$1.8 Mil Obamacare Grant to Promote Healthy Lifestyles for Minorities
To promote healthy lifestyles among minorities and low-income residents in the area surrounding the nationâs capital, the Obama administration has doled out nearly $2 million to, among other things, make fruits and vegetables available at work.
Compliments of Obamacare, the cash went to the municipal government of Washington D.C., according to a conservative news outlet that cites numbers from the federal agencyâCenters for Disease Control (CDC)âthat awards the money. The goal, according to the CDC, is to target âapproximately 445,000 residents living in the District of Columbia, focusing on racial/ethnic minority, low-income, medically underserved and disabled communities.â
Officially itâs called a federal Community Transformation Grant and the feds are promoting the cash give-away as a worthy investment, under the presidentâs new healthcare overhaul, in community health. The money is also supposed to help implement environmental and infrastructure improvements to increase physical activity opportunities, reduce weight and tobacco use, improve nutrition and chronic disease outcomes. D.C. got $1.8 million and other cities around the nation have received tens of millions more to implement similar initiatives. Â
Among D.C.âs plans for the money is to increase the “availability of fruit and vegetables to employees in their workplaces.” This just happens to coincide with Michelle Obamaâs mission to conquer obesity in low-income and minority neighborhoods with government-subsidized farmers markets. In fact, the First Lady even got Congress to passâand her husband to signâa $4.5 billion law to accomplish the task. Â
D.C.âs government will also spend some of its generous grant to increase âpolicies and practices to support breastfeeding in health care, community, workplaces, and learning and childcare settings.â Tobacco use will be curbed by increasing smoke-free, multi-unit housing (presumably taxpayer-funded public housing for the poor) and through yet-to-be determined âTobacco Free Living Innovative Proposals.â
Under Obama the federal government has funded a number of costly programs in a variety of areasâincluding education, healthcare and nutritionâspecifically targeting minorities. Among them is an $8.8 million program to train âunderservedâ Hispanic students to work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), a series of cultural and linguistically appropriate healthcare initiatives for minorities and a $36.2 million study to improve minority âhousing counseling.â