Nationwide Black Family Wellness Expo comes to Gainesville – WCJB

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) -Saturday, March 8 is International Women’s Month and one international women’s corporation is celebrating with a nationwide wellness expo.
The Links, Incorporated is an international, not-for-profit corporation, established in 1946. Their membership consists of more than 17,000 professional women of African descent in 299 chapters in 41 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, and the United Kingdom. The co-chairman Faye McKnight tells TV20 that the corporation has documented more than one million hours of community service annually to strengthen their communities and enhance the nation.
The wellness expo will be held at the Church of God by Faith in Gainesville Florida, Saturday, March 8 at 10 a.m. and will run until 2 p.m.
It will focus on health disparities in the Black community and common killers amongst Americans such as:
· Heart disease, the number one killer for all Americans, and stroke, the leading cause of death. (American Heart Association)
· Black Americans have the highest death rate and shortest survival of any racial or ethnic group in the United States when it comes to most types of cancer. (American Cancer Society)
· Black Americans between the ages of 18-49 are two times as likely to die from heart disease than White Americans. (CDC)
· Black Americans are more than three times as likely as White Americans to have kidney failure. In addition, the increased rates of high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease in Black Americans increase their risk of kidney disease. (National Kidney Foundation)
· Black Americans are more likely to have Alzheimer’s Disease than White Americans and have a higher familial risk than other groups. (Alzheimer’s Association)
McKnight says with over 70% of Black Americans dying without having a will or other estate planning document in place, getting Black Americans and other people of African descent to advocate for their own healthcare and financial well-being is more important than ever.
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