South Bronx Environmental Justice Partnership

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant) [unreadable] [unreadable] The overall goal of the South Bronx Environmental Justice Partnership (SBEJP) is to improve the health of the people who live in the South Bronx. The partnership is an on-going collaboration between For a Better Bronx (FABB), Lehman College (CUNY), Montefiore Medical Center (MMC), and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM). The Partnership was established in 2000 with funding from the NIEHS Environmental Justice program. Lehman College formally joins the Partnership with this proposal. In this proposal SBEJP seeks to accomplish the following Specific Aims: 1. Strengthen the Partnership and collaboration between AECOM, FABB, Lehman, and Montefiore and promote environmental health education and research at each, by a) expansion of websites, environmental health library, and information center in the South Bronx; b) not-for-profit incorporation, 501c3 status, and additional administrative, accounting, and research capacity for FABB; c) assistance for development of MPH program at Lehman College; d) strengthening and integrating SBEJP and enhancing Partners mutual learning; and e) recruitment of additional Community Advisory Board members of AECOM's Institute for Community & Collaborative Health. 2. Conduct Geographical Information Systems (CIS) environmental health research on cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes related air pollution and land use in the Bronx, informed by on-going dialogue with its community, by a) mapping of CVD hospitalizations against local stationary and mobile sources of air pollution and other noxious land use; b) conduct preliminary CIS studies on diabetes mellitus hospitalizations and their geographic relationship with potential sources of endocrine disrupters, air pollution; and noxious land use and mitigating features of the built environment; and c) develop culturally and linguistically-appropriate risk communication materials for community dialogue about these GIS findings. 3. Develop community-driven, health-promoting improvements in the social and built environments in collaboration with other organizations in the South Bronx, by a) an equity analysis of Bronx parks using GIS; b) conduct focus groups, town meetings, and community surveys to learn community priorities; c) develop community-prioritized demonstration projects; d) develop model code enforcement and mitigation initiatives; and e) develop community-based, culturally-appropriate approaches to improved nutrition and exercise. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]