Members of the Boards of ESAC and the Boston Asthma Initiative celebrate their new partnership Front: Emily
Litonjua, Jennifer Allison, Maria Nieves and Paul Shoemaker
Rear:Alan Sharaf, Edith Buhs, Robert Pulster.
On World Asthma Day: Two Boston Nonprofits Merge to Improve Asthma Resources
Boston , MA . On World Asthma Day, the Boston Asthma Initiative (BAI), a ten-year old effort to reduce asthma morbidity and mortality in Boston , announced it will merge with ESAC, a 40-year-old Jamaica Plain based nonprofit, to improve resources and expand efforts to confront asthma cases across Boston .
Since the late 1990s, the Boston Asthma Initiative has addressed the rising incidence of childhood asthma cases through: home visits where education and preventative measures are discussed; programs in schools to reduce exposure to asthma triggers; and an innovative swim program teaching children with asthma about prevention and the value of exercise. ESAC Executive Director Robert Pulster sees the merger of BAI as a natural extension of his organization's programs. “For forty years ESAC has helped residents of Boston build safe, sustainable communities. We have been at the forefront of preventing childhood lead poisoning and we see BAI's asthma prevention programs as a natural extension of that.
Paul Shoemaker, chairman of the BAI Board of Directors, seconds that sentiment. “BAI has served hundreds of children and their families over the past ten years and like ESAC, we have a practical, effective approach to addressing problems; one that recognizes that only through community efforts will we reduce this critical health threat.”