Executive Summary
Houston’s East End community, located southeast of the downtown area, is an Hispanic community with a rich cultural heritage. Community leaders identify the strengths of the East End as its people and family structure, its churches and religious community, its active community leaders, and high levels of political interest among community members. Community members also note that there is a high potential for collaborative efforts in the area.
The East End Community census tracts are among the lowest of all census tracts in Harris County for the Child Well-Being Index. Sixty-nine percent of residents in the East End live below 200% of the Federal Poverty Index and 51% of area residents have less than a high school education, almost twice the percentage of Houston residents. Sixty-three percent of all births in the area are to mothers without a high school diploma compared to 36 percent for Harris County. Infant mortality is 7.2 deaths/1,000 live births compared to Houston’s 6.5.
Community members indicate that their biggest concerns for child health are accidents and injuries, respiratory illnesses such as asthma, and the emotional effects on children from parental alcohol abuse and domestic violence. A random survey of households in the East End indicated a perception that the most prevalent child health problems are respiratory illness, including asthma, adolescent issues and family issues of alcohol abuse and domestic violence.
The East End Healthy Children Collaborative (EEHCC), a partnership of ten individual agencies working together to improve the well being of children in the area, has made significant contributions to child health. Among these are winning a grant from the Texas Department of Health of Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) outreach in the East End, imitation of comprehensive mobile clinic health services, and seeking and obtaining leveraged funding for child health priorities such as dental services, mental health services, and associated pharmaceutical assistance.
Persons asked to reflect on the collaborative work between SLEHC and the East End community note that substantial progress has been made in improving community health and well-being and that the facilitation of SLEHC has aided greatly in this process. However, these persons also note that significant collaborative work to improve community health remains to be done.
Next Steps
Next steps to improve community health and well being include the East End Healthy Children Collaborative’s plans to:
- Seek federal funding for community health services
- Develop a universal application and registration process to improve client services in the area
- Work with the U.S. Health Resource and Services Administration to place health care navigators in the area. These care navigators will use the web-based Community Resources Database, developed jointly by SLEHC and the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast, to provide case management and referral services.
East End Community Health Assessment Report
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For more information about EEHCC, a unique public, private, and social sector initiative designed to advance community health for Houston’s East End children, please contact us.
