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Eric Moreno

Eric Moreno is a Content Curator with the Salud America! program at UT Health San Antonio. He specializes in covering the topics of health equity and family and social support. He holds a BA from the University of Texas at San Antonio and an MA from Gonzaga University.


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Articles by Eric Moreno

Latino City Creates Task Force to Boost Affordable Housing



The need for affordable housing is rising in many big cities across the United States. That includes San Antonio (68% Latino). The city is facing an affordable housing shortage of 142,000 units, while median sale prices for homes rose above $200,000 for the first time in 2016, The Rivard Report indicates. That's why first-term Mayor Ron Nirenberg created a Housing Policy Task Force to help address the current and future affordable housing need. “We have to face up to the fact that the housing paradigm in San Antonio must change,” said Nirenberg told The Rivard Report. “We need to protect and connect neighborhoods and make incredible growth, and expand housing choices for our residents, no matter what their income.” The Task Force, which held its first public ...

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Do Latinos Live in the Best Cities for Jobs?



Year by year, Latinos have become an increasingly important part of the U.S. workforce. Latinos currently account for 16% of the country’s labor pool and these numbers are growing rapidly, according to the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). By 2025, one out of every two new workers will be Latino as 66,000 Latino teens are turning 18 each month. As Latinos grow in numbers, their importance to the economy will only continue to increase. However, a new report shows that Latinos generally are not living in the best cities for jobs. The employment website Glassdoor recently unveiled a ranking of the top 25 cities in the country for jobs. The site based its rankings on the ability to find a job, satisfaction with the job and, quality of life. “If you weigh (those ...

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How Paid Family Leave Can Solve Health Inequities


paid family leave infographic by ChangeLab

Latinas and all women have increased their ranks in the workforce by 21.4% in the past 25 years, which is good for the economy. But there's a big downside. The United States still lags well behind other “advanced economies” in guaranteeing workers paid family leave, according to the Center for American Progress. “[In 63.9% of American families,] a mother was the breadwinner—bringing home as much or more than her husband or a single working mother—or a co-breadwinner, bringing home at least a quarter of the family’s earnings,” the Center reported. To address inequties that rise from a lack of paid family leave, ChangeLab Solutions has developed materials to cover its importance for Latino and all families. What is 'Paid Family Leave'? The new ChangeLab materials ...

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CHIP Gets Temporary Reprieve after Facing Potential Loss of Funding



The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) currently provides health coverage for over 9 million U.S. children. For Latinos, CHIP has been especially beneficial; in 2015, 92.5% of all U.S. Latino kids were covered in large part due to CHIP. But CHIP expired on Sept. 30, 2017. It has hung in the balance since. Fortunately, Congress has made a stopgap measure to allow CHIP to continue. The House of Representatives and later the Senate attached a rule change as part of Congress’ continuing resolution to keep the government running through Dec. 22, which allows for the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) to continue to give reserve CHIP funds to the states that needed it most, Bloomberg reports. A report from Bloomberg noted that California (38.39% Latino) has ...

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Teacher Plants a SEED to Help Latinos Learn English, Engage in Schools



Growing up in Texas, Cameron Allen knew he wanted to be a teacher. How could Allen be the best teacher possible in Texas? Where could he make the most impact? He got a higher education in both English and Spanish—an effort that planted a “seed” for his desire to help Spanish-speakers of all ages gain a path to better, healthier lives. Growing the seeds of knowledge Allen began his collegiate career studying early childhood education at UT Austin in 2002. He also minored in Spanish, and did student teaching and studying in Mexico and in Ecuador. This strongly influenced his life and career. “It exposed me to another part of the world, to another culture, to another way of life,” Allen said. “It opened my eyes to other possibilities and to what could really be ...

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Report: How to Promote Health Equity for Latinos


latino family happy

Imagine a world where every person has the opportunity to attain full health potential—with no disadvantages due to race, money, etc. That is health equity. Unfortunately, Latinos and other people of color often struggle with health inequity as a result of poverty, structural racism, and discrimination. This causes gaps in how long Latinos live and how they struggle with disease and health, compared to their peers, according to the new Communities in Action: Pathways to Health report from thew National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The new report does have some good news: Communities have agency to promote health equity. However, community-based solutions are necessary but not sufficient. Supportive public and private policies at all levels and ...

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#SaludTues Tweetchat 12/12: Connecting Latinos to Resources



Despite being the largest racial/ethnic minority in the United States, Latinos face many obstacles to economic stability, educational achievement, and