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
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