By Mike Gambini and Ken Obstarczyk
Bengal News reportersDriving on the I-190 Interstate, passing through the city of Buffalo one can’t help but notice the Peace Bridge. The Peace Bridge allows for constant transportation to and from Canada, a country many Buffalo residents have come to know as a second home. What might not be so obvious is the air pollution created from diesel fuel exhaust by vehicles crossing the border. The effects of the pollution are adding up, especially on the West Side.
“People on the West Side wanting to go outside and take a walk are affected by the poor air quality,” said Phil Haberstro, executive director at the Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo and Western New York. “A person wanting to take a walk or riding a bike for exercise is now faced with a dilemma because the results of exercise is being negated by the air pollution that person is taking in.”
Phil Haberstro, on air quality:
Organizations built on promoting strong health have recognized such problems like poor air quality, and are starting to work toward a solution.
The Near East and West Side Task Force has been pro-actively trying to improve the quality of life for Buffalo residents since 2002.
“The mission of the Near East and West Side Task Force is to promote the well-being and self-sufficiency of racial and ethnic communities in Buffalo through advocacy,” said Francesca Mesiah, executive director. “Through the health and education committees, the task force represents Buffalo's communities, with focus on improving and advocating on behalf of education and health.”
Mesiah, who reports to an elected board of directors, said a paid membership structure has been established according to the size of the participating organization, along with not for profits and individual memberships.
Members of the task force include block clubs, social workers, lawyers, doctors, educators, retirees, civil rights activists and entrepreneurs.
Haberstro, who has worked closely with the task force on many projects over the years, describes it as having three distinct sectors.
“The task force includes a public, private and non-profit sector that work to create change in the East and West Side communities,” Haberstro said. The public sector includes elected officials, the private sector is made up of the business community and the non-profit sector includes the Catholic Health System and Kaleida Health.
When Haberstro first became involved with the task force, its focus was predominantly on the East side he said. Then, last year, after learning it was shifting its focus back toward the West Side, Haberstro re-established his presence within the task force.
Haberstro started going to meetings again and even advocated for a charter last spring that would be used to try to resolve some of the issues the task force faced within Buffalo’s communities.Created by the World Health Organization in 1986, the Ottawa Charter is used for health promotion. The charter is made up of five actions a community can take to improve health. Those actions are: building healthy public policy, creating supportive environments, strengthening community actions, developing personal skills and reorienting health services.
Lynn Rivers, associate professor and chairperson of the physical therapy department at D’Youville College, works extensively with the task force. She accepted Haberstro’s proposal of the charter and hopes it will make a difference in the community.
“I am committed through research and service to community health and wellness for the city of Buffalo with an emphasis on physical activity for children, adults and seniors,” Rivers said in a statement.
Haberstro said his motivation behind the charter wasn’t to over step his boundaries with the task force; he simply wanted to show them GR an alternative.
“I never doubted the commitment of the task force,” he said. “I just wanted to reinvigorate the task force’s plan for health promotion.”
Along with the charter, Haberstro wants residents of the West Side to start getting normal, everyday exercise. In order to do this however, the task force needs to engage people on the West Side about the importance of health he said.
“Three out of four adults on the West Side don’t get enough physical activity in terms of going outside and taking a walk,” Haberstro said. “We want to encourage people to use the resources available to them. The Riverwalk and the bike route on Richmond Avenue are great ways for people on the West Side to be active.”
Edited by Patrick Martin and Cierra Richardson
For people who walk, bike, or ride a bus as a means of transportation, keep it up, but if you ever find yourself in need of a vehicle, Buffalo CarShare is there for you.
ReplyDeleteStarted in the summer 2008 by four University at Buffalo students, CarShare is a community-based car sharing service. Customers can “rent” vehicles, but don’t have to worry about the hassles of gas, insurance and maintenance, which are all included in the price.
Car sharing is a relatively new concept, but is growing fast across the country. Cities such as San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia have already adopted car sharing programs.
The purpose of car sharing is to help keep cars off the road. The reduction in cars directly means a reduction in greenhouse gases and other fuel emissions into the atmosphere. Members participating in car sharing also become less dependent on their vehicles and often revert to healthier alternatives of travel. -- Mike Gambini
Phil Haberstro talked about the Erie-Niagara Tobacco-Free Coalition, which aims at reducing the risk of cancer by decreasing the use of tobacco related products in order to prevent people from breathing in second-hand smoke, creating healthier residents in the two counties. Anthony Billoni, the director of the coalition, has created a strong community capacity, which is working non-stop to enact changes like encouraging landlords on the West Side to have no smoking policies in their apartments. Haberstro said he is advocating for the strengthening of retail marketing of tobacco products. There are programs to keep kids on the West Side from starting to smoke because 90 percent of the adult smokers on the West Side started before they were 18 years old. -- Ken Obstarczyk
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