Harlem Children’s Zone is an initiative aimed to assist families and children in Harlem in terms of improving health outcomes, educational measures, and career readiness. The project is centered around multiple areas that it covers, including reducing the rates of preventable diseases, providing academic support, helping parents with helpful information, and other essential concepts. Thus, the community-based project is a complex implementation that entered multiple areas of life for the vulnerable children to be helped with the necessary resources. Specific initiatives created by Harlem Children’s Zone include assisting kids with nutritional changes, providing information on asthma control, creating conditions for academic purposes, and supporting youth with career acquisition.
The project aligns with the premise of building healthy communities on multiple levels. First, it is essential to mention that most of the children who receive help through the initiative are African American. Healthy communities are those in which there are no inequalities and disparities when it comes to health, finances, and opportunities. However, based on relevant data, racial minorities are more vulnerable to certain diseases and conditions based on poverty, which facilitates poor nutrition and a lack of access to resources (Bell & Rubin, 2007). As a result, the disparities are present and are to be addressed, which is precisely why Harlem Children’s Zone assists African American children in a vulnerable community. Individuals who do not have the opportunities to focus on healthy nutrition, exercise and other critical factors in terms of well-being require additional assistance, which is why Harlem Children’s Zone specializes in supporting this particular community. This ultimately decreases the health disparities and creates an environment in which every individual can be addressed equally based on their needs.
The place in which a person lives certainly impacts the individual’s life. Thus, place matters since it exemplifies the environment in which one grows up, learns, and perceives life. Socioeconomic factors that differ from community to community have an impact on multiple areas, including nutrition, education, hobbies, opportunities, careers, and other essentials. Thus, a community in which resources are easily accessible and families have a decent income to feed children with quality food and give them the education that would facilitate an adequate career will create healthy and happy individuals. On the other hand, in areas where poverty prevails, schools do not provide support, and people are focused on surviving rather than healing a healthy and fulfilled life, the conditions do not contribute to the establishment of strong and ambitious children.
The “moving into the future” section contains recommendations that can significantly improve certain aspects of vulnerable communities. Such concepts as prioritizing important aspects, promoting equity, seeking support from local platforms, and creating alliances between organizations facilitate an ecosystem in which problems are addressed. Instead of focusing on individual effort, it is crucial to understand that community-based issues are complex, and more than one institution is to be involved to solve them. For example, researchers mention that certain areas are prone to illegal activities and violence (Taylor et al., 2018). Such outcomes may correlate with high unemployment, a lack of opportunities to engage in extracurricular activities in the area, alcohol use, and other factors. Thus, different organizations are to create career-oriented workshops, build platforms where people can safely interact and engage with each other, and provide medical resources for those abusing substances. This is why the recommendations are valid and can be successfully integrated for positive results.
References
Bell, J., & Rubin, V. (2007). Why Place Matters: Building a Movement for Healthy Communities. PolicyLink and The California Endowment.
Taylor, C., Schorr, L. B., Wilkins, N., & Smith, L. S. (2018). Systemic approach for injury and violence prevention: What we can learn from the Harlem Children’s Zone and promise neighborhoods. Injury Prevention, 24(Suppl 1), i32–i37. Web.