16 Apr Black Wellness and Resource Hub May Be Coming to Antioch

Kerby Lynch of Ceres Policy Research spoke at the April 8 Antioch City Council meeting about a proposed African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Black health will be front and center for Contra Costa County’s African American Holistic Wellness and Resource Hub, which looks to address systemic disparities that Black residents face in healthcare. Its permanent location could be in an area with some of the highest rates of community trauma. 

That’s Antioch, city officials say. 

The Antioch City Council on April 8 unanimously backed a hub that could eventually be placed in District 1 to offer physical and mental health, economic, housing and cultural healing services. The proposed site would be at 1650 Cavallo Road, if approved. 

“That doesn’t mean we’re creating something new here; it’s about coordinating and expanding existing efforts across all levels of partners — whether it’s a grassroots organization who’s already doing a great service, county program, state level program or even a federal program,” said Kerby Lynch of Ceres Policy Research, which oversaw the hub’s feasibility study. 

Antioch is home to the county’s highest number of Black residents, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, who make up around 20% of the city’s population. They’re three times as likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause, overrepresented in counts of unhoused residents — which Antioch leads the county in — and often have less access to healthcare. 

“How do we start to increase service utilization for our Black community and satisfaction levels and coordinate that across the county?” asked Lynch. 

The site would be part of “long overdue investments” to neighborhoods that have historically been underserved, she told council members. 

Lynch said primary and preventative healthcare would be the focus of the hub, particularly prioritizing Black maternal care. 

“Because of the severity of Black maternal health in this county, that will be a huge priority where we’ll be trying to provide doulas, prenatal care and postnatal support for families,” she said. 

In conversations with District 1 residents, Lynch said the reaction to a potential wellness hub at the location was mixed — some saying it was the “perfect location,” while others worried about the area’s safety. 

Council member Tamisha Torres-Walker, who represents District 1, appreciated the mention of safety in her district but offered another perspective. 

“If we keep saying the community isn’t safe, but we do nothing to make it safe, we’re spinning our wheels,” she said. 

Residents who spoke at the meeting were in support of the hub’s potential location in Antioch, saying it was a step in the right direction following what Black and Brown residents had faced over the years. 

“The African American Wellness Hub is the best attempt for the city of Antioch to support (residents) after all the harm that’s happened, be it one section of Antioch or all across Antioch. Many Black and Brown people have been harmed repeatedly,” said Kimberly Payton, president-elect of the East County NAACP. “Ignoring it and pretending it didn’t happen isn’t going to make it go away.” 

Lynch said the hub would be focused on Black health, but that doesn’t mean a person would be turned away because of their race. 

“That’s always been the intent,” said Torres-Walker. “If we can serve Black people, then everybody can be served.” 

Council member Don Freitas and Torres-Walker also pointed to the overall lack of county resources that East County residents have access to compared with others. 

“Eastern Contra Costa County has been the stepchild of Contra Costa County government,” said Freitas. “Hopefully, our two county supervisors who represent our community will not only focus on this but other issues like bringing county services to us locally. It is long overdue.” 

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors received a report on the plan with the proposed Antioch site at its April 15 meeting.