A new program is hoping to help one of the city’s neighborhoods most affected by diabetes.

According to city data, 13% of Brownsville residents are diagnosed with diabetes.

Gus Geter has been living with the disease for 12 years, and says it’s “been a journey.”

Director of the Brownsville Community Culinary Center Rae Gomes says they are hoping to help Geter and others on that journey.

“Brownsville has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the city,” Gomes says. “One thing that COVID has brought from the center is the need to deal with these public health issues.”

That’s why the Brownsville Community Culinary Center is launching its Diabetes Wellness Program.

Gomes says the goal of the program is to provide people with food and services to maintain a healthy lifestyle because she says the neighborhood has only a small supply of healthy food options.

“We want to make sure that beyond the program that people can take these habits and continue without us and maintain these habits,” Gomes says. “Not only for their individual lifestyle, but for their families as well.”

Geter says he hopes the program will help himself and have a positive impact on the community.