History

While a health communication assistant professor at Rutgers, Dr. Jennifer R. Warren had the desire to work more closely with communities where they work, live, and play to truly understand the effects of health inequities and social determinants on health. After 10 years, Dr. Warren left Rutgers to manifest her desire. The first iteration of CAAHDER was Community Capacity Builders whose mission was to increase the capacity of senior and non senior African American populations to advocate for equitable housing policies and the reduction of place-based social inequities that impact health. During this time, Dr. Warren witnessed the devastating impact of health inequities on seniors and on low income African Americans and the social inequities they face. She observed public health practices that perpetuate the marginalization of African American health. The reality of seeing adverse social determinants play out in real time was disturbing.

 

As a result, The Center for African American Health Disparities Education & Research (CAAHDER), Inc. was established in 2017 by Dr. Jennifer R. Warren, gaining nonprofit status in 2018. Dr. Warren envisioned a world where social determinants are benign, everyone has equal access to equitable healthcare and health disparities have been eliminated.

 

Purpose

We are a community-based organization whose mission is to provide sustainable solutions to health disparities and inequities impacting low income communities of color and other vulnerable populations through community engagement, partnership building, education, research, heath promotion, and policy advocacy.

 

Need

The need for our organization is crucial.  There is no organization in Southern New Jersey whose primary focus is on investigating and reporting on enduring equity concerns for low income African American and other vulnerable communities who suffer disproportionately from health disparities and systemic health inequities. Through our epidemiological investigations, literature reviews, and qualitative research we identify trends and patterns in health disparities and inequities that inform our educational programming for public health professionals and health campaigns.

 

Aligned with these endeavors is CAAHDER's commitment to building partnerships to collaboratively implement relevant and sustainable solutions to facilitate the reduction in inequities that impact low income African American and vulnerable populations.

 

At CAAHDER we research existing evidence-based and promising interventions, programs, and strategies, their impact on community health and well-being, and engage partners to implement those methods to promote robust and healthy individuals and communities. CAAHDER also conducts research to create frameworks, tools, and relevant public, community, and healthcare practices to ensure low income African Americans and other vulnerable populations are treated ethically and equitable.