City Health Works—African-inspired Experiment in NYC

While in South Africa, Manmeet Kaur was working with people with HIV/AIDS and diabetes through a network of “peer health educators,” ordinary people who lived in the community who could help out. When she came back to the U.S. she noticed similarities in Harlem. And with her husband, Dr. Prabhjot Singh, started an effort called City Health Works.

The idea is to build a network of “health coaches” like Norma Melendez (pictured, left) who can help the sickest get to “get patients to the clinic before they get sick.”

“I live in this immediate neighborhood, so I can relate to a lot of the people who live in my community,” says Melendez. “I’ve faced many of the similar barriers once upon a time, or someone I know has faced these similar barriers.”

NPR’s printed story on City Health Works with additional links can be found here.

You can also read an interview with City Health Works founder and executive director Manmeet Kaur in The Feast. Asked about the values that guided her, Kaur told The Feast:

What is unique about City Health Works is that we hire people from the neighborhood to serve as health coaches. People who have a shared experience from that community can build trusting relationships with patients because they have experienced many of the same struggles as the individuals they work with. We hire people who do and have been providing support to loved ones because they have seen so many people in their families and neighborhood struggle with chronic illnesses.

Go directly to City Health Works site here.

Photo: Bryan Thomas for NPR.