AFLO Health Inc - Our Story
By Lisa Monroe
This is a cause that lies close to my heart for so many different reasons.
I decided to create AFLO as a result of what I’ve seen in medical practice. I’ve worked in healthcare for 15 years and noticed a wide range of health problems (reproductive health and autoimmune disorders, cancers, mental health crisis, etc) affecting black women. I wanted to understand why this was happening and if there was any way to prevent it.
I was curious as a researcher and healthcare professional, but most importantly I was curious as a mom to three young daughters. The protector in me always wants to shield them from harm and set them up for success in life. I believe the most important thing to achieve this is being healthy. Let’s face it, you can have a billion dollars in the bank, live in the biggest house, go to the most exclusive places, but it doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have your health.
In researching and learning more, I realized that even though these problems seem to manifest out of thin air, many health issues show signs way before they are diagnosed and definitely before they become unmanageable. The seeds and roots to most health problems are usually planted early, and can start at a much younger age.
This led me to ask, what if there was a way to get to the root of these issues and stop them even before they start? The answer I came to was educating our girls about their bodies and the mind-body connection as early as we can.
A lot of the mainstream information that we get about what is healthy, actually excludes us.
By us, I mean black girls and women of childbearing age. Something else that is often excluded from the conversation is education around our history as black women in this country and how it ties to our health. How society views and treats us directly correlates to how we view ourselves and treat each other. Ancestral and generational trauma also unconsciously shapes self-esteem. I want to guide black girls to getting a better understanding of all of this, which will enable them to make healthier life choices.
Out of the 8.8 million girls and women ages 12 to 44 living in California, 1 in 7 of these individuals live below the poverty line. AFLO hopes to reach as many girls as possible, without the participants and their families who may be struggling financially, incurring additional costs. We find ways to partner with other community-based and non-profit organizations with similar missions, to bring awareness to period stigma, period poverty and other culturally relevant topics that affect the health of black females
I am honored to teach girls how to have a sense of sovereignty over their own minds and bodies. Learning this at the start of puberty will help put black girls on a positive trajectory for their future. We have entered a time in history where this is more important than ever. Restrictive laws are actively in place to specifically strip this power away from an already vulnerable population. I want to empower this generation in a way that black women have never been before. I am up for the challenge of addressing topics girls are curious about, but people are too embarrassed to address and society tends to shy away from. It will take more than just one company to change how girls are educated about their bodies, but I am grateful for the opportunity to be on the frontier of this movement.
Check out Aflo Health on Instagram to learn more!
