A new community service will be available to South L.A. residents though the First Ladies Health Initiative Health House.
The new facility, located at 2249 South Hobart Boulevard in Los Angeles, will offer free health screenings, health clinics, healthy cooking classes and more on a monthly basis. The Health House will also be available for health-related speaking engagements and rentals.
Scores of people attended the grand opening, tour and reception of the Health House on February 22. The audience included an interdenominational coalition of 35 pastors’ wives, representing houses of worship across Los Angeles and Orange County, along with several political and medical professionals.
First AME Church partnered with the FLHI to place the Health House in South L.A. According to FAME Pastor J. Edgar Boyd, the arrangement was mutually beneficial.
“We believe in opportunities of all kinds, of all sources for the community and health facilities is one of them. The FLHI needed a location and we happened to have had some properties that had availability with the spectrum of time that they needed it,” said Boyd.
“So, we stepped up to the plate and provided a space for them in a collaborative kind of way. We blessed them, they blessed us and we in turn, are able to bless the broader community.”
FAME First Lady Florence Boyd, an FLHI-L.A. member, was also positive about the partnership and the potential of the Health House to aid many throughout the area.
“I’m very excited about being involved with FLHI because we’re helping people within our congregation and in our community. People are realizing illnesses that they have that they didn’t know they had until they came to our health fair. It’s just a blessing that we’re able to reach out to them,” she said.
Tracey Alston, FLHI executive director, noted that a range of local health professionals and institutions will lend support to the Health House. The professionals, who also gave remarks at the event, include Rick Kittles, founder and scientific director of African Ancestry, Inc.; Dr. Hector G. Balcazar, dean of the College of Science and Health at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science; and Dr. Michele Rigsby Pauley, program director for Cedars-Sinai.
Other speakers were FLHI National Chair Emeritus Betty Price of Crenshaw Christian Center, FLHI-L.A. Chair Juanita Edwards of Pasadena Community Christian Church, FLHI-O.C. Chair Mia Whitlock of Christ Our Redeemer AME Church, LAUSD Administrative Coordinator Kandice McLurkin, and John Gremer, director of Community Affairs for Walgreen’s, which sponsors FLHI.
“We are here to make a difference in the lives of the people of Los Angeles and Orange County. We have two directors and an ambassador assistant who will be manning the house. We definitely have a lot in store for Los Angeles and we’re excited about the transformation it’s going to have,” insisted Alston.
In addition, FLHI will hold its First Ladies Health Day on April 8 with churches throughout the Southland providing free medical screenings and testing to the community.
To learn more about FLHI or the Health House, visit firstladieshealth.com or call (312) 470-0270.
