SYSTER Project : Health Equity : Healthy Food & Nutrition Education Program : Inland Empire of San Bernardino County, CA

SYSTER Project isthe empowerment program of the Moretta Community Development Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization. We're proud to devote our energyadvocating for technology connectivity, diversity, equity and inclusion and the empowerment of low-income, under-served, underrepresented communities, young people and families in need.

OUR MISSION. Healthy, happy children and their families are at the heart of our mission. We are for the empowerment of young people all over the world and their ability to live safe, healthy, happy, creative, digitally connected and productive lives as they grow into the technology leaders, professionals, innovators and entrepreneurs of ourfuture.

OUR VISION. Our vision is for all children to haveaccess to learning tools, technology resources and school supplies to help them achieve their self-directed goalsanddreams ofeducational excellence. Our commitment is to help them gain access to the services, learning resources and technology tools they'll need to succeed.

This multi-year SYSTER Project (Self-Sufficiency Through Training, Education and Resources) focuses on removing barriers to help live healthy, improve access to health education, tools and resources foundational to health and wellness, access to healthy food choices, breast cancer prevention, lung cancer prevention, sickle cell trait research, testing and screenings, sickle cell disease research and treatments, diabetes prevention, obesity prevention, the prevention of heart attacks, strokes and colon cancer prevention. The project goals also include supporting efforts to remove negative stigmas around the topic of mental health and wellness coaching and counseling services including stress management. The goal is to help prevent physical pain, suffering and death and build capacity for health, wellness and overall well-being. Through health education, the goal is to help connect healthcare resources, services and underlying technologies to underserved, Black women, at risk children, young, aging adults and other minority communities of color. The program also amplifies and raises awareness of the parallel needs of the LGBTQ + communities.

BLACK WOMEN. BLACK MEN. COMMUNITY HEALTH AND WELLNESS. The health education project supports the mission of narrowing opportunity gaps and positively impacting the lives of black women, men, children, young adults (between the ages of 14 - 26) and the communities of disenfranchised and marginalized low-income people. Our program mission is an opportunity to invest in systems to promote healthy lifestyles, reverse the negative impacts of healthcare insecurity, food insecurity and the added layer of negative effects exacerbated by the COVID-19 global pandemic and unfortunate ongoing COVID variations that continue to plague vulnerable communities of color here at home in the U.S. and worldwide.

Black women, Black communities, Black entrepreneurs, Black young adults and Black children are disproportionately impacted be resource gaps in their community. The structural levels of racial inequality extends within every facet of the Black life; in her wage earning potential, in her career and upward mobility opportunities, in her household, in her entrepreneurial endeavors and in part, determines the financial health of her Black-owned business success. Black health is economic health. Black health is economic wealth. Black health is community health wellness and wellbeing. Black health is a healthy workforce with its contribution to the weekly U.S. Jobs count and the overall contribution to the annual U.S. GDP.

ROOT CAUSES. UNMET NEEDS. The health education project focuses on the deeply entrenched challenges and unmet resource needs, access to resources and aims to educate and empower people to help move low-income individuals towards self-sufficiency. The project create pathways to improve access to resources at levels necessary to transform communities, build in structured systems to create real and lasting change to support the efforts of individuals to achieve personal goals of a healthier, thriving quality of life.

The multi-year SYSTER Project (Self-sufficiency Through Training, Education and Resources) represents a long-term commitment of MCDF capacity building programs, healthy lifestyle programs and projects designed to impact root causes of discriminatory practices and inequality. Moretta Community Development Foundation (MCDF) recognizes that structural injustices and their underlying systemic issues were built over generations. The project focuses efforts towards sustainability and measurable time and resources necessary to build in lasting change mechanisms.

The SYSTER Projects' focus on health and wellness, creates the pathway for in-depth community / economic development and empowerment strategies to take root. Understanding root causes of discrimination and disenfranchisement requires building a network of trusted people, programs, projects, processes, organizations and stakeholder support to collectively structure the solution building blocks of change that bring about diversity, health equity, access and inclusion for all.

The project is an opportunity to reduce opportunity gaps in Black communities as we navigate access to healthcare education and health technology related resources for better outcomes toward the healthy lives of black women, their children and connected family members. Black children and young adults are part of the upcoming leaders, entrepreneurs and technology innovators of the future. The SYSTER Project expands the professional opportunities brought about by education, internship opportunities, career and workforce development and focuses resources vital to changing the outcomes of inequities and systemic barriers to healthy vibrant communities and the places we call home.