The Harlem Children's Health Project
at the Harlem Children's Zone
in Collaboration with Columbia University Medical Center,
the Mailman School of Public Health and the Harlem Children’s Zone
the Mailman School of Public Health and the Harlem Children’s Zone
The Harlem Children’s Health Project (HCHP) is a major new school-linked initiative by CHF in collaboration with the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ), an organization that provides education, family support and social services to children and families living in Central Harlem.
Launched in May 2006, HCHP provides an array of services for children living in the 60-block community served by the HCZ. Students at the Promise Academy, an HCZ charter school, receive comprehensive primary care. For children who live in the Zone but attend other schools, HCHP offers medical assessments, dental services, referrals, and education and outreach services.
Central Harlem is a highly vulnerable New York community. Children represent a quarter of the population. A third of the residents live below the federal poverty level. HCHP acts as a health care advocate for the community, supporting at-risk children with interventions tailored to their particular needs. Services stem from a two-part goal to identify:
HCHP is The Children’s Health Fund’s second community-based program in New York City, with a 3,600 square-foot space inside the HCZ headquarters building. HCHP’s child-friendly, ultramodern health facility includes medical exam rooms and rooms for dental care and education, offices for health education, psycho-educational assessment services and counseling, a conference room, and a resource and technology center.
This dynamic project promises to offer a new CHF model for delivering quality, ongoing health care to disadvantaged children. It also aims to empower families to make informed choices about how to access the best care for their children. Stay tuned for HCHP updates and inspiring success stories.
