Action Pact 2022: Yuko Okabe

By Claire Belanger

What does healthcare mean to you? The legacy answer is doctors, nurses, medicine, unapproachable machines, poor bedside manner – but what if it was food stability, housing, education, and career assistance? This is the approach Boston Medical Center (BMC) takes when providing care to patients and host communities – an approach that truly redefines what healthcare means.

Adjacent to one of Boston’s most high-need areas, Boston Medical Center is continually reminded why its approach to patient care is needed. In response, they have deployed initiatives addressing employment, housing, and food security to bridge gaps in delivering care to patients and members of the surrounding communities. 

To address employment as a social determinant of health in local communities, Boston Medical Center joined the BostonHires hiring campaign to promote hiring Boston residents with quality jobs. The program placed over 400 Boston residents into living-wage jobs with benefits in 2018 alone.

Boston Medical Center invested $6.86 million over 3-5 years to expand access to affordable housing in the city of Boston. This investment supports community health and patient outcomes and reduces medical costs – truly supporting the livelihoods of patients and communities.

The Boston Medical Center element of care that inspired Action Pact’s second resident artist, Yuko Okabe? Their commitment to ending food insecurity and, more specifically, their Rooftop Farm. In addition to the Rooftop Farm, they have two other key initiatives that promote healthy eating and living – their Food Pantry and Teaching Kitchen. Each of these programs provides patients and employees a way to get and stay healthy, and together they work hand-in-hand to ensure patients and their families have access to healthy, nutritious foods sourced sustainably and responsibly.

Yuko’s mural, which was inspired by Boston Medical Center’s Rooftop Farm, pivoted off the idea that all people should have access to healthy, sustainable food. Her mural at Boston Medical Center depicted how nurturing plants and growing healthy foods contribute to mental and physical health. The playful charcoal work featured the growth cycle of plants; from root and sprout to leaves and flowers. 

As traffic sped past on Mass Ave, Yuko’s mural calmed passersby with imagery of neighbors breathing, exercising, and socializing while other community members tend and water a plot of land. It engaged a community of people who are too often neglected and truly appreciated a moment to experience the work and connect with others to dream of a better future.

Photos by Bob Packert