The health disparities in under-served neighborhoods of West Baltimore have only been amplified by the pandemic. Members of Memorial Episcopal Church have launched a health coaching program working with the community.
Buoyed by the recent social justice movement, three Black women from the church with backgrounds in health care are launching a program to train peer coaches who can guide, motivate and otherwise help the largely minority populations in some hard-hit neighborhoods figure out how to live healthier.
“We need people in the community who are not talking at us but talking with us.” said Carol Scott, an emergency room physician and one of the co-directors of the program called Kindred Coaches. “We need people who can provide facts and information and can inspire.
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Scott said she saw her church, Memorial Episcopal Church in Bolton Hill, as a natural place to launch the program. The church brought in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland and the Union of Black Episcopalians to broaden the impact.