Health disparities based on location and race is a challenge Dane County has struggled to tackle for years.
Lisa Peyton-Caire, founder and president of the Foundation for Black Women's Wellness, is hoping to change that with the first black women's health and wellness center in Dane County.
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Infant mortality is defined as the death of a child in its first year of life. Between 2016 and 2018, the black infant mortality rate in the county was 12 deaths per 1,000 births, compared to 4.3 deaths per 1,000 for white babies, according to Madison and Dane County Public Health. Additionally, it has illustrated the complex intersection between social, environmental and economic factors that influence health outcomes in their 2011-’12 review.
The black women's health and wellness center in Dane County, straddling zip codes 53719 and 53711 — two of the city's highest-need neighborhoods — aims to alleviate some of the disparity.
The Foundation for Black Women's Wellness seeks to raise $100,000 to outfit the center and prepare it for a late-summer opening.