Black Women For Wellness

BLACK WOMEN FOR WELLNESS IS A MULTI-GENERATIONAL, COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATION COMMITTED TO THE WELL-BEING OF BLACK WOMEN AND GIRLS BY BUILDING HEALTHY COMMUNITIES THROUGH HEALTH EDUCATION, EMPOWERMENT AND ADVOCACY.

2022 WAS AN INTERESTING YEAR AS THE WEIGHT OF THE PANDEMIC AND PUBLIC HEALTH MANDATES WERE LIFTING, WE SAW MORE IN PERSON EVENTS AND GATHERINGS DEVELOPING. HERE AT BLACK WOMEN FOR WELLNESS(BWW), WE HAD TO ASSESS WHAT THE EMERGING NEW NORMAL WOULD BE WHILE REMAINING STEADFAST WITH OUR MISSION OF UPLIFTING THE LIVES, VOICES, EXPERIENCE AND HEALTH STATUS OF BLACK WOMEN AND GIRLS. FOOD INSECURITY CONTINUED TO INCREASE EXPONENTIALLY DURING 2022 AND THE BWW KITCHEN DIVAS FOOD DISTRIBUTION PROGRAM WAS OFFERED TO THE COMMUNITY, GIVING FRESH FRUIT AND PRODUCE 2X PER MONTH THROUGHOUT THE YEAR TO 120 FAMILIES. THE UMBRELLA PROGRAM SISTERS IN MOTION WHERE OUR KITCHEN DIVAS, DIABETES PREVENTION, BODY MATTERS/FALL INTO FITNESS AND HEALING CIRCLE PROGRAMS LIVE, ENGAGED WITH 510 COMMUNITY MEMBERS. BWW STAFF, VOLUNTEERS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS, CHEFS AND FARMERS ARE ALL ENGAGED WITH PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION. OUR CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND VOTER EDUCATION OUTREACH TEAM COVERED THE FIELD, WITH CANVASSERS, PHONE BANKERS AND TEXT TEAM MEMBERS ENGAGING COMMUNITY MEMBERS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, SHARING INFORMATION ON SIGNED POLICY (CA. MOMNIBUS ACT, CA PROPOSITION 1, FOR EXAMPLE), ELECTED AND APPOINTED ADMINISTRATOR ACCOUNTABILITY. PHONE CALLS, TEXTING, ORGANIZING ZOOM HOUSE PARTIES, PUBLISHING VOTER EDUCATION AND SOCIAL MEDIA WERE ALL STRATEGIES UTILIZED IN REACHING MORE THAT 600K PEOPLE. YES, MORE THAN 600K PEOPLE WERE TOUCHED VIA OUR VREAM TEAM WITH VOTER EDUCATION, GET OUT THE VOTE, ACCOUNTABILITY, REPARATIONS, COVID SAFETY OUTREACH AND EDUCATION, MATERNAL AND INFANT HEALTH MESSAGES. INTERNET QUILT KEEPS PACE WITH THE CYBER WORLD THROUGH WWW.BWWLA.ORG, MANY SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS (FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, LINKED IN & ALIGNABLE) AND COMMUNICATES WITH OUR COMMUNITY VIA A WEEKLY ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER. OUR COMBINED COMMUNICATIONS SURPASSED 450K PEOPLE VIA DATA AND ANALYTICS FROM GOOGLE AND SOCIAL MEDIA. SISTERS IN CONTROL REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE PROGRAM SUPPORTS POLICY, UTILIZES PROGRAMS, WORKS WITH ADVISORY COUNCILS, COMMISSIONS AND BOARDS TO SECURE REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS. BWW SERVED AS A MEMBER OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN INFANT & MATERNAL MORTALITY COMMUNITY ACTION TEAM OF SOUTH LOS ANGELES/SOUTH BAY IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY WITH MORE THAN 60 COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND ACTIVISTS TO BUILD THE CAPACITY OF GRASSROOTS LEADERS TO SHIFT CULTURAL NARRATIVES SURROUNDING BLACK MATERNAL AND INFANT HEALTH. THROUGH THIS WORK WE SERVED 80 BIRTHING PEOPLE, OFFERED PRESENTATIONS AND FACILITATED MEETINGS FOR MORE THAN 650 PEOPLE. BLACK WOMEN FOR WELLNESS ORGANIZED PROGRAMS THROUGHOUT LOS ANGELES COUNTY IN CELEBRATION OF BLACK MOMMA'S WEEK, BREASTFEEDING MONTH, VIRTUALITY AND REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE AND RIGHTS WITH PROGRAM SERVICES AND RESOURCES HIGHLIGHTING BIRTHING PEOPLE'S RIGHTS. GET SMART B4U GET SEXY (GS B4U GS) SUPPORTS PEER ADVOCATES SHIFTING ATTITUDES ON SEX AND SEXUALITY THROUGH COMPREHENSIVE SEX AND SEXUALITY EDUCATION, PROMOTING SMART AS SEXY AND MAKING SEX SMART. 200 YOUTH PARTICIPATED WITH GET SMART B4U GET SEXY PROGRAM WORK VIA ONLINE WORKSHOPS. WEBPAGE AND SOCIAL MEDIA POSTINGS INCREASED BY 4600 VIEWS. PARTNERSHIP WITH PLANNED PARENTHOOD AND WECANSTOPSTDSLA CONTRIBUTED TO OUR COMMUNITY REACH.OUR AIDS/HIV PREVENTION EDUCATION AND RESEARCH PROGRAM IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LOCAL ADULT HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IMPLEMENTED 12 GROWN N SEXY VIRTUAL SESSIONS, REACHING APPROXIMATELY 14-20 WOMEN PER MONTH AND REACHING MORE THAN 400 WOMEN VIRTUALLY, THROUGH OUR WEBSITE AND IN PERSON OUTREACH. STAND LA (STANDING TOGETHER AGAINST NEIGHBORHOOD DRILLING LOS ANGELES) ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ENGAGES, EDUCATES AND EMPOWERS COMMUNITY MEMBERS ON THE HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF LIVING NEAR OIL DRILLING SITES TO STAND UP/SPEAK OUT WITH LOCAL, STATE AND NATIONAL APPOINTED AND ELECTED PERSONNEL THAT MAKE DECISIONS SURROUNDING OIL DRILLING SITES. PRESENTATIONS, PHONE BANKS, CANVASSING AND OUTREACH REACHED APPROXIMATELY 5,000 FAMILIES TO COMPLETE SURVEYS AND TAKE TOURS OF LOS ANGELES TOXIC SITES. TAKING STOCK/HEALTHY HAIR INITIATIVE CONDUCTS COMMUNITY DRIVEN RESEARCH BY WORKING WITH BEAUTY PROFESSIONALS, HAIR STYLIST AND NAIL TECHNICIANS STUDYING THE IMPACT OF CHEMICAL USE ON HEALTH STATUS. BWW TEAM ENGAGED 35 WOMEN AND BEAUTY JUSTICE PARTNERS IN TOXIC CHEMICAL RESEARCH. PROGRAM STAFF IMPLEMENTED THE CURLS AND CONVERSATIONS EVENTS, TOX TALKS PROGRAMS AND OTHER BEAUTY JUSTICE WEBINARS REACHING 550+ PEOPLE WHILE PRODUCING THE BWW TOXIC FREE BEAUTY GUIDE. BLACK WOMEN FOR WELLNESS ANNUAL REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE CONFERENCE BLACK SHEROES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS EXPLORING THE POLITICAL, AND ECONOMIC CLIMATE OF BLACK WOMEN AND GIRLS' BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS TO INCREASE AND ENSURE ACCESS TO, DELIVERY OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE. OUR VIRTUAL CONFERENCE HAD APPROXIMATELY 500 VIEWS VIA WHOVA APPLICATION AND MORE THAN 86,000 VIEWS VIA SOCIAL MEDIA OVER A 10 DAY TIME PERIOD.BWW CONTINUES TO PRODUCE EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL ON A VARIETY OF SUBJECTS INCLUDING, VOTER EDUCATION, TOXIC CHEMICALS, REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH STATUS, HEALTHY COOKING AND RESEARCH ON BLACK WOMEN'S AND GIRLS' HEALTH.

