Midway through services on a Sunday morning in March, the congregants of the Cosmopolitan Church of the Lord Jesus rise from the pews, lift their hands, punch the air, and sway from side to side.
They’re not praying: These West Bronx churchgoers—mostly older black women, many in bright wool jackets and fur-trimmed hats—are taking an exercise break. For ten minutes, the parishioners twist their torsos (12 repetitions each) and march in place. Soon, the pastel-colored windows have faintly fogged from their exertions. “Spiritual health may be our priority, but we are also charged by God to be good stewards of our bodies,” says Susan Mendoza, the trim 57-year-old who’s been leading the breaks for the past year.
Stretching in an AME church might not be the first thing that comes to mind with the Affordable Care Act. But Cosmopolitan’s current regimen—which also includes diabetes awareness classes, low-sodium Friday night dinners, and seminars from local doctors—is one manifestation of a little-known public health program that comes courtesy of the ACA.
It’s made possible by Bronx Health REACH, a nonprofit focused on tackling racial health disparities among the nearly 300,000 people who live in the southwest reaches of the borough. Much of their funding comes via REACH—Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health—an initiative of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since 1999, REACH has existed to address health disparities in communities of color, many of which suffer disproportionately from diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and poor access to vaccinations and prenatal care.
[For more of this story, written by Laura Bliss, go to https://www.citylab.com/politi...t-got-harder/519126/]
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