Institute for Academic & Athletic Excellence 

STATEMENT OF NEED

Consider that the Greater Houston Area is the 4^th largest metropolitan area in the country and is home to the largest medical center in the world.  It has a cultural center second only to New York City and over 40 colleges, universities and institutions of higher education. 

Houston has the most affordable housing of the 10 most populated metropolitan areas and the second lowest cost of living among major American cities.  With the wealth of health institutions and organizations, one might assume that people in such an area of the world would have low rates of incidences of sickness and chronic disease, are sufficiently armed to make the best lifestyle choices, have access to endless career opportunities and homelessness would be non existent. Unfortunately, that is not the case.  According to the Houston EMA Epidemiological Report prepared for Ryan White, cases of newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS have declined from 1,806 in 1992 to 930 in 1998, whereas the number of PLWH (people living with HIV) has increased from 1,731 in 1992 to 7,538 in 1998 (500 to over 2,500 in African Americans for the same period).  Even as some disease rates decline the problematic results of disease steadily increase.

TARGET POPULATIONS

Our target population is women and children with limited income and health care resources.  The Monica Lamb Wellness Foundation, Inc. will not turn away any client in need of services regardless of ethnicity, social or economic status.  According to the National Women’s Health Information Center, minority women face many barriers limiting access to adequate health care.  The low-income female population, in particular, is strongly associated wit decreased use of health systems and therefore, more often, experience negative health outcomes.  Statistics on children and health report that minority and poor children do not fare any better, because of the propensity of singe parent homes.  Third Ward, South Park , Macgregor Terrace and Southwest Houston are specific areas of focus for the MLWF.  This geographical region encompasses the majority of City Council Districts “D” (according to the City of Houston Census 2000 data).

WOMEN…

50.3% of the African American women asked ‘have you ever had a mammogram?’ – answered ‘NO’.  20% of all women in Harris County are regular smokers.  34% of the females in Harris County are without health insurance.  52% of the women in Harris County

are overweight and/or obese.  75% of all new HIV cases in females were African Americans.

CHILDREN…

The Federal government’s 2005 reports on the nation’s economic status took a composite look at how our nation’s children are faring.  Indicators such as child poverty, infant mortality, alcohol and substance abuse, and math and reading proficiency were chosen because they measure critical aspects of children’s lives and are collected rigorously and regularly by Federal agencies.  The report shows that, although fewer of the nation’s children are uncertain about where their next meal is coming from , more are being read to by their parents, and an increasing percentage of children are being enrolled in early childhood education programs, several areas of children’s lives are not improving.  These include the use of illicit drugs and cigarette smoking among adolescents; and more youths particularly black males, have become victims of violent crime.  Another area of epidemic proportion relates to HIV/AIDS and the African American community especially.  The number of children and adolescents in Harris County diagnosed with HIV in 2004 was 62.  of these 62 cases 11 were ages 12 and younger while 51 of them were between the ages of 13 to 19.  Well over half of the children, 49, diagnosed with HIV in 2004 were African American.  In addition, data indicated that 1.6 million children were victims of maltreatment – either by abuse or neglect.  Children from families with annual incomes below $15,000 were 22 times more likely to experience abuse and neglect than were children from families’ annual incomes above $30,000.  In 2004 290, 223 children ages 0-17 live below the Federal Poverty Line in Harris County.  Thus, there is a dire need for real and meaningful lifestyle changes that do more than just address the symptoms of a problem.  Society continually loses when short-term solutions are applied to difficult problems, resulting in a long-term disappointment.

The opportunity to foster positive change is inherent in the synergy of the community programs offered by the Monica Lamb Wellness Foundation, Inc.  The single most important goal of all of our programs and initiatives is to arm individuals with the education and resources to make positive health and wellness lifestyle choices.

Indeed, encouraging meaningful new life choices is the deliverable that comes with successful health education programs and outreach efforts.