A Clinton School student has partnered with a nonprofit community development on an initiative to improve the health of residents of Little Rock’s 12th Street Corridor.
Ryan Williams, a concurrent student with the Clinton School and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health partnered with Better Community Development, Inc., to advance health promotion efforts in the predominantly African American community.
Williams is completing the project as her final “Capstone” requirement in the Clinton School Master of Public Service degree program.
Williams collected data about the health status of 12th Street corridor residents from the Arkansas Department of Health, conducted a literature review on the best practices for faith- based health ministry interventions and designed a survey that will be implemented in churches in this community to determine the reach and impact of health ministries in the 12th Street Corridor.
Churches continue to hold a position of influence within the African-American community, and Better Community Development has sought to utilize them to combat a community history of poor health outcomes, Williams said.
The mission of BCD, Inc. to “improve the quality of life for low-income, underserved, disadvantaged and at-risk children, youth and families in Little Rock, Arkansas” prompted this health promotion project. The data collected from the survey will be summarized in a qualitative analysis report and submitted in a grant proposal to fund health promotion efforts at BCD, Inc.
The nonprofit will work to facilitate the design of a health ministry model tailored to fit the needs of the church congregations within the 12th Street Corridor while also providing the area churches with health promotion resources.
“The church used to be a refuge of escape from persons and injustice,” said Pastor Malik of Theresa Hoover United Methodist Church. “Now it has become a refuge of escape from ourselves.”
Dr. al Assad Rasheed, director of the Health and Wellness Division at BCD, Inc., Pastor Malik, and other church leaders and community stakeholders see this project as a starting point to begin to address the health concerns that are disproportionately prevalent in this area.
“We have the spiritual man taken care of; now we need to work toward healthier minds and bodies,” Rasheed said.
A formal linkage of a 12th Street Corridor Health and Wellness council was created with one pastor, one health care professional and one affiliate of BCD, Inc. who are committed to ensuring the work accomplished during this Capstone project will progress.
The council will work to ensure the health status data and best practice research is disseminated within neighborhood to give the faith communities an accurate picture of their current health concerns.
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