NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Northland Health Alliance held a meeting on Thursday, diving into health inequities, food insecurity and transit access in the community.
"This is a marathon, not a sprint, and honestly I think we have a lot of work to do," said Gary Zaborac, the Clay County director of public health.
Earlier this year, KSHB 41 first met Mark and Barbara Cooper, who say they live in a Northland transit desert.
"They're putting it off, they don't really have a solution," Mark Cooper said.
The Cooper's say if they had known about the Thursday night meeting, they would've been there.
Still, KSHB 41 reporter Dan Cohen brought the questionnaire to them and asked those questions in real time.
Cohen: "Do you have access to reliable transportation?"
Barbara Cooper: "Yes and no. It's really not that reliable from where I'm at, unless you're on a main street, it's not reliable."
Cohen: "Do you have reliable resources in your community to live a healthy lifestyle?"
Barbara Cooper "No, not at all."
It's not just transit — a Hy-Vee that was located down the road from their home closed not too long ago.
Cohen: "What have been the effects of losing a grocery store in your neighborhood?"
Barbara Cooper: "A huge impact. Like I said we have to take the bus to either the Walmart neighborhood market or to the Price Chopper."
The Cooper's say they don't have time to run a marathon towards solutions.
"Something's gotta give," Mark Cooper said.
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