Upcoming Forum to ‘Build a Healthier South End’
Thanks to a new initiative, South End residents and those working in the comunity will be able to come together next week to share ideas to build a healthier neighborhood. The Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), in partnership with the South End Healthy Boston Coalition, the Boston Alliance for Community Health (BACH), and the Blackstone Community Center, is hosting a special community health meeting in the South End to discuss the health of residents in the neighborhood and to facilitate a strategic planning process to create a healthier community. The meeting will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 27, at the Blackstone Community Center (50 W. Brookline St.) The meeting is the first in a series of citywide health forums this year. The focus of the meeting is to get those living and working in the communityt o come together to deiscuss ways to build a healthier neighborhood, including promoting safety, reducing crime and decreasing substance abuse. “We are excited about the opportunity to come together with the community to think about many of the factors that impact health in the neighborhood,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, executive director of BPHC. “We know that understanding and addressing root causes is a must when it comes to making our neighborhoods healthier.” The results of the latest neighborhood-by-neighborhood health assessment are in, and they show the South End is a young, well-educated neighborhood. Over half of residents are between the ages of 18 to 44, and 53 percent of the population has a bachelor’s degree or higher. Adults in the neighborhood are slightly less likely to smoke cigarettes or to have asthma and slightly more likely to exercise regularly compared to Boston overall. However, substance abuse deaths and rates of emergency department visits for nonfatal violence remain challenges for the community. “The coalition looks forward to this opportunity to share the results of our assessment and continue learning from residents from throughout the community about what impacts their health,” said Caitlin Johnson, coordinator of the South End Healthy Boston Coalition. The event is free and open to the public. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
Attention Foodies: ‘Taste of the South End’ To Return in March
Preparations are already underway for one of the food-enthusiasts of the South End’s biggest events: Taste of the South End. The large-scale event is an annual fundraiser for the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts. This year’s event, to be held on March 5, 2013, at the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts, will feature 43 different South End restuarants and includes food, wine, beer, cocktails, prizes and more. Expect to see South End favorites like Myers & Chang, Hamersly’s Bistro, Tremont 647, Aquitaine, B&G Oysters and other neighborhood favorites preparing unlimited food and wine samples. For your ticket price of $ 100, you get unlimited food and wine from the restaurants, who all set up right there on scene. Organizer Cathy Kujala said the event, which enters its 8th year in 2013, draws a crowd of about 700 people each year. “We see a really strong showing of people who live right here in the South End, it’s a big neighborhood event,” she said. “We have really great support from the South End restaurants – some very strong restaurants participate each year.” The AIDS Action Committee is connected to the South End through their MALE Center (571 Columbus Ave.) a clinic for gay and bisexual men that provides rapid HIV testing and mental health services. “We test over 1,000 men a year there for HIV,” said Kujala. “If they come in and they are positive we can guide them on the next steps, and if they are negative, we can guide them to stay negative,” she said. Besides pulling the South End community together for a common cause, the event serves as a major fundraiser for the organization, which hopes to raise $ 120,000 through the 2013 event. “Unfortunately, we quite often see decreases in federal funding to fight HIV and AIDS, and we need to fill that gap,” said Kujala, noting the drop in funding is even more sad because the efforts are working. “Over the last ten years in Masssachusetts, we’ve seen a 53 percent decrease in HIV, which translates to thousands of lives being saved and also about $ 2 billion saved in health care costs,’ she said. “So what we’re doing is working, and we need to keep doing it.” Details:Day: March 5, 2013General Admission: 7:00 pm – 9:30 pmVIP Admission: 6:00 pmThe Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts539 Tremont Street, Boston SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch