San Diego, CA

Building Trust and Addressing Heart Health – San Diego, CA

The Southeastern San Diego Cardiac Disparities Project is improving the cardiovascular health of African Americans in South San Diego by changing two fundamental systems that can influence their health: faith organizations and healthcare providers. This work is spearheaded by the 2017 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – National Civic League Health Equity Award winners – Elizabeth Bustos of Be There San Diego and Reverend Gerald Brown. The heart of this project is trust -- and its power to heal and build. The project is focused in Southeastern San Diego, the city’s African American hub, because that community has the county’s highest incidence of heart attacks and strokes. The project’s goal is to improve the cardiovascular health of 6,400 African American adults living there by changing two fundamental systems that can influence their health: faith organizations and healthcare providers. Southeastern San Diego is made up of a cluster of working-class neighborhoods where 55 percent of the families earn less than the self-sufficiency standard. It has barren parks, too many liquor stores and fast-food restaurants and one supermarket. Led by Elizabeth Bustos and Reverend Gerald Brown the effort seeks to “transform the individuals and organizations it’s touching, leading to improved health outcomes, helping to achieve health equity and ultimately delivering social justice to a community historically lacking it.”