5th Annual Walk by Faith

The Walk Returns To Park Avenue Missionary Baptist Church To Empower, Encourage And Promote Unity In The Eastside!

(Riverside, CA) April 17, 2018- Eastside HEAL (Healthy Eating, Active Living) Zone (EHZ) and local Riverside churches will unite for the 5th Annual Walk by Faith event on Sunday, April 29th from 2pm – 6pm at Park Avenue Missionary Baptist Church (1910 Martin Luther King Blvd., Riverside, CA 92507). The event, aimed to promote health and unity in the Eastside is completely FREE and will include a 3.5 mile walk and health centered activities for kids.

Eastside HEAL Zone (under the direction of Riverside Community Health Foundation) is one of several Kaiser funded HEAL initiatives in California; this placed-based intervention exists to promote a culture of health, hope, unity and leadership in Eastside, Riverside. The Walk by Faith event is specifically geared towards improving the food environment and physical activity opportunities among faith-based entities.

“Faith-based entities are in a unique position to help strengthen and create healthy environments throughout the community,” shared Dr. Shene Bowie-Hussey, Vice-President of Health Strategies and Chief Strategic Officer for Riverside Community Health Foundation. “These organizations represent a place of trust for most of us. With this in mind, Walk by Faith allows faith-leaders to connect community members with resources and tools that provide encouragement towards adopting healthy behaviors for the mind, body and spirit.”

Since the Walk by Faith initiative, participating churches have adopted several healthy behaviors such as: including healthy beverage policies, utilizing a part of church service to promote health awareness and offering healthy food alternatives.

“As a church in an Eastside neighborhood it is important that we are good community citizens and support the city’s efforts to bring healthy eating and active living to this area,” noted Senior Pastor, Derick Anderson of of 2nd Chance Ministries. “The ‘Walk by Faith’ sign in front of our church is a constant reminder to our neighbors that we care about the neighborhood in which we worship.”

There will be nine participating churches in this year’s event, they include: 2nd Chance Ministries, Iglesia Bautista “Nuevo Nacimiento”, Kansas Avenue Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, Park Avenue Missionary Baptist Church, Riverside Faith Temple Ministries, Riverside Spanish Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Second Baptist Church of Riverside and St. John Missionary Baptist Church.

In addition, the walk will include an alternate route to begin and end, at Bordwell Park (located directly behind Park Avenue Missionary Baptist Church). The alternate route, which is catered to our elders, will incorporate ‘walkers’ in waves to ensure everyone has the opportunity to walk at their desired pace. Register today for the Walk by Faith event via Eventbrite.com (Search Walk by Faith 2018) or call (951) 788-3471 for details.

For more information on Riverside Community Health Foundation, visit www.rchf.org