Global Sustainable Partnerships

Giving the Gift of Clean Water

Breaking the Cycle of Chronic Disease

Montgomery Community Press  February 13, 2023 Liz Feldman

A groundbreaking effort is under way to try to break the cycle of chronic diseases in families and communities of color in Montgomery County. The non-profit group Global Sustainable Partnerships, with help from the Black Physicians and Healthcare Network and Howard University School of Medicine, has created a unique program that will enroll 40 high school students in an after-school, 9-week course at Howard University School of Medicine. It begins on Feb. 22.

The goal of the course is simple; to provide young people with the knowledge and the skills they need to live a healthy lifestyle. However the course will provide much more than teaching students the importance of choosing healthy foods and exercise. Students will learn to become self-advocates by learning about the importance of getting yearly checkups including dental and eye appointments. While the students are learning these new lifestyle skills, they also will take on the role of a teacher or mentor. Each student will be paired with a family member or someone in the community who is struggling with a chronic illness. Those students will work in their communities to affect change by sharing their knowledge.

“The reason this program is so important is because it does so many things, which I’m just so excited about. One, it exposes students about chronic illnesses that plague black and brown communities, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, you name it. And a lot of our family members have it. And so we do not want these kids to grow up, and have the same fate,” Kimberly Fogg, founder and CEO of Global Sustainable Partnerships said.

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CDC Report on Teen Mental Health Is a Red Alert

From The Washington Post
Analysis by Lisa Jarvis | Bloomberg
February 16, 2023 at 7:04 p.m. EST

Teens are struggling — and we’re not doing enough to help them. That’s the clear message from a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC’s biannual Youth Risk Behavior Survey offers a heartbreaking and, for parents, terrifying glimpse at the state of teens’ mental health, especially among teenage girls. The trend began before the pandemic but seemed to have been exacerbated by the isolation of the early Covid years.

The findings of the report are so striking that Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health, which released the survey, was overwhelmed when she sat down to read it.

Among the most troubling statistics: Nearly 60% of teenage girls surveyed said they’d experienced “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” in the previous year, while 30% had seriously considered suicide. Some 18% said they’d experienced sexual violence in the past year and 14% had been forced to have sex. The survey also showed similar declines in the mental health of LGBTQ teens.

Numbers like these are a code-red emergency — not only for parents, but for educators and policy makers.

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CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Grant supports Advancing Equitable Health to Reduce Diabetes in Washington, DC.

News Release
April 23, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, DC —A newly announced grant from the CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst) to Global Sustainable Partnerships Inc. (GSP) will support Advancing Equitable Health to Reduce Diabetes for African American women in Wards 7 & 8, Washington, DC. Approximately 200 women will benefit from the one-year project, which launches in May 2021.

“GSP is passionate about implementing health and wellness programs that benefit African American women and their families. Our approach is “no one size fits all” but instead to “meet women where they are” – understanding their values, styles, needs, and emotions and collaborating in ways that empower participants to lead healthier lifestyles. “We will take a holistic approach, focusing on diabetes and addressing the social determinants of health. GSP and its partners will implement a comprehensive “Call to Action” — “A Seat at the Table” program to achieve health equity so that everyone can obtain their full health potential. Our belief is that no one should be prevented from achieving optimal health because of their social position or circumstance. Our “Seat at the Table” program promotes wellness against diabetes by raising awareness, expanding public engagement, and changing attitudes and behaviors (e.g., healthier eating, increased physical activity, mental clarity, weight loss, and reduction of stress), said GSP Founder and CEO, Kimberly L. Fogg in today’s announcement.

The Advancing Health Equity program is designed to combat diabetes. It aligns with CareFirst prevention efforts and serves as a precursor to supporting healthier communities, reducing costs, and saving lives. “CareFirst is committed to providing leadership in assessing and addressing a range of health, social, and economic issues in the communities we serve. Our support of Global Sustainable Partnerships (GSP) furthers our goals of investing in the social determinants of health in pursuit of health equity and social impact to improve health care access and affordability,” said Destiny-Simone Ramjohn, Ph.D. Vice President, Community Health & Social Impact.

COVID-19 has exposed several inequalities in Black and Brown communities. Among these are diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. In fact, some studies suggest that Black Americans are up to 3 times more likely to die from COVID-19 related maladies compared to non-minority populations. The pandemic also highlights diabetes that affects predominantly diverse communities, like Washington, DC Wards 7 & 8. Diabetes is a growing epidemic among low-income neighborhoods and a leading cause of chronic health issues for African Americans. These health disparities stem from the lack of access to health care, educational programs, and nutritional resources in comparison to areas of more affluence.

Diabetes is also one of the costliest chronic conditions to treat and manage. Teaching people who have pre-diabetes/diabetes to manage their condition is the most cost-effective approach resulting in reduced complications and improved health outcomes. The availability of disease management programs is virtually non-existent in black lower socio-economic communities. The morbidity rate for African American women is higher than any other racial group and they are more likely to suffer from health challenges and unique factors that are influenced by their socio-economic status. In fact, African American women are more likely to have type 2 diabetes than any other racial group.

