The Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness is enhancing efforts to reduce heart disease and stroke among diverse populations, including African Americans. The REACH for Wellness program works with its coalition partners to develop intervention strategies to improve cardiovascular health among African Americans residing in the Atlanta Empowerment Zone (AEZ). Designated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1994, the AEZ consists of 30 neighborhoods occupying 9.29 square miles in central Fulton County. Ninety percent of the AEZ population is African American, and 76% of the population is made up of female-headed households with incomes below the poverty level, with a median household income of $8,953. Through this coalition effort, partners hold weekly aerobics classes and work with supermarkets and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to conduct grocery store surveys, classes, and demonstrations. A key partner in the coalition recruited churches, beauty salons, and barbershops to establish cardiovascular wellness centers in the community and has trained over 80 volunteers to conduct blood pressure monitoring.

The goal of this program is to improve cardiovascular health among residents of the Atlanta Empowerment Zone (AEZ).

This community-based approach can extend lifesaving prevention programs and health services across cultures to communities that would not likely be reached by traditional means.