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Introducing the Whole Together Video Series
HealthierHere is on a journey with our partners and community to ensure every person in King County has equitable access to the care, support, and resources they need to thrive. The Whole Together video series explores different aspects of whole-person care, and how HealthierHere’s partner organizations are fostering innovative and culturally responsive approaches to improving the health and well-being of the communities they serve.
In our first feature of the series, learn how Association of Zambians in Seattle WA (AZISWA) is improving nutrition and access to culturally responsive foods for African immigrant and refugee communities in King County. Join AZISWA’s Mo Chatta and Zakeyo Ngoma as they visit a community garden in Kent, WA, prepare a healthy meal and discuss the importance of nutrition, food access, and community connection for whole person health.
What is whole person health?
Health and wellness extend beyond just our physical health. Whole-person health considers the various physical, mental, social, and spiritual factors that affect one’s well-being. Our mental health, the environments and systems we live and work in, and the way we are connected to each other all influence our health and that of future generations. When people have the essential resources and services they need (such as nutritious food, reliable transportation, job security, and culturally and linguistically responsive healthcare), it can help improve health outcomes and patient experiences, reduce cost for providers and society, and support thriving communities.
About AZISWA
AZISWA was founded in 2006 by a group of Zambians living in King County. Originally designed as a group for gathering with Zambian community members, it has expanded to providing community-based services for immigrants from various African countries.AZISWA’s programming centers on addressing hunger, poverty, and homelessness through health and education, and supports communities at the grassroots level. As a Case Management Partner for the HealthierHere Community Hub, AZISWA also provides community-based care coordination by its team of Community Health Workers.
Systemic Causes of Food Insecurity
For many individuals and families in our region, accessing healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables can be a daily challenge. This systemic issue has root causes including structural racism and socioeconomic disparity. According to the HealthierHere Landscape Assessment, between 2018 and 2021, 10.3% of adults in King County were food insecure. Populations disproportionately experiencing food insecurity included Transgender adults (38.5%), Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual (LGB) adults (15%), Black adults (29.8%), and Hispanic adults (28.4%).
Income is also a key indicator, with households making under $20,000 per year citing the highest rates of food insecurity (38%). Food access was also the third most prevalent health-related social need (HRSN) amongst HealthierHere Community Hub clients between October and December, with 10.44% of clients citing this need.
Marginalized communities and communities of color often live in areas where nutritious food and grocery stores are less available. This is largely in part due to racist geographic zoning restrictions in the 1900’s placed on Black, Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) residents, known as “red lining.” In addition to discriminatory housing and real estate practices, BIPOC populations faced limited access to amenities and services where they lived, as their neighborhoods were often excluded from financial investments.
Even though redlining was outlawed in Washington in 1977, neighborhoods in historically redlined areas are often impoverished, suffer from poor environmental conditions, unreliable or lack of public transportation, underfunded school districts, and lack of basic infrastructure in health and social services.
In the African immigrant communities that AZISWA serves, many residents struggle to afford food, don’t live close to and face barriers accessing transportation to grocery stores. In addition to rising prices, local grocery stores often don’t carry the types of foods people are used to eating in their home countries. These barriers to healthy and culturally responsive foods create ripple effects on people’s whole-person health.
If you are not eating well, it's going to affect your work. If you're not working, it's going to affect your income. If you don't have income, you don't have a home to live, you know, and you don't have anywhere to go" - Mo Chatta.
Psychological and Physical Impacts of Poor Nutrition
The psychological effects of food insecurity are felt by families throughout our state. In a survey of Washington households, over 50% of respondents facing food insecurity felt either anxious, stressed, or depressed, compared to their food non-insecure counterparts. The stress of not knowing where your next meal might come from, or the financial burden of a high grocery bill can really weigh on an individual and affect their morale and livelihood.
A poor diet can also cause serious physical health issues. Chatta and Ngoma revealed that obesity rates were prevalent in their community. In their home countries, being overweight is culturally seen as a sign of wealth and security. They got to work trying to shift mindsets. Ngoma shared “We're trying to teach people that, you know, being fat doesn't necessarily mean that you are healthy or wealthy. It actually could kill you.”
Between 2018-2022, over 450,000 (22.4%) of adults in King County were classified as obese. The highest rates were found in South King County (30.3%) and demographically amongst (LGB), Transgender, Black, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI), and American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations. Combined with lack of nutrition education, access to healthy foods, and pre-existing cultural beliefs, many deal
Solutions Rooted in Community and Culture
When several people died from complications related to poor health and nutrition, AZISWA took action to improve the lives and habits of their community members. As a participant in HealthierHere’s Community and Tribal Innovations Initiative in 2022, AZISWA launched a project focused on nutrition, physical, and mental wellness. Residents worked alongside a nutrition expert, a mental health therapist, and local faith leaders, beginning to improve their diets and exercise more.
To make culturally responsive and nutritious food more accessible, they started a community garden for residents to grow produce found in their home countries (like kale, pumpkin leaves, and sweet potato leaves), connect, and share food and learnings with each other. Through the innovations work and the community garden, community members reported significant improvements in their physical and mental health.
People have opened up talking about their health and well-being. We’ve had instances where people talked about how they reduced their medication simply by changing their diet and spending more time outside, walking or jogging. - Zakeyo Ngoma
Today, both Chatta and Ngoma continue to work with community members to help them lead healthy lives, directing them to local food markets, sharing nutrition information on social media, and working with organizations that allow people to grow their own vegetables. As Community Health Workers with the HealthierHere Community Hub, they also help clients across King County navigate community resources and services to alleviate food insecurity and support their whole-person health.
“Seeing those changes, is really huge.” says Chatta, “And then seeing, the children that we have grown up here also wanting to learn more about their culture and understanding the type of foods that people eat, the values that they have, and then also embracing their culture here . We've seen a lot of transformation in our community, and it all stems from talking about food."
What can be done?
When our communities can access affordable, healthy, and culturally responsive foods, people can prioritize taking care of their families, are less likely to have to miss work and school and can nurture a healthier generation of children.
Here are some steps that can be taken to improve nutrition and food access in our community:
Urge Healthcare Providers to:
- Screen for food insecurity
- Increase access to nutrition services that can be provided at hospitals and clinics
- Ramp up efforts to track data on nutrition and correlation to health outcomes
Support initiatives that:
- Provide increased access to food benefits
- Subsidize healthy foods
Advocate for:
- Employers and schools to provide wellness programs and subsidized/free meals for workers and students
- Grocery stores to stock more culturally relevant, nutritious food
- The expansion of free or affordable nutritious meal delivery services to help alleviate transportation barriers
Collaborate with organizations that:
- Provide residents with community gardens, food banks, and food markets, alongside culturally responsive food education.
- Support urban agriculture
- Involve community in decision making and programming
Where You Can Learn More
AZISWA:
AZISWA’s Community Innovation Playbook
Food Insecurity Resources:
Washington State Food Security Survey - Wave 4 Report
Whole Person Health in King County
HealthierHere Landscape Assessment
King County 2024/2025 Community Health Needs Assessment
Public Health - Seattle & King County Community Health Indicators
HealthierHere Community Hub