SISTERS IN MOTION (SIM) IMPLEMENTS WELLNESS WEDNESDAY, BE WELL SERIES AND PUBLISHES BWW WELLNESS GUIDE. THROUGH THESE PROGRAMS/PUBLICATION WE REACH MORE THAN 8500 PEOPLE. THE DIABETES PREVENTION PROGRAM RAN ONE SERIES WITH 8 PEOPLE OVER THE COURSE OF 2021. SIM SERVED 11, 296 PEOPLE DURING 2021 VIA PRESENTATIONS (ZOOM), FOOD DISTRIBUTION, NEWSLETTERS, WELLNESS GUIDES AND VIA SOCIAL MEDIA.

SISTERS @ EIGHT, OUR MONTHLY COMMUNITY FORUM HELD 11 COMMUNITY FORUMS WITH A TOTAL ATTENDANCE OF 387 PEOPLE. ALL FORUMS TOOK PLACE VIA ZOOM, AND STREAMING LIVE ON FACEBOOK, WITH 5,872 PEOPLE VIEWING ON LINE AND/OR DOWNLOADING THE WEBINARS. STAFF MEMBERS PARTICIPATED IN A SERIES OF RESILIENCE WORKSHOPS WEEKLY, 23 STAFF MEMBERS ATTENDED THESE WORKSHOPS. SELF-CARE WITH STAFF, MEMBERS AND KEY STAKEHOLDERS WERE CRITICAL DURING 2021