PCI Healthy Equity Asthma Program

Family Service of Rhode Island's Providence Children's Initiative intends to replicate the

Harlem Children's Zone's Asthma Initiative to help asthmatic kids stay healthy, in school, and

out of the hospital. We believe that in order to break the cycle of poor housing, inadequate health

care, and disproportionate numbers of low-income, predominately culturally diverse children

suffering from asthma, we must create a coordinated, cross-sector approach that creates sustained

and meaningful change. Studies have shown that asthma has been a persistent issue in urban

environments with high poverty rates for many years. Our plan is to address this issue thus

improving the academic achievement of the students at the Mary E. Fogarty Elementary School

located in Lower South Providence, and improving the quality of life for families in the

neighborhoods surrounding the school.