Eric Meredith is a subject matter expert when it comes to all things health and fitness and currently serves as the co-chair of the health and wellness committee for the 100 Black Men of Chicago. Meredith joined rolling out to discuss their upcoming virtual health expo that will be held on Nov. 13, 2021.
Why should people care about their health?
I believe health is wealth. You can have all the money in the world, but if you’re not healthy enough to enjoy it, what does money do? The new green is fruits and vegetables. … 100 Black men of Chicago have a couple of different pillars, mentoring being one which we’re most famous for, economic development, and then health and wellness. When we think about how 100 Black Men fit in the community, we’re about helping young people [and] families in the Black community be healthier. What we’ve done is brought a bunch of health experts together, who look like the communities they serve, to give information on COVID-19. … We’ve had some of the worst health outcomes during COVID-19. … We had more conditions that will cause us to not do well — like diabetes, heart disease [and] obesity. We were known to get the vaccination a little bit later than other groups, because of various hesitations [and] there’s some historical context to that as well. Every year, we think about how we can best serve the community from health care professionals and experts who look like the communities they serve. … It’s a great opportunity for us to share this information with folks on preventive health care, mental health, youth violence prevention, [and] policy.
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