Phoenix, Arizona - United States

Golden Gate Community Center Health Project

More than 2,076 students of the Isaac School District in central Phoenix received toothbrushes in 2008 thanks to Esperança!

Over 547 adults and children received important oral health education in 2008!

Help us Reach our Goals for 2009!

• Provide 1,500 adults and children with oral hygiene kits which include a toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss and oral health education
• Educate 60 families on the importance of nutrition and physical activity through a 4-week curriculum named Salud con Sabor Latino
• Provide 3,000 health screenings to 1,000 uninsured families through 3 free health fairs and free immunization clinics

Esperança has been working in the west central Phoenix area since the domestic project’s inception in 1999. Currently, Esperança partners with Golden Gate Community Center, located in the neighborhood of Golden Gate, near 39th Ave. and McDowell.

The Golden Gate Community Health Project is an ongoing project that began in January 2006. The project’s goal is to increase awareness and access to health resources in order to improve the health and overall well-being of the Golden Gate Community.

Esperança’s Health Project supports Golden Gate Community Center by collaborating on health activities including health fairs, educational workshops, and capacity-building initiatives. An important part of our role is implementing oral health, nutrition and physical activity education for the community as these are two of the most critical health issues that were expressed by the community.

The Golden Gate community is considered a high health risk community due to the over-representation of many illnesses like diabetes and obesity, and limited access to health resources. The majority of families that live in the community are low-income, Latino, monolingual Spanish-speaking, and uninsured. Accessing health care information and resources is difficult for families due to barriers such as language, transportation, literacy levels, and cost. Preventative dental care is considered a luxury, and due to financial hardship, many family members are forced to share toothbrushes and forego annual cleanings and x-rays. Oral health care is critical to a person’s overall well-being. Many hours of education and employment are missed due to this community’s poor oral health status. Families have limited resources to accessing information regarding nutrition and exercise, and their surrounding neighborhood and environment do not provide healthy options or safe places to be physically active.