streets, houses, schools, parks, churches, and workplaces could all affect their health. The results that we got back were breathtaking.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Benton Harbor, it is not a town that gets the credit it deserves. Most “outsiders” see Benton Harbor as a depressed place, full of abandoned buildings, unemployment, apathy, and poverty. Truth be told, Benton Harbor has its fair share of blight; but beneath the obvious degradation on the surface, there lies resilience, passion, faith, and power that most people don’t see at first glance. Through our Photovoice participants, we saw the beauty beneath the blight, and the hope for a healthy future in this community. We were encouraged and empowered by the photos, eager and inspired to demand health equity and social justice.

Our photographers described their experience like they were “seeing their community for the first time”. Looking at their familiar surroundings through this new lens helped them see the blatant inequities and injustices that exist here. Through our discussions about the photos and their themes and our Community Health Revival (more on this later), we had a wonderful experience with Photovoice in Benton Harbor. I am so grateful that we had the opportunity to pilot this project with such an exceptional group of people and to have learned all we did. We have even been approached about having the photos in a “traveling” show across the city so that more people may see them! I can’t wait to see who else will be inspired to action by our Photovoice Benton Harbor project!

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Washtenaw County Community Health Advocate Program

Our Community Health Advocate (CHA) program is up and running in Ypsilanti! In September, we partnered with numerous community agencies to provide training to 12 CHA’s. The CHA’s are community members who come from a variety of backgrounds, including a city councilman, several employees from local social service providers, a former non-profit administrator, a college student, a community activist and a mother of school-age children. The trainings covered healthy food access, health literacy, and government-sponsored insurance.

One of our CHA’s agreed to be interviewed for this blog. Cynthia Freter is a long-time Washtenaw County resident. Mrs. Freter is a 51 year-old community activist who has children who are currently in high school. Her background includes working at St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital as a nurse assistant. She also was the director of Second Baptist’s church day care center.


1. How did you find out about the CHA project?



“From Anne Brown, (the Ypsilanti liaison for State Rep. David Rutledge). She thought that it would be a good way for me to get involved in a community project. I also saw the CHA flyer at Hope Clinic.”

2. It’s obvious that you’re interested in working with the community; how did you get involved in community-based work?



“I was always taught to give back to the community. I started advocating when my children attended Head Start in Washtenaw County. This also helped me learn more about what was going on in the community.”

3. How have your personal experiences helped prepare you for this work?



“My Interest and love of people and their well being (Mental Health and Physical Health). I just really love to help!”

4. Were you familiar with the term “Social Determinants” prior to becoming involved in this project?



“Yes, I have heard the word before. I am more familiar with the social determinants after being part of the Health Equity/Social Justice workshops earlier this month”

5. What are you most excited about re: your participation in this project?



“Getting started and helping the people in the community. I think that this program can we can really make a difference in the lives of people who live on the south side.” (Gateway Community)

I was very pleased that Mrs. Freter volunteered to take part in the CHA program. She brings passion, dedication and concern for the community to this project. It is our aim to provide updates about this project that include the challenges/successes that our CHAs experience as they work with Gateway residents.

The CHAs will have regular hours at a Ypsilanti community center on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 12 pm – 4 pm.


For more information about our CHA program please contact Charles Wilson at (734)544-2981 or by email at wilsonc@ewashtenaw.org

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Thank you for the welcome

Thank you forthe welcome!

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Welcome!

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Welcome

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