Heart 2 Heart Program
Address: P.O. Box 11247Berkeley, CA 94712
(510) 981-4100
(510) 981-5289 (Phone)
(510) 981-5395 (Fax)
(510) 981-6903 (TDD)
Contact:
Myesha Williams । Community Engagement Manager
510.549.5430/ mywilliams@lifelongmedical.org
Vincente Cordero । Heart 2 Heart Program Coordinator
510.549.5431 / vcordero@lifelongmedical.org
Hours: Monday – Friday: 8:00am – 5:00pm
Heart 2 Heart (H2H) is a collaboration between LifeLong Medical Care and the City of Berkeley and is funded by Alameda County Measure A.
In 2006, The City of Berkeley Public Health Department released their Health Status Report identifying the high rates of chronic illness in South and West Berkeley particularly among African . Using this information LifeLong Medical Care applied for funding to support development of a program aimed at reducing health inequalities particularly cardiovascular disease.In 2008 Heart 2 Heart was formed, focusing on a small, mostly African American low-income neighborhood in South Berkeley,
Heart 2 Heart fosters the idea that community connectedness and cohesion are critical for improving community health. Through community engagement, building relationships and trust, Heart 2 Heart works to prevent high blood pressure and heart disease while connecting community members to resources and services they need. The Heart 2 Heart program serves as a bridge between community members and health centers throughout the Heart 2 Heart community.
Heart 2 Heart’s mission is to build relationships and strengthen social cohesion between community members by linking residents with needed resources and services to reduce the rates of hypertension, heart disease, and stroke occurrence in the Heart 2 Heart neighborhood in South Berkeley.
Services that H2H offers include their Monthly Mobile Health Van, a Monthly Barbershop Health Hub, and more! At these events, health-related resources are distributed, and blood pressure screenings are offered – all for free.
H2H/LifeLong & BPP: Our History & Partnership
The founding coordinators really hoped to target their work on health disparities in the city of Berkeley. They wanted students to get involved in the community they live in, especially beyond the UC Berkeley campus bubble. By reaching out to Katherine Brown, former co-coordinator of H2H, a partnership between H2H and BPP was formed. Former Co-coordinators Katherine Brown and Gin Hansson and other members of the H2H team have taught us so much about community work, especially since H2H has been in the South Berkeley community since 2008.