Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program works with the ACHIEVE (Action Communities for Health, Innovation and Environmental Change) Coalition, other government programs, and community partners to improve the health of Black and African communities in Multnomah County. We focus on four areas: nutrition, physical activity, breastfeeding and adult vaccinations. Our aim is to prevent chronic diseases (like diabetes and cardiovascular disease) through culturally-specific programming and outreach.
How We Work
The Multco REACH program focuses in the following four strategy areas.
- Increase access to healthier foods through food hubs and explore innovative practices and enhance healthier food procurement sales.
- Establish healthy nutrition standards(i.e. childcare settings, schools, faith-based settings, jails, etc.)
- Make improvements to local programs/systems (i.e. SUN School’s Food Pantries and WIC’s Farm Direct Nutrition Program)
Physical Activity and Built Environment
- Establish new or improved pedestrian, bicycle, or transit transportation systems that are combined with new or improved land use or environmental design
- Implement Active People Healthy Nation, a national initiative led by the CDC to promote the health benefits of increased physical activity and encourage young people and adults to meet the minimum physical activity guideline (brisk walking, biking) by being physically active for at least 60 minutes a day.
- Create a community of practice by connecting community to culturally specific lactation resources.
- Expand access by creating new lactation spaces and supporting the training if Black and African certified lactation consultants
- Increase vaccine confidence through trusted messengers and communications campaigns.
- Promote regular opportunities for COVID-19 and flu vaccinations through community partners.
The Year 1 ripple map demonstrates the growth of the program through increased strategies, activities and partnerships. Within the five focus areas, REACH grew from 25 different strategies and activities in Year 1 to over 40 in Year 2. The ripple map also demonstrates the overlap and connection in the work and how several partners support REACH in more than one focus area. For example, by Year 2, there were 14 REACH partners engaged in the implementation of at least 2 and up to 14 different strategies and activities. REACH links the connection between preserving culture and improving health. Therefore, partnering with local community-based organizations using a culturally specific approach is the key to its success.
How it All Started
In 2014, Multnomah County earned the three-year, $3 million Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant to work within the county's African-American/Black communities. There are 49 other counties across the country under the CDC's REACH grant, each focusing on specific underserved racial and ethnic populations in their area.
Through the research of a prior grant, Multnomah County recognized the need to end health disparities within the African-American communities.