Community SPOKESpeople
This project's parent organization is Better Boys Foundation (BBF)
It operates in United States
It uses Cycling
More about Community SPOKESpeople
A 2008 public health report compiled by the Sinai Urban Health Institute (SUHI) found that prevalence of obesity (BMI for age > 95th percentile) among North Lawndale children ages 2-12 was 48.6 and that the prevalence of overweight/obesity (BMI for age > 85th percentile) was 64.5.
Community SPOKESpeople will provide real opportunities for physical exercise and enable BBF to prioritize health enhancement in a way that appeals to young people and that can stimulate life-long commitments to wellness. Established partnerships with SUHI, the Center for Urban Research and Learning at Loyola University, and Chicago Department of Public Health will allow for development and tracking of concrete health outcome measures, and ongoing collaboration with West Town Bikes and the Active Transportation Alliance will allow BBF to address systemic barriers--lack of bikes lanes along the community's major thoroughfares, gang and drug activity in area parks, dearth of bike sales and repair shops in the neighborhood, etc.--that limit community access to programming like Community SPOKESpeople.
Such limitations challenge the claim that Chicago is among the nations most bicycle-friendly cities. Community SPOKESpeople will address these issues through an innovative, collaborative project that holds enormous potential to change individual and community health status.