What does it take to lead a healthy life? How do we build a healthy community? We know we need good clinics and hospitals staffed by skilled professionals to keep us healthy and treat us when we’re not. But it takes a lot more than that. A healthy community has good schools, plentiful park space, healthy food options, minimal pollution, few or no gangs. Sharing experiences is one way to build a healthier community. First Person is our contribution to that effort: a storytelling project that lets southern Californians tell their own stories about their health, and their communities’ health.

In June 2008, Carlos Morales co-founded the Eastside Bike Club with eight friends. Now 54, Morales says at the time he weighed 400 pounds, and his doctors told him "they'd done everything they could." Today, the club has 400 members, and Morales is much lighter - and healthy. "The street became our gym," he says. "We were the first bike club in northeast Los Angeles," says Morales. He talks about kids coming out of housing projects to watch, since "they don't see this in our neighborhoods." He believes that the bike club can inspire young people to stay out of gangs and away from drugs: "It's healthy, it's green, it's clean - can't beat it!"

If you have a story you'd like to share, let us know!

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