With Your Support, We Can Build a Healthy Community.
Dear Family and Friends:
May the hope and expanded possibilities of the season be yours in the coming New Year!
With
your support, I believe those same sentiments of hope are possible for
BCA/Rafiki Wellness and the community we serve in the coming year. As
most of you know, the agency
signed a new lease with the Port of San Francisco and moved into our new
facility at 601 Cesar Chavez Street, between Third Street and Pier 80, creating a spacious hub for health and wellness activities.
The
move was challenging but worth the effort, thanks mainly to the
volunteers, donors and community partners who helped to make it happen.
BCA/Rafiki Wellness will host a "Volunteers, Donors and Community
Partners Appreciation Lunch" on Saturday, January 26, 2013. We would
love to see you there.
Since
1986, BCA has epitomized community-driven health activism through its
health advocacy, health case management, health education and
transitional housing services to address the unmet needs of San
Francisco's African American population, a community facing a
disproportionate burden of HIV/AIDS. Since 2004, BCA has steadily
expanded its service menu beyond HIV/AIDS to include health and wellness
via its Rafiki Wellness program, targeting those coping with high blood
pressure, obesity, diabetes, kidney disease, liver disease and other
health conditions as BCA/Rafiki Wellness.
Our community faces a sobering reality:
- In
2010, African Americans represented only 6% of the City's total
population but constituted 14% of all people living with HIV/AIDS and
34.7% of all people with a hepatitis C diagnosis in San Francisco.
- In
2010, the rate of diagnosed HIV infection was highest among Black men
(151 per 100,000 population), followed by Latino men (130 per 100,000
population) and lowest among White men (94 per 100,000 population) in
San Francisco.
- The
disparity in AIDS is particularly evident among Black women because they
comprised 45% of the 1,160 women diagnosed with AIDS through 2008 in
the City.
- Between 2006 and
2009, Black women in the San Francisco-Greater Bay Area represented the
highest incidence rates for triple-negative breast cancer, the most
aggressive and difficult form to treat.
- A
2009 report shows that 35.5% of San Francisco's African American
population was obese (and at risk for diabetes), compared with 22.2% of
Latinos and 13.2% of Whites who were obese.
- In 2009, 37.5% of San Francisco's African Americans had high blood pressure, compared with 24.3% of Latinos and 21% of Whites.
We
are determined to reverse these troubling trends. A contribution from
you will enable us to connect more people with treatment and care
through BCA/Rafiki Wellness's linkage network and provide more
health-focused workshops and activities to empower our community to
achieve better health outcomes.
Over the past year, BCA/Rafiki Wellness has maintained and integrated small
contracts and grants, which have allowed us to provide health
information, health education, health support and health advocacy
services to more than 3,000 individuals. Our wellness service
model--which includes health screenings, nutrition workshops, physical
activity classes and more--is attracting regional and national
attention. In our Rafiki Wellness Passport program, a significant number
of participants are adopting healthy eating habits and are regularly
participating in physical activity and nutrition classes at BCA/Rafiki
Wellness.
The
economy is recovering, but BCA/Rafiki Wellness continues to experience
funding shortfalls. Embracing a "community first" strategy, we have cut
back on administrative costs to continue providing our clients and
participants quality services and programs.
Our next steps require support from you.
Your tax-deductible donation will be instrumental in helping our
community thrive. With your contribution, we will implement additional
workshops and classes, provide more health screening services and
conduct more community forums. Moreover, your donation will help fund
equipment and labor to finalize our move to BCA/Rafiki Wellness's new
location. Please make your check or money order payable to BCA and mail
to 601 Cesar Chavez Street, San Francisco, CA 94124. Alternatively, you
can make a secure, online donation by clicking here.
Please
know that we deeply appreciate any amount that your heart encourages
you to give. On behalf of our clients, board and staff, we thank you for
your generosity and have a wonderful holiday season.
Sincerely,
Perry L. Lang
Executive Director
Working to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and eliminate health disparities in Black and marginalized communities.
