NYC Council Members Continue to Support Amida Care’s “Live Your Life” Community Wellness Events

Thanks to funding provided by New York City Council Members Robert E. Cornegy, Jr., Laurie Cumbo (Majority Leader), and Ritchie Torres, not-for-profit community health plan Amida Care held a variety of Live Your Life wellness events this past year. At these free sessions, which were open to the public, community members learned new ways to improve their health and wellbeing through African dance, family fitness, and healthy cooking classes, among other activities.

“At Amida Care, we believe that a holistic approach is necessary for healthy living. To live a healthy life, you need more than medication and doctor’s visits. We feel it is extremely important that our members’ social, physical, and emotional needs are being met. Our ‘Live Your Life’ events were created exactly for that purpose: to encourage people to be physically active, get and stay healthy, and to take care of their social and mental wellbeing. We’re thankful to have the support of NYC Council Members who want to be sure that their constituents and all New Yorkers have tools and information that will help them to live healthy and active lives,” said Doug Wirth, President and CEO of Amida Care.

Amida Care presented several of these events in partnership with local organizations, starting with “Dancing in the Park” last November, co-hosted with Bronx-based VIP Community Services and sponsored by Council Member Torres, which included face painting, free food, and giveaways. In December, a community fitness class in Brooklyn was offered in partnership with the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation in Council Member Cornegy’s district. Amida Care and the Atlantic Terminal Tenants’ Association celebrated Black History Month in February with activist/speaker Colia Clark and the Brooklyn Love Institute of African Drummers & Dancers, which led a special music and dance workshop in Majority Leader Cumbo’s district.

In May, Amida Care and health services organization BOOM!Health held a healthy cooking workshop in Council Member Torres’ district at the Grand Slam Banquet Hall in the Bronx; and in early June, Amida Care teamed-up again with Brooklyn’s Atlantic Terminal Community Center to hold a dance fitness class. Later that month “A Day for PRIDE” family fitness event sponsored by Council Member Cornegy was held in solidarity with Brooklyn’s LGBTQ Pride Month celebrations.

In the new fiscal year starting July 1, 2018, Amida Care has once again been funded by Brooklyn Council Members Cornegy and Cumbo to offer community wellness events. The program has already gotten off to a great with a “Music, Fun and Dance” event at the “Soul Summit Music Festival,” which took place in August at Fort Greene Park Conservancy in Brooklyn, in Majority Leader Cumbo’s district. Amida Care is also delighted to have received funding this year from Brooklyn Council Member Alicka Ampry-Samuel to hold events in her district (41).