Executive Summary

In our South Bronx and Central Brooklyn communities, more than 25% of people live below the poverty level, high school graduation rates are far below the city average and ill health is so predominant that the Bronx has the worst overall health of New York State’s 62 counties. To fulfill our vision of giving these communities the tools and support to rebuild their health themselves, all our services are provided by peer educators recruited from surrounding neighborhoods. Our well-tested, intensive peer training enables people, including those with low literacy, to become peer educators. These peers then deliver accessible preventive and self-care education at many community sites—homeless shelters, churches, senior centers, re-entry programs, soup kitchens, public housing, and mental health day programs. Peers fully represent the lived experiences of the community. Most have HIV and other chronic diseases and often backgrounds of substance abuse, incarceration and mental health challenges. Nearly all program staff, including supervisors, started as peer educators. Our core contribution has been to provide thousands of people with the tools, knowledge, and support to develop control over their own health. We have engaged more than 20,000 people in multi-session group courses for AIDS and chronic disease prevention and self-care, and linked thousands to critical health services. Beyond that, our intensive peer model starts to create a culture of health, constantly amplifying voices from the community to advocate for better health, better services, and community empowerment.

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