"Why We [Still] Can't Wait"

Mattapan is an absolutely beautiful place to live (quiet, even). There are great places to explore the outdoors (if you don't mind getting your shoes dirty); and public parks provide opportunities for outdoor recreation. Yet Mattapan has the highest obesity rate in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  Why?

Although there's a Mattapan-based food and fitness coalition it's not exactly creating a groundswell among Mattapan's 25,000 residents given two key factors:

1. 26% of Mattapan residents are between 5 and 18 years old;  
2. living in 2800 Mattapan households.

So while Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition is a wonderful community asset, it doesn't reach the vast majority of Mattapan households with children.  Why not?

Overall health indicators in Mattapan have persisted over the last 15 years, at least.  Asthma rates have skyrocketed at the same time, especially among its children; no doubt due the 80,000 fossil-fueled trips transiting through our neighborhood every day.

The Neponset River rushes on; a metaphor for the experience of living, working, and playing in Mattapan today.  Like the river, Mattapan can be a lure, but it can make you sick if you 'drink the water.' 

The Neponset River is now thoroughly polluted: after a very long period of paper mills dotting its shores, dumping chemical contaminants into it, the Neponset River can no longer sustain life. 

Accordingly the need for action is great.  Organizing the community to reflect, connect, and mobilize for change is the mission of Mattapan Environmental Action Network.