Our nutrition strategy focuses on addressing health disparities in the African-American and African immigrant/refugee communities through food and nutrition.
We work collaboratively with various community organizations to leverage their expertise, skills and community work to reach our target population.
Our hope is to uplift the Black, African-American and African immigrant/refugee community in Multnomah County through enhanced nutritional platforms, social cohesion, and economic development.
Focus Areas
- Address breastfeeding disparities by working to provide culturally-specific education and policy recommendations while simultaneously working to normalize breastfeeding in our community.
- Address food insecurity by assessing school-based food pantries and working to mitigate barriers to food access for our population.
- Increase food access by working with local black farmers to provide two 18-week community supported agriculture (CSA) programs. Additionally, using this platform to educate, promote, and encourage healthy eating habits.
- Foster opportunity for healthy nutrition standards and healthy food procurement by working with Donald E. Long Juvenile Detention Center to establish policies and guideline to enhance the food quality and nutritional value of food served. Additionally, promoting economic development in the Black/AA and AI/R communities by sourcing vegetables and other food items from Black farmers and food producers.
Resources
Cooking Demonstrations
Tune in for videos and live cooking demos that teach healthy recipes and cooking methods.
Breastfeeding
Review the toolkit below to help you advocate and implement breastfeeding practices in the work place.
- Full Breastfeeding Toolkit
Review specific documents in the toolkit.
- Resources for Building Lactation Support Programs
- Business Case for Breastfeeding (1.67 MB)
- Business Case for Breastfeeding: Resource Guide (1.67 MB)
- Business Case for Breastfeeding: Employer Spotlight (691.23 KB)
- Business Case for Breastfeeding: Breastfeeding and Working (2.15 MB)
- Policy for Supporting Breastfeeding Employees (102.94 KB)
- Lactation Program Assessment Form (238.13 KB)
- Lactation Support Program Feedback Form (241.32 KB)
- Resources for Breastfeeding Advocacy
- Lactation Support Program Feedback Form (241.32 KB)
- Lactation Support Program Feedback Form (241.32 KB)
- Breastfeeding Flyer 1 (937.52 KB)
- Breastfeeding Flyer 2 (203.59 KB)
- Breastfeeding Promotional Table Tent 1 (163.38 KB)
- Breastfeeding Promotional Table Tent 2 (162.03 KB)
- Breastfeeding Newsletter (172.69 KB)
Partner With Us
To learn more or partner with us on some of these initiatives, contact the REACH program Manager, Charlene McGee, MPH at charlene.a.mcgee@multco.us.
Nutrition Partners
External
- Beyond Black
- City of Gresham
- Mudbone Grown LLC.
- Oregon Public Health Institute
- Yasuke Pharms
- Feed The Mass
Internal
- Department of County Human Services (DCHS) Youth & Family Services Division
- Healthy Birth Initiatives
- Women, Infants, Children (WIC)