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Betray the Age
Meet Luna
August 2010
(w/ special appeal)
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Dear NY Faith & Justice Friends and Family,
Meet
Luna.
On one of the hottest days in July 2010, Luna enjoyed a beautiful dayphoto by Sharon L. Harper  | with fresh air, open space, and the kind of discoveries reserved for three-year-olds. It was the first time she ever went to the beach and her only care in the
world was whether the seagulls would steal her lunch.
Luna lives on the edge of
the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, the predominately
African-American home to Spike Lee's cinematic masterpiece, Do the Right Thing. According to the NYC
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Bed-Stuy is also home to
particularly brutal economic and health disparities. Luna is 2.8 times more
likely to experience a diabetes hospitalization and 2.3 times more likely to die
from the disease than her cousins who live a few short miles away in the mostly
white affluent community of Tribeca in Manhattan. Luna's father, who grew up
in the deeply impoverished East New York community of Brooklyn has already
contracted the disease.
To boot, back home in Bed-Stuy, over 70% of Luna's
African-American and Latino playground friends will be overweight or
obese as adults. This puts them at greater risk of heart disease than children
in more affluent areas.
Plus, all children from 0-4 years of age in New York
City are 1.6 times more likely to be hospitalized because of asthma than their
peers across the United States. Yet, because Luna lives in a low-income
neighborhood of New York City, she and her 0-4 year old friends are more than 4
times more likely to experience an asthma hospitalization than children their
age who live in the high-income Upper West Side neighborhood of Manhattan. By
the time Luna's generation reaches the age of 15 the gap will yawn. She and her
friends will be 6.4 times more likely to experience an asthma hospitalization
than their counterparts in affluent zip codes in New York City. Luna's father
has asthma.
Luna is my niece.
My sister and brother-in-law agreed to share Luna's story with you because they know her
forecast is not unique to their family or to residents of Bed-Stuy. Bed-Stuy
is one of several neighborhoods in a major geographic area called Central
Brooklyn. Central Brooklyn is one of four major geographic areas in New
York City identified as official "food deserts" and areas of deep health disparity. These areas include Central
Brooklyn, South Queens, Northern Manhattan, and the South Bronx. Heart disease, asthma,
and diabetes are more prevalent in these under-resourced Latino and black
communities than anywhere else in our city.
That's why NY Faith & Justice and Faith Leaders for Environmental Justice are partnering with more than 20 other organizations, churches, and government representatives to convene the Food Faith and Health Disparities Summit, October 29-30, 2010, Location TBA. Save the date now!
What does it look like to betray the age in NYC? Say, "No more!" to health disparities in our city. Then pitch in and help close the gap!
Click on the links above or contact Stephen Tickner at stickner@nyfaithjustice.org or 212.870.1254 for more information on ways you can help close the health gap in NYC.
 Plus, right now NY Faith & Justice is working to raise $25,000 in new and renewed financial partnerships. Contributions from people like you make the Faith Leaders for Environmental Justice,
Conversations for Change, and all of our work on Immigration Reform
possible. If you haven't renewed your membership, now is the time. If you've been waiting to partner with us, please make the connection today.
It's super easy to partner. You can contribute as little as $5/mth, $10/mth, $25/mth, $50/mth, $100/mth or more. Think about it. $5 in a month is just one random stop at Starbucks. $10 is less than a movie. $25 is just one random cab ride (in traffic). $50 per month is an iPad. $100 per month is a shoe fettish. Come on. Do you need it? Okay so it's hard to let go of the iPad. But, really, do you need an iPad as much as the children of Bed-Stuy need more fresh food supermarkets in their neighborhoods to combat crazy diabetes rates?
 ***All who give $10/mth or more will receive a complimentary NY Faith & Justice T-Shirt! Don't forget to use the "Designation" box on the online giving page to indicate your size and let us know if you want a male or female cut. 
NOTE: If you prefer not to give online you can send checks made payable to "FCNY/NY Faith & Justice" to:
NY Faith & Justice
c/o Partnership
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 500
New York, NY 10115
Thank you for your continued prayers and partnership and don't forget to follow us on  ,  , the nyfj blog or the nyfj calendar for up to the minute action alerts, program changes, and details.
Betraying the Age,
Lisa Sharon Harper
Co-founder and Executive Director
New York Faith & Justice
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Save the Date!
Faith Leaders for Environmental Justice
invites you to
Food, Faith, and Health Disparities SummitOctober 29-30, 2010Location TBA
What is it like to live in a "food desert"? What is the link between poverty,
obesity and diabetes? Do things just have to be this way? Is it a lost cause or can we do something about it?
Mark your calendars now and join faith and community leaders, health
and environmental advocates, and government representatives from the Boroughs of the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn in October for the Food, Faith, and Health Disparities Summit.
Join hundreds of New Yorkers who live in New York City's food deserts and those who don't. Listen and share your stories of food, faith and health. Work with a small group representing a diverse cross-section of New Yorkers to discern the spiritual, social and structural causes for our city's health disparities. Then work together to set action priorities for the next year.
Be a part of the solution!
Follow , , or the blog for updates!
This summit is made possible through the generous partnership of
the Bronx Health REACH Legacy Grant.
Co-sponsored by:
NY Faith and Justice, Everyday Democracy, Muslim Women's Institute, NYC Coalition Against Hunger, We Act for Environmental Justice, Our Planet Media, The Interfaith Center of New York, Center for the Study of Science and Religion, New York Divinity School, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest,
Borean Baptist Church, It Is Well Living Church, Convent of the Sacred Heart, The Blak Project, New York Theological Seminary, UFCW-Local 1500, NYC Dept of Health-Strategic Alliance for Health, Metro Hope Church NYC, Mid-Bronx Senior Citizens Council, Lambs Church of the Nazarene, Office of the Borough President of Manhattan, Trinity Grace Church, Sustainable South Bronx, F.U.R.E.E., NYC Economic Development Corporation
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Save the Date!
New York Faith & Justice
in collaboration with the Bronx Borough President's Office
invites you to
Bronx Borough
Conversations for Change Summit
Saturday, November 13, 2010
9am - 9pm
The city-wide murder-rate increased 22.8% in the first quarter of this year over the same period in 2009. In the Bronx, alone, several shootings involving police and community members have intensified already eroded trust. Our communities are less safe, in part, because there is a
breakdown in
trust between the police and the community-especially youth. How
do we bridge the trust gap? Where do we begin?
Conversations
for Change is a chance to build a
community where businesses thrive,
children play without fear, and positive partnerships between the
police and
community are built.
Join us on November 13, 2010 as we engage in one day of dialogue that will lead to one year of shared action toward change!
follow , , or the blog for updates!
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