Ambassador: Loretta Young and Yvonne Jones
Community: Race Matters
Loretta grew up in Ronceverte and was one of the first Black children to integrate into the elementary school. She has always had to be “mindful of who I am, where I am in American history.” After working at UNICEF in New York City, she returned to Greenbrier to help address health disparities among the Black community.
As the Race Matters Community Ambassador, she lifts up the priorities of Greenbrier’s relatively small Black and Latin communities to the Health Alliance. Recently, their community survey showed that diabetes and COVID-19-vaccine uptake are top priorities.
The block party at Dorie Miller Park, funded by a mini-grant, is just one of their many initiatives to promote culturally relevant and healthy food, physical activity, and connection in order to prevent and manage diabetes. In 2025, the Race Matters mini-grant also helped establish the first Greenbrier County Juneteenth Celebration at Dorie Miller.
Race Matters is also partnering with Black churches to host activities, such as hypertension and diabetes management trainings, line-dance classes, and the creation of a cookbook for healthy soul food. When a Latino community member called Loretta to tell her that the pharmacy asked for their green card, the Race Matters group spread the word to the Latin community about free COVID-19-vaccine clinics funded by the Partnership of African American Churches. They also held a workshop for immigrants on knowing one’s rights.
