Today we’d like to introduce you to Christen Clark.
Hi Christen, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Christen Clark and I am the founder of Healthy Heart Hope Inc. My Healthy Heart journey started as a young girl in junior high school when my older brother suffered from cardiomyopathy. Once he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, it immediately propelled my interest in medicine. Between frequent visits to the hospital and anxiety and panic overwhelming our lives, I saw and understood firsthand how heart disease affected my family. At the time, we were uninformed, traveling a journey unknown. Fast forward ahead, my older brother was forced to receive a heart transplant. After one day of being on the donor’s list, he received a call that changed my family’s life forever.
My family knew almost nothing about heart disease—and that is what compelled me to create a non-profit for the community that educates and informs under-represented individuals on preventive measures to reduce heart disease. Along with educating and informing Healthy Heart Hope will provide/direct individuals towards necessary testing for healthy heart health.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Starting Healthy Heart Hope faced many obstacles and challenges initially. When starting this business I had no idea how to create a business, let alone a non-profit. I struggled at first trying to build connections and figure out what part of the community did I want to tailor my work to.
More importantly, how was I going to get my message about heart disease and combating it to stick with the community, in the beginning, was a struggle. Getting people to change old habits and form new ones was extremely difficult… at first.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Currently, I am the President of Healthy Heart Hope as well as a Science teacher to high-school students. What I am most proud of is always putting my best foot forward and trying to set the best example for the youth.
I am also very proud of overcoming the many obstacles, trials, and triumphs and not being a product of my environment but someone who wants to always give back to it. What sets me apart from others is my level of passion to help others. The amount of drive I have with my story is real, it’s personal.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love how diverse my city is. New York City’s culture is a big melting pot full of ideas, different people, foods, languages, ideas, dress, and many more. What I like least about my city would be the amount of violence happening lately.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.HealthyHeartHope.com
- Instagram: @Healthyhearthope
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/healthyhearthopeinc