GSP’s program’s goal is to help reduce the morbidity and mortality from diabetes and its complications by improving the outcomes for Black Women living with pre-diabetes/diabetes, promoting early diagnosis, and preventing diabetes.

About CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield: In its 83rd year of service, CareFirst, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent, locally operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies, is a not-for-profit healthcare company which, through its affiliates and subsidiaries, offers a comprehensive portfolio of health insurance products and administrative services to 3.4 million individuals and employers in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia. In 2019, CareFirst invested $43 million to improve overall health and increase the accessibility, affordability, safety, and quality of healthcare throughout its market areas. To learn more about CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, visit our website at www.carefirst.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

About Global Sustainable Partnerships (GSP): Global Sustainable Partnerships, Inc. was founded by Kimberly L. Fogg and co-founded by Mary Barth and designated as a 501(c)(3) in early 2010. GSP works internationally/nationally to promote sustainable development solutions to improve women’s (and their families) lives globally by providing excellent services to build their capacity. It does this through building private-public partnerships to create and foster sustainability initiatives to enhance and strengthen the capacity of organizations involved in healthcare systems, build the capacity of communities and organizations involved in humanitarian assistance and emergency operations, promote community engagement in vulnerable communities, and conducting intervention assessments. To learn more about GSP, please visit our website at www.gspartnerships.org.

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Contact: Kimberly L. Fogg | Founder | Global Sustainable Partnerships | 404-909-2428 kfogg@gspartnerships.org

Post Covid-19 Economy Webinar Thank You

WPEC Soared on the wings of their Sister Partners:
Active Intervention for Mothers, A.I.M., UN Women, and the African Women’s Leadership Network (AWLN).

Dear Dr. Amalle, Ambassador Mulamula, Dr. Ciottone, Delphine, Efe, Olu, Awamary, Oumou and Xoliswa,

We want to thank you from the “Bottom of our Hearts” for your outstanding contributions to our “Building back a resilient post-COVID-19 economy…” webinar on July 29th. WPEC is so proud and honored to “soar on the wings” of each of your experiences/expertise, and our partnerships with A.I.M., UN Women, and the African Women’s Leadership Network (AWLN). All I can say is just “Wow!” The responses from our audience are “Wow, the conversation is long overdue, and they want to hear more from you!!!” Perhaps Master Classes to help build community trust to have meaningful conversations regarding COVID-19 Vaccines/Black communities, Non-pharmaceutical interventions, the importance of the role of women leaders post COVID-19, and how we can leverage partnerships/resources to open more doors to improve access for the untapped reservoir of dynamic women entrepreneurs/business owners? The list goes on and on…

My motto is “When We Partner…Miracles Happen!” and I am still overwhelmed with the responses because your collective voices have given WPEC greater Visibility, Credibility, and Community Impact! Now that is a miracle!

Here is the WPEC Facebook Live Webinar:

 

Building Back a Resilient Post Covid-19 Economy Webinar

Teacher Training Days!

As you know the event on September 30th was great and the training’s are also going great and it’s only the 2nd day! Dr. Hilonga arranged for his Ph.D and Master’s grad students to help facilitate the filter and pilot laboratory training’s and we are so lucky to have them training our teachers! We are now setting up the dates and times for delivery of the sand, gravel and filters and we need the lorry to transport them.

We will be installing filters in over 50 schools and each filter weighs over 65 kg. Secondary schools will receive at least 4 per school to experiment with in their pilot labs and primary schools will receive 2 or 3. We are trying to put the pilot labs in all the secondary schools selected by November 1st, so we are asking that the lorry drop off the sand, gravel and filters to each school next week, October 13 – 17 and the following week October 20 – 25. Training ends on Friday, October 10 and I will have the list of all of the schools by the end of the day on Friday. The installations will also start on Monday, October 13 (will follow the truck!).

The training’s are being held at Mariado Secondary school from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm, so please feel free to stop by. I’m sure the teachers will appreciate your support.

In addition, we are also expecting a special guest to come to Arusha and conduct site visits to see our school projects. This is a very important donor (from the company in the United States) and I would like to set up a meeting with Mama Mchome, Mr. Moshi and Mr. Mrema to meet with Dr. Sode on Wednesday, October 15th in the morning when he arrives. I’m waiting to hear back from him regarding what time he will arrive and what time he will be available. It’s important that the donor meets with the stakeholders to ensure the project is worthy of future funding. Which we all know it is! This will also be a great opportunity to talk about future needs for our schools (e.g. more filters, laboratories, equipment, toilets, etc.). Please make yourselves available – our schools depend on it!

Thank you for your support!
Kimberly Fogg

About GSP

Since 2010, the mission of Global Sustainable Partnerships (GSP) has focused on providing access to clean and safe drinking water to improve the lives and health of children and families and to empower women in breaking the cycle of poverty in developing countries. In 2020, GSP pivoted and … Read More >>

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