271185 Revitalizing African American communities: The ISOJI (e-so-gee) project

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 11:30 AM - 11:50 AM

Virginia Diane Woods, DrPH, MSN, RN , Department of Psychology/African American Health Institute-SBC, University of California, Riverside, San Bernardino, CA
Elberta Eriksson, Board Certified Diplomat, LCSW , Board of Directors, ISOJI (e-so-gee), Mill Valley, CA
Ricardo Moncrief , Executive Director, ISOJI (e-so-gee), Mill Valley, CA
Leslie A. Jackson, MSW, PPSC , Social Work Consultant, ISOJI (e-so-gee), San Anselmo, CA
     
ISOJI (e-so-gee, a Nigerian word for ‘rebirth, or revitalization, or renaissance), is a grassroots organization. Mission: to facilitate the process of building community from within through social justice, equity, and effective communication. Needs assessment reports by ISOJI, indicated the following inequities: under-education, lack of access to mental health services, untreated conditions, poor nutrition, housing, and transportation. ISOJI facilitated the development of several programs that support family resiliency; the Marin City Health & Wellness Center (federally qualified health center), Marin City School Readiness Program, Southern Marin Multidisciplinary Team and Intern Project, while maintaining neutrality, integrity, transparency, and accountability. ISOJI is a systems change model that addresses multifaceted structural barriers associated with the community social safety net (i.e., economics, education, health, housing, access to services, and government). The presentation will share the strengths, challenges and impact of ISOJI.

Learning Areas:
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
To identify community-defined practices for African Americans that will ensure good health To discuss an environmental systems change model that creates structures for culturally grounded prevention and early intervention service delivery for underserved populations

Keywords: African American, Community Programs

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Executive Director of ISOJI and has been in the community working on this project for 13 years
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3116.0: Grass Roots: Home Grown Intervention From, By and For the Community