On its 20-year anniversary, CDC’s Racial & Ethnic Approaches to Community Health program is again at risk
|
|
|
Over the past 20 years, REACH—the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health program—has been at work in communities across the US to reduce health disparities among racial and ethnic groups that face the highest burden of chronic diseases like heart disease, hypertension, and type-II diabetes. But as Congress finalizes next year’s budget, REACH is once again at risk of being zeroed out. Right now, the Senate’s fiscal year 2020 budget proposal eliminates funding for REACH.
|
|
Sign your organization on to a letter calling on the Senate
to fund REACH.
|
|
REACH is currently one of the only sources of federal funding for community-based approaches to addressing racial and ethnic health disparities. Communities that receive REACH funding have shown measurable changes in health and wellbeing, connecting millions of people to healthy foods, smoke-free spaces, and safe places to play and be physically active. Preventable diseases like type-II diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, and stroke disproportionately affect racial and ethnic minorities in the US—and community-based, culturally-sensitive approaches can make a big difference to support health and wellbeing. At current funding levels, REACH is only able to support 31 communities out of a total of 261 communities whose applications have been approved but not funded. It’s clear that we need to fund REACH at a higher level. The House of Representatives has provided additional funding for REACH in this year’s budget, but the Senate still wants to zero out a program that’s working for communities. Read the sign-on letter here, then fill out this form to add your organization. If your organization has already signed on, please share this letter with your colleagues. |
|
To celebrate 20 years of REACH, the CDC launched a new website where you can find out more about REACH grantees that have received funding since 1999, learn about the program’s accomplishments, and read stories from communities like Albuquerque, New Mexico; Montgomery, Alabama; and the Coeur d’Alene tribe in Plummer, Idaho.
Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Karen Bass (D-CA), Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Judy Chu (D-CA), Tom Cole (R-OK), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and Robin Kelly (D-IL) introduced a resolution commemorating 20 years of REACH. Representative Watson Coleman said, “Racial and ethnic disparities exist across our society, often the result of systemic failures and often requiring comprehensive, systemic solutions. In healthcare, we have the unique opportunity to use small, locally-focused shifts to address those disparities and reduce the prevalence of diseases in communities of color. That’s the work that REACH has aided communities in doing for 20 years. This program has made a concrete impact, functionally improving health for millions. We must protect it, and build on its success to fight persistent health disparities.”
Representative Cole lauded REACH as “an incredibly valuable program that gives localities the ability to address health disparities as they see fit. This program is especially important to tribal communities, which suffer from chronic diseases at significantly higher rates on average. Twenty years since the program was established, I’m pleased to join my colleagues in the introduction of a resolution affirming and celebrating REACH’s importance across the country.”
Has REACH made a difference in your community? Join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #REACH20—and don’t forget to tag your senators. |
|
|
