‘Community Outreach plays an integral role in realizing the Alumni Alliance’s social mission and protecting its non-profit status’
Community Engagement
The Atlanta HBCU Alumni Alliance, Inc.’s (AHBCUAA) community outreach mission is to improve the health and well-being of our communities. Our efforts are aimed at reducing health disparities that are pervasive in predominantly African American communities. Depending on where you live in the Metropolitan Atlanta area, there is a 15 year difference in life expectancy. Our programming is focused on addressing the social determinants of health and our priority areas are Health & Wellness, Hunger Awareness, and Higher Education. By leveraging the full value of the Alumni Alliance, we educate the community, provide financial resources, offer volunteers, and work strategically with our community partners to make a measurable impact to address the following issues: health, hunger, and education.Health and Wellness
The health disparities that exist between African Americans and other demographic groups are alarming and have long-term consequences for quality of life and life opportunity. Heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer -- the four leading causes of death in the African American community -- are largely driven by lifestyle. To increase awareness and education about prevention of these conditions the Washington, DC Metro Historically Black Colleges and Universities Alumni Alliance, Inc. (DCHBCUAA) established an annual HBCU Run / Walk and Health and Wellness Fair to bring the awareness of these disparities, deliver education and offer health screenings. This health initiative aspires to educate the community on living well, with regular exercise and proper nutrition, and draws attention to the barriers that many people in our communities face in making healthy choices. Proceeds support students who are interested in attending an HBCU in Health/Science fields of study.
Hunger Awareness
The Alumni Alliance has partnered with the Capital Area Food Bank to help fight hunger in the community where we live and serve. One in seven District households is struggling against hunger, and while the nation's federal nutrition programs have a wide reach in Washington, D.C., too many adults and children continue to slip through the nutrition safety net. “Food insecurity and lack of availability of nutritionally adequate and safe food persists for too many households. Along with hunger, lack of access to healthy food contributes to obesity and poor health outcomes. Our goal through this partnership is to bridge the gap by providing additional food and financial resources, incorporating a food drive in our annual DCHBCUAA 5K Run / 2K Walk and Health, Hunger and Higher Education Fair, and educating communities with food hardship. We continue to seek corporate sponsors and partners with comparable missions.Higher Education
Leading the way to improve the quality of education in the urban community, the HBCU Alumni community has partnered with a District of Columbia public school to fill school year resource gaps in supplies and education. Tapping the wide range of knowledge and resource base of our membership, we seek to connect students to skills building opportunities in college preparatory subject matter such as SAT preparation, computer engineering and coding, STEM and specific subject tutoring. To meet day-to-day demands, school supply and backpack collection will help fill a necessary need for underserved students.