ABIPA promotes economic, social, and health parity achievement for African Americans and other under served populations through advocacy, education, research, and community partnerships.
ABIPA is a trailblazer in addressing community health.
We were established in 2004 and celebrate our 18th year of serving the community this year. We were addressing social determinants of health and utilizing the community health worker model before they became buzz words. This has grounded us as a premier grass roots organization that specializes in active engagement of public health and healthcare and community organizations to successfully locate, educate, navigate and advocate health equity for African Americans and other under served populations in Western North Carolina. Our targeted focus is to support blacks in our region because of historical and present day racial marginalization that has negatively impacted overall health outcomes. However we also know that the effects of poverty and systemic racism crosses color lines so we promote a culture of health for ALL and are here to support all of our neighbors that can utilize our services.Within this context,ABIPA helps to shape and influence supportive interventions for health needs while providing resources to address the overall wellbeing of the individual and their ability to have adequate access to preventative health education, interventions and healthcare.
We provide a cross reference of resources, and are known for bridging relationships and building trust in public health and “on the street”. Our dynamic reach to the African American population of Buncombe County and beyond coupled with successful organizational partnerships have been fostered as a direct result of working with and through ABIPA.
We are excited about the work we are doing in Asheville and the surrounding communities. We have successfully helped address the health concerns in many congregations in the Buncombe County and Hendersonville County area. Part of ABIPA’s success at annually serving over 6500 community members that include low-income, uninsured and underinsured in Western North Carolina go to the people where they are with passion and commitment.
We are dedicated to building nurturing systems where the healthy option is the easy option. ABIPA’s goal is to bring our services to the communities, elevating the innate power that people have to improve and change the quality of their personal health through prevention and self management. As we continue to grow and fulfill our mission, we aim to continue to serve our community through focusing on places that people naturally gather, churches, community centers, and neighborhoods.