The Center for Black Family Wellness focuses on developing programs and services responsive to health disparities within the Black community (i.e. HIV/AIDS, Diabetes, Cancer, Hypertension, Suicide, Homicide, Teenage Pregnancy, etc.). Wellness is a term CEO Evans adopted to expand the approach to addressing health disparities to be inclusive of ten essential parts of the human being experience: intellectual, physical, mental, spiritual, sexual, educational, emotional, political, financial and social.

The primary focus is to develop programs separately and collectively that approach building and improving the Black Family infrastructure, not from an American “family” model, but African centered model that includes neighbors, community organizations and members, faith based institutions, etc.

 As we develop programs for this Center, we will list them here as well as provide information on how you can be a part of any and all initiatives.

James Arthur Baldwin Literacy Program

We believe literacy and basic reading skills should be the foundation for helping young people and adults succeed. We know when it comes to reading warning signs for children – reading is important for children and adults. We know when it comes to reading medicine labels and dosage information – reading is important to adults. Our focus is to provide reading materials, school supplies and education materials that will assist both young and old to be literate and increase their learning ability.

Healthy Black Communities, Inc.’s James Baldwin Literacy Program has six key components to ensuring the books and educational materials we acquire and provide assist in:

1. Phoenic Awarness: We believe children and adults should possess the ability to hear what a spoken word is made up of based on a series of discrete sounds.  
2. Phonics Instruction: We believe children and adults should know specific sounds and their relationship to specific letters and letter patterns. They should have access to both printed and digital materials that will assist them in learning these sounds, letters and patterns.
3. Vocabulary: We want our children and adults to have knowledge of words and their meanings. Our program is intended to teach vocabulary for children and adults to understand words and be able to use them to acquire and convey meaning.
4. Fluency: We want our children and adults to be able to effortlessly and correctly read, speak, and write the English language. This includes consistent speed, accuracy, and the use of proper expression.
5. Comprehension: Our children and adults should not only be able to read what they have read but also comprehend and understand what it is they are reading. and
6. Writing: We believe the capstone for reading is for children and adults to be able to write and develop text on both paper and digitally on a computer to convey their understanding of what it is they have read.

For more information on how you can support our program, please consider donating new and/or gently used African American/Black books for children, teenagers, adults and seniors. We reach out to institutions that serve these populations within our community. Should you want to provide financial support, please go to Ways to Give. We thank you in advance for your help.