Unlike in some community-based research where the participants come to the research center, we developed a community-based platform within the neighborhoods, the MRVs, to conduct our research. Another important aspect of involving communities in research recruitment efforts is to consider that each community and culture has its own unique barriers and that a recruitment strategy employed in one community may not be as successful in another (Betancourt, 2006; Christopher, Watts, McCormick, & Young, 2008; Sung et al., 2003). The HANDLS team participated in social events within the community to interact with the city residents and increase awareness of the study. We did not use these events for participant recruitment. Other noninterventional studies such as the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults and the Jackson Heart Study recruited participants from phone listings or incorporated already existing study participants. These studies had low response rates in low-SES African Americans and Whites (Friedman et al., 1988; Wyatt et al., 2003). Among urban adults, researchers using phone listings risk excluding potential participants. Many potential participants’ only phone access is “pay as you go
