Health Department AIMS high in Houston neighborhoods
Health department’s Irma Cantu, a certified medical assistant, and Gloria Vasquez, a senior clerk, provide social service information to a Sunnyside resident.
Photo courtesy of HDHHS
Story by John Perry
As part of the city’s Health and Human Services Department’s Assessment, Intervention and Mobilization project, employees and volunteers hit the Sunnyside streets in September, visiting more than 7,000 homes with health information packets.
“AIM links people with resources in their community,” said Porfirio Villarreal, HDHHS public information officer. “We refer them to health and social service agencies and then follow up to make sure they got connected and helped.”
Approximately 600 employees and 100 volunteers took part in the neighborhood sweep, said Charlet Meredith, HDHHS administration manager in charge of the volunteers. “We had overwhelming enthusiasm from our volunteers and our employees.”
“It was a wonderful experience,” said volunteer Gwendolyn Goins, Municipal Courts Administration’s communications officer. “I was so impressed with the number of volunteers. It gave me such a sense of solidarity in our purpose.
“We wanted to reach out and touch the disenfranchised groups and get them the help they needed,” she said.
Though a wide range of community needs were identified and addressed, volunteers found a high percentage of elderly residents and young, unwed mothers who needed health care advocacy, Goins said.
“We found many residents who had been without utilities for lengthy time periods, and others who qualified for benefits from health programs but had not applied for them,” Villarreal said.
Adult health issues included diabetes, asthma, heart disease, high blood pressure, and dental care.
Children’s issues included prenatal care, nutrition and immunizations.
An additional concern was access to grocery stores, pharmacies and medical facilities, Villarreal said.
“What resonated most with me was the appreciation shown by the neighborhood. They totally validated our efforts,” Goins said.
Efforts that proved successful.
“We got more than 800 residents referred to the proper resources,” Meredith said.
AIM is divided into three phases. In Phase I, community touch, residents in the targeted community are told about programs and services.
Phase II, assessments, is a random door-to-door survey of residents. HDHHS surveyed about 750 Sunnyside residents through Oct. 5. The information will help the department improve communication among residents, private outreach programs, and health care agencies.
“The idea is to get people connected to the help they need,” Villarreal said.
Phase III will be the development, encouragement and implementation of community-based initiatives identified in the first two phases.
Sunnyside, located south of downtown outside of Loop 610 and inside Beltway 8 off State Highway 288 along Chocolate Bayou, was identified by HDHHS last year as being medically underserved.
Developed on land purchased by H. H. Holmes in 1912, the neighborhood is the oldest continuous black community in south central Houston. Annexed by the city in 1956, Sunnyside maintains many rural characteristics with open ditches, vacant lots, and even a few horse stalls.
AIM successfully completed its first intervention project in September 2006 in the Tri-Community areas consisting of the Clinton Park, Fidelity and Clinton View neighborhoods. And in May, HDHHS conducted an AIM project in Magnolia Park .
Oct. 17 - 19, the department took AIM to Independence Heights, where packets were distributed to 5,000 homes.
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