East Harlem Gets MAChO Through Community Health Outreach Program

With healthy living all the rage in New York City, one organization is focused on empowering Harlem families to battle inequality through nutrition, fitness and disease prevention. 

Motivating Action through Community Health Outreach (MAChO) runs programs throughout East Harlem for children and families. Their mission is to curb high rates of obesity and preventable diseases by inspiring youth to become change agents. This summer they will be hosting a free summer program for children at Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work.

The group was the brain child of Nii Koney, a 2012 graduate of Cornell Weill Medical College. Koney was puzzled by what he perceived as an invisible divide in health equality in Manhattan above and below 96^thstreet. He questioned how ­­health accessibility could be improved for at-risk populations. MAChO was founded out of the Community Service Office at Cornell Weill Medical College and three years later, the team is a diverse array of medical students, public health advocates, fitness professionals and motivated undergraduate and high school students.

MAChO “Explorers” attend sessions multiple times per week for lessons on nutrition, anatomy, making smart choices and more. They also participate in a fitness program, with a focus on exercises which can be completed with little space and no equipment. There is also a strong emphasis on mentoring.

MAChO’s free summer program runs weekdays and Saturdays June 30-July 29 from 10-2.

For more information call 347-746-2461or email machoprogram@gmail.com.