THE GAMBLES Healthy odds

Faatimah and Kenny Gamble work to improve Kenny's old neighborhood -- and the health of those living in it.
By ANNETTE JOHN-HALL
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
PHILADELPHIA -- The best advertisement for Faatimah Gamble's wellness crusade is staring at you with skin as smooth as velvet and a deeply dimpled smile.
At 57 (and proud to say so), Gamble radiates. And though she dresses in the hijab style, wearing the long, unrestricted clothing indicative of her Islamic faith, her posture and carriage make it clear that this grandmother is flab-free and fit.
More proof sits nearby in the inner office of a stately brick building among more than 100 that Universal Homes has restored in South Philadelphia. Munching on a handful of shelled walnuts is Gamble's husband, Universal founder and Philadelphia songwriting legend Kenny Gamble. He is robust, clear-eyed and looks a decade younger than his 59 years. His only concession to middle age: the black-rimmed glasses that are his trademark.
"I make sure he eats properly," Faatimah says of her husband of 13 years. "He is crucial to our community."
Together the Gambles have worked to resurrect Kenny Gamble's once dilapidated childhood neighborhood near 14th and Catherine by building new homes, a charter school and a mosque. Universal Companies, a nonprofit community development corporation, provides job training and education to residents. It creates investment opportunities. And it encourages healthy lifestyles for the mostly black residents of the neighborhood.
Early efforts
At the forefront of community health and wellness is Faatimah Gamble. Before the dire state of black health was well-known, before reports showed blacks were dying in disproportionate numbers from AIDS, prostate cancer and complications from diabetes and heart disease; before Tom Joyner, the black syndicated radio host, called for a "Take Your Loved One to the Doctor Day," Gamble was getting the word out with "The Wellness of You" programs.
At the heart of the effort, which includes a children's health fair, a men's breakfast, and nutrition and etiquette programs that are part of the Universal Institute Charter School curriculum, is "The Wellness of You" lecture and luncheon series.
Conceived by Gamble as a way for South Philly residents to enjoy a healthy meal without salt, sugar and fat, the annual luncheon has morphed into a premier event for the city. For the last eight years Gamble has gathered health practitioners to talk about ways to get well and stay well. The annual luncheon, which was held last month at the Philadelphia Clef Club for Jazz and Performing Arts, also honors those who have promoted a healthy lifestyle with its "Tree of Life" award.
As guests dined on balsamic rice, maat cake, fresh baby greens, organic carrots and Ruby Mist iced tea, they listened to honorees Walter P. Lomax, Maurice C. Clifford, Georgia Dunston and J. Joanne Yohannes expound on myriad ways to keep well -- everything from understanding cell research to undergoing hypnotherapy.
Praise for work
Gamble, says HealthQuest Magazine publisher Sara Lomax-Reese, recognizes that "healing comes in different forms and different packages. She gives validation to people who have for too long been underutilized."
Lomax-Reese, who also does a health program, "HealthQuest Live," on Philadelphia's WURD-AM, notes that the Gambles provide more than just information: "It's about who delivers the information," she says. "Trust has been a real issue for African Americans. The health-care system hasn't been real friendly to us and has breached its ethical duties in numerous ways. Faatimah and Kenny are trusted, loved and revered as members of the community. And ['The Wellness of You'] is just one more example of them walking the walk."
Gamble began taking care of her health early on.
"I made up my mind early that I wasn't going to be a victim," says the North Philadelphia native.
A sickly beginning
Gamble came into the world sick. She was born Rh-positive to a mother with Rh-negative blood, and thus suffered from anemia and jaundice.
"Every illness that came down the pike, I got," Gamble says.
While growing up, she began to notice that her loved ones were dropping dead like ambushed soldiers -- "My mother died when I was 16, my dad when I was 21, my sister when I was 42" -- all from preventable diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
Gamble fought back. By age 21, she was drinking eight to 10 glasses of water a day, eating a sugar-free and salt-free diet and doing deep knee bends and crunches, along with swimming and running.
Fear of dying young, she admits, made her obsessive about her health regimen. But the resulting deprivation caused her to backslide when she turned 40, she says.
"I ate a piece of [Kenny's] mother's coconut cake," Gamble remembers, "and I started eating sweet potato pie, rice and gravy, fried shrimp. ... I ate like that for five years."
Now more forgiving of herself, she is back on track. And her good habits have rubbed off on her man.
"Before I met my wife, I never really thought about being health-conscious," says Kenny Gamble, founder of Philadelphia International Records.
He was a musician living in the nocturnal world of entertainment. While in his studio, pulling all-nighters writing music with partner Leon Huff, Gamble subsisted on pizza and coffee. "We'd go over to the Fantasy Lounge and order dinners sometimes, but it was soul food, and the food would be so greasy," he says.
Spiritual health
After he converted to Islam in 1975, Gamble adopted the religion's dietary guidelines: no alcohol or pork products. Kenny says Faatimah's influence has helped him maintain his overall well-being.
"It's spiritual health," says Kenny, who credits his wife for scheduling breaks in their frenzied schedules so they can pray together five times a day. "It's the way you think and feel. It's about having a positive attitude in addition to taking care of your body."