The East Harlem Council for Human Services, Inc. operates the following fully bilingual programs, serving more than 12,000 individuals each year without regard to an individual’s ability to pay for services: Boriken Neighborhood Health Center, Boriken School Health Program, WIC Program, Bilingual Head Start Program, Senior Nutrition Program and Boriken Community Outreach Site.
Boriken’s services include: adolescent health; adult medicine; asthma education and support services; comprehensive HIV-related education and outreach, counseling and testing, dental; diabetes education and support services; family medicine; geriatrics; gynecology; nutrition; obstetrics; onsite laboratory; ophthalmology; pediatrics; pharmacy (operated by private pharmacist onsite); podiatry; pulmonology, and social work and transportation.
East Harlem has a population of 123,579, of whom 50 percent are Latino and 31 percent are African American. Thirty-three percent of East Harlem resident live below the poverty level, and 63 percent live below 200 percent the poverty level. Health and socioeconomic data for East Harlem indicate a tremendous need for affordable health and human services.
Although East Harlem residents compromise only 1.8 percent of New York City population, El Barrio is home to 3.9 percent of all New York City residents who are living with AIDS and has an AIDS case rate which is more than two and one-half times greater than the Citywide rate. The rates of STD infection, teenage pregnancy, low birth weights, infant mortality, substance abuse, asthma, and other preventable and controllable medical conditions have demonstrated the crucial need for preventative and primary care services in East Harlem.