The Center forms academic-community partnerships centered on initiatives to improve the health of the community. Initiatives include interventions to reduce health disparities of concern to the community, projects to increase knowledge about health and health research, and activities to increase community participation in all aspects of health education, research, and care. They also include efforts to build sustainable community infrastructure to support the goal of health equity.
We provide organizational support to our major community partner, the Cherishing Our Hearts and Souls coalition (COHS), and to the Community Research Advisory Board (CRAB) that was formed by COHS. Both groups represent the African-American community of Boston, which is concentrated in the neighborhoods of Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan.