A huge gift to a Bronx nonprofit will now double the group’s budget to combat diabetes in the borough.
Health People, a small nonprofit organization focused on preventing and managing chronic diseases, received a $2 million grant Tuesday, part of $640 million in new giving announced this week by Yield Giving, a foundation led by philanthropist Mackenzie Scott.
The group is just one of 361 small nonprofits that applied to get the money as part of an open call from the fund.
The cash infusion doubles the annual budget of the South Bronx-based organization, which launched in 1990 to help address the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and will go towards expanding the group’s operation in the South Bronx and its peer-education diabetes self-management program citywide .
“As a community group with the usual funding challenges, we have not been able to really develop what we want,” said Health People executive director Chris Norwood, expressing her surprise and appreciation about the $2 million. “We really don’t get large philanthropic funding.”
Peer support for diabetes significantly improved people’s blood sugar levels, according to an analysis by the National Institute of Health. People who receive diabetes education are also more likely to exercise, check blood-sugar levels and visit healthcare professionals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Diabetes is a chronic long-term health condition that decreases how much insulin a person produces, raising blood sugar levels that contribute to other serious issues like heart and kidney diseases and vision loss, according to the CDC. It’s very costly to treat, with diabetics racking up an average of $12,022 a year on medical expenses related to the disease, according to a 2022 study in the journal Diabetes Care.
Approximately 17.5% of Bronx residents have diabetes, the highest rate in the city, according to a 2019 report by Montefiore. Eight of the 10 districts with the highest rates are in the borough, and more than one in five people suffer from the disease in Morrisania/Crotona, Belmont/East Tremont, Mott Haven/Melrose and Hunts Point/Longwood, all in the South Bronx.
‘Everything improved’
Evelyn Rivas, 66, is one Bronxite who has already benefited from peer education — and is now one of Health People’s roughly two dozen peer educators. The group approached Rivas after she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2014. Her physician measured her A1C, or blood sugar level, at around 10.7, well above a healthy level of 5.7 or below. The higher the number, the greater the risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Patients are considered prediabetic with a blood sugar level up to 6.4.
Rivas attended the group’s four-day training where she learned how to adopt a well-balanced diet, read nutrition labels and incorporate more exercise into her routine. She then joined Health Works’ three-week course on how to be a peer educator, and share with others the information she’d been incorporating into her own life.
Peer educators run workshops, trainings and work one-on-one with other people living with diabetes. They work between 10 and 20 hours per week and are paid an hourly wage of about $18, according to Norwood.
“They’re taught really a lot of just facts about diabetes. And they’re taught what they’re going to teach other people, like one of the major things is having people read every label when they buy something,” said Norwood. “They’re taught presentation skills, facilitation skills.”
“A core part of this is having people make their own what’s called an action plan every week. And that’s based on them deciding what they can do themselves,” she added, noting that many people unsuccessfully try a bunch of different diets. “You want people to feel very comfortable and go at their own pace.”
After the four-day training, Rivas’ habits changed drastically. She increased her rest, water intake and how much she cooked with healthy ingredients. She eliminated junk food like McDonald’s, cut out rice and placed limits on cravings like ice cream.
“I used to always jump in a cab to come to work when I wasn’t that far away,” Rivas told THE CITY, noting that habit shifted after the training. “Walking is better,” she said. “I learned how to read labels. I don’t drink sodas anymore or orange juices.”
Three months after the visit where her blood sugar led her to take action, she saw her physician again and her A1C level had dropped to 7.1. Three months after that, it was down to 6.4.
“Everything improved,” Rivas told THE CITY in a phone call. “I was in a much better place. I started gaining confidence.”
Norwood, who says he hasn’t yet worked out how many peer educators Health People can add to its existing 22 with the grant, hopes the group can also establish a brick-and-mortar training institute, ideally as part of a more comprehensive community wellness center, in the South Bronx.
“Our goal is to do a training institute to train the peers,” and “to work with other community groups and safety net hospitals to provide knowledge,” she said. “What we’d really like to do is have a true community wellness center for really building health all around.”
She added that the group, located in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, will also target programming in homeless shelters, working with children and other safety net hospitals.