The Eastern Crescent is an “Urban Desert”, with limited access to affordable and nutritious food, healthcare facilities, financial and professional services, retail and personal services, restaurants, and other amenities.
The absence of these services and products is evidenced by statistical disparities in health and community wellness.
Live Well/Vive Bien is not a replacement for brick and mortar facilities, but it is a significant bridge until that happens.
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What We Do
Equidad ATX’s LiveWell/ViveBien (LWVB) seeks to disrupt “urban deserts” in the Eastern Crescent by consistently providing healthy food, health and wellness resources, financial literacy services,and other essential services to these communities by coordinating with local service providers such as the Central Texas Food Bank (CTFB) and Central Health among others. The goal is to improve community health outcomes by addressing social determinants of health as a bridge until these health resources are permanently available in these communities. An early catalyst for the LiveWell/ViveBien initiative emerged from Equidad ATX’s Colony Park Preservation project which sought to preserve the Colony Park neighborhood’s affordable rental housing
and prevent displacement through gentrification.
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Through a partnership with MEASURE, the 2020 project found that residents of Colony Park/Lakeside were
experiencing substantial barriers to accessing healthy food. In 2019, the Central Texas Food Bank’s mobile food pantry tested a collaboration with the Texas Capital Bank financial literacy bus and the CommUnityCare mobile clinic bus to provide their services alongside the mobile food pantry. All three providers saw high utilization of their services, and the CommUnityCare mobile clinic saw a 350% increase in utilization compared with past instances when they had offered their services without partnering with other service providers. Equidad ATX set out to create a program that would bring together the many mobile service providers in the Austin area to provide a holistic, coordinated response to resource disparities in Austin’s Eastern Crescent.
Below are some of the LiveWellViveBien Program and provider partners offering mobile services:
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Austin Bat Cave’s “Bat Mobile” traveling youth writing lab and library
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Austin Public Library’s bookmobile
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CommUnityCare’s mobile health clinic
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El Buen Samaritano’s Community Health Workers
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Texas Capital Bank’s financial literacy bus
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Austin Public Health WIC
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Dell Children’s Health Clinic
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Amplify Credit Union
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UT Medical School’s Population Health
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City of Austin, Displacement Office
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Del Valle Mobile Library
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UT Dell & UT Neurology Dept.
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Black Men’s Health Clinic
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halfHelen Optical Care
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Bookspring
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University Federal Credit Union
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Distribution
Three strategically-located communities in the Eastern Crescent are served by the LiveWell/ViveBien Program: Del Valle, Creedmoor and Colony Park.
The CTFB mobile food pantry has distribution sites in each of these communities, making them ideal locations with substantiated food access needs. Additionally, these communities have been identified as among those most impacted by health disparities in
Austin’s Eastern Crescent due to the disproportionately high prevalence of poverty and chronic illness in these locations compared to the rest of Travis County.
The monthly dates and times of the LiveWellViveBien Program are as follows:
Del Valle HS - 3rd Saturday of every month; 10am - 11:30am; drive-thru
Creedmoor Community Center - 4th Tuesday of every month 9am- 10am; market style
Colony Park neighborhood - 4th Thursday of every month @ the Turner Roberts Recreation Center; 10am - 11am; market style
In addition to the mobile infrastructure put in place at these locations, Equidad is working continuously to bring high quality education from cradle to college, assisting in the development and improvement of the constituents’ quality of life. Programs have been deciphered by community members voicing the needs and void that their communities have. Equidad partners with area organizations to bring valued programs and certification courses.
Educational Partners:
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Avance
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Todos Juntos
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Thinkery
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ACC Continuing Education
Capital Metro Bus Donation
Capital Metro has donated a bus for Equidad ATX to transform into a mobile grocery store.