DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Researchers predict that the number of people with diabetes will skyrocket in the next 30 years, especially in the African American, Native American and Latino communities. But patients with diabetes have several resources available – including neighborhood medical clinics and a collection of websites – to help them live with the life-threatening disease.

Rosalinda Robles hopes to live a long, healthy life. She’s 46 years old, a mother of two and one of thousands living with diabetes. “I have to come to the doctor every three months,” she said.

Robles and other diabetes patients recently attended a health and nutrition seminar in Dallas, where they learned about what types of foods can help them manage the disease. They also received lessons about exercise and how to check blood-sugar levels.

Pete Sanchez already had a toe amputated because of diabetes. He is now fighting back by taking classes like these, and learning more about the disease. “It’s just a big… another world for me… knowing I could do something about it,” Sanchez said.

“This class helps,” explained medical researcher Evangelina Villagomez, “because these individuals just don’t learn concepts about diabetes, they learn their skills.”

And to help battle diabetes, Baylor College of Medicine has created an online teaching tool titled ‘Sugar, Heart and Life.’ (Click here to see the online tool.) The interactive web program features a family living with diabetes. Doctors hope that more people will get the message and dodge the disease.