Big Picture

The Alliance for African American Health in Central Texas is an Austin based non-profit organization created to address health disparities in the African American community. The Alliance serves the Austin five county metropolitan areas. Their mission and vision are as follows:

Mission

The mission of the Alliance for African American Health in Central Texas is to empower African Americans living in the Central Texas counties of Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson to improve their health status through outreach, advocacy and education.

Vision

To reduce mortality, preventable illnesses and diseases that affect African Americans at higher rates than other racial/ethnic groups.

Program Description and Methods

Overview

The formation of the AAAHCT occurred following the Health Disparities among African Americans in Central Texas conference held by the Austin/Travis County Health Department in 2005. Individuals attending the conference, including key community leaders, were presented with data from 2000-2004 which revealed that African Americans ranked number one in ten of the fifteen leading causes of death. AAAHCT was formed to help address these disparities and reduce these staggering statistics.  AAAHCT strives to improve health outcomes and reduce the morbidity and mortality rates for African Americans, thus impacting the health status in the Central Texas region.

Community Work

The Alliance has partnered with organizations such as the American Diabetes Association and Huston-Tillotson’s Health Connection to provide health education in the community.  The Alliance has served as panelist at events such as the Central Texas African American Support Conference and the YWCA’S presentation of the film Unnatural Causes………..Is inequality making us sick?, in an effort  to educate and raise awareness about health disparities.  Alliance members addressed the Texas State Task Force on Health Disparities regarding its role in eliminating health disparities and supported the passage of HB (House Bill) 1396 which reassigned the Office of Elimination of Health Disparities to report directly to the Executive Commissioner of Health and Human Services.

Goals

AAAHCT’s goal for the beginning of 2010 is to recruit at least 200 members. Membership is open to anyone in Austin and surrounding areas that believe in the organization’s mission and is willing to lend their time and talents to accomplish that mission. There are no membership dues and no meeting attendance requirements.  AAAHCT would like you to be involved and allow them to call upon you when opportunities arise that match your area of interest.

Opportunities for Involvement

The Alliance for African American Health in Central Texas has immediate and upcoming opportunities for members to get involved:

Join a subcommittee – There are three subcommittees chaired by board members that are charged with making recommendations for Alliance activities in the areas of fundraising, program development, and advocacy. If planning is your forte and these are areas of interest, consider joining a subcommittee.

Liaison – In order to be an effective voice in the community on health-related issues, it is critical that the Alliance is aware of activities taking place, and decisions being made, by other entities that can impact health in our communities. There are many governmental bodies, health-focused organizations, faith-based institutions, service providers, etc., that the Alliance would like to plug into.  If this sounds like an area of interest, consider serving as a liaison.

5K Walk/Run – There will be various opportunities to support the 5K walk/run scheduled for November 2010. Members will be needed to serve on various planning committees as well as help out the day of the event.

Join the 78723 Community Health Network– Our goal is to engage at least 200 members in the health network that will focus on addressing health outcomes in the 78723 zip code in Travis County.

Other – If you have resources or skills that you would like to utilize in helping the Alliance achieve its mission, but don’t see a specific role identified above, please contact us.

Email: info@aaahct.org

Phone: (512) 619-4280

For more information on the Alliance for African American in Central Texas, please click here.