Community Voices Takes Issues to the “Hill”
On the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s integration of Major League Baseball, on April 17th, twenty-five men of color from across the United States approached Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. to engage their state representatives in dialogue about supporting legislation about an Office of Men’s Health. This legislation (H.R. 789) recognizes the crisis of men’s health in our nation and was one of the focal points of Saving Men’s Lives II: A Grassroots Policy Dialogue, a meeting hosted by the Community Voices National Office at the National Center for Primary Care at Morehouse School of Medicine of Atlanta, GA from April 15th – 18th at the Marriott Washington in Washington, D.C.
A diverse group of men convened to call for an Office of Men’s Health within the Department of Health and Human Services which would be devoted to the development of effective strategies and interventions designed to improve health outcomes as well as reduce and eliminate the wide spread chronic diseases and health conditions negatively impacting American men, with an increase burden on men of color.
The men, whom reflected various ages, race, ethnicities, and educational and social economic statuses, met with state representatives from Florida, Colorado, North Carolina, New Mexico, Michigan, California, Maryland, and New York as part of the second phase of the Men’s Health Initiative Meeting in Washington, D.C as a follow-up to Saving Men’s Lives: A Grassroots Policy Dialogue in Atlanta during October 2006. “As women we have a vested interest in the health of America’s men because they are our husbands, sons, fathers, brothers and friends,” said Henrie Treadwell, PhD, Director of Community Voices and Associate Director for Development and Health Policy at the National Center for Primary Care.
Although the men represented a great diversity of their counterparts, nationwide they shared the commonality of a unified mission. One of the men, Kari Ali Bryant, a cook from Overtown, a historically Black neighborhood north of downtown Miami, believes an Office of Men’s Health will enhance health care access and bolster his advocacy program “Healthy Men, Healthy Overtown.” Mr. Bryant is a leader of the Overtown Grassroots Men’s Health Team and a single father of two and the legal guardian of his brother and sister.
“It was very encouraging and interesting to get a chance to meet with Representative Meek. He’s a sincere man” stated Bryant referring to his meeting with Florida Representative Kendrick Meek (D). Bryant was among a group of men with “Health Action Tool Kits” in hand and pre-scheduled appointments discussing issues adversely impacting the health of men nationwide with their state representatives. Another item high on their agenda was bill H.R. 1593/S. 1060, the Second Chance legislation, that seeks the reauthorization of a Department of Justice grant program for states and localities to better address the needs of individuals reentering the community after leaving the justice system.
The meetings with their state representatives were part of a larger dialogue from Saving Men’s Lives II: A Grassroots Policy Dialogue. Key officials involved in this dialogue included Representatives John Lewis (D. GA), Barbara Lee (D. CA) and Donna Christian-Christensen (D. VI) and staffers Aranthan Jones, Policy Director of the Office of Majority Whip James E. Clyburn, Britt Weinstock, Senior Health Policy Advisor for Congresswomen Donna Christensen, Darrel Thompson, Senior Advisor for the Office of Senator Harry Reid and Caya Lewis, Deputy Staff Director for Health for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Issues examined included the fatherhood, the health of incarcerated men and those re-entering society, and the challenges for men of color trying to access the U.S. healthcare system.
Other key speakers included Joseph T. Jones, Jr, President & CEO of the Center for Fathers, Families, and Workforce Development in Baltimore, MD; the Honorable Gareth E. Murray, Midi, PhD, a native of Baltimore, is a national expert in the field of mental health, organization development, and religion and serves on the Maryland General Assembly as the representative for the 20th district in Maryland; and John Rich, MD, MPH, the Chair of Health Management and Policy at the Drexel University School of Public Health , is the Founder of the Young Men’s Health Clinic at Boston Medical Center.
The entire effort was spearheaded by the Community Voices Program headquartered at the National Center for Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine. Community Voices is helping ensure the survival of safety-net providers and strengthening community support services. Launched in 1998 by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the eight sites are part of a national effort to sort out what works from what does not in meeting the needs of those who receive inadequate or no health care.
Community Voices sites are making a significant contribution to understanding the health care challenges facing communities, advancing recommendations for change, and implementing solutions. Designed to strengthen community support services and to help ensure the survival of safety net providers, communities are piloting different approaches and strategies and bridging healthcare delivery to underserved populations with new policy solutions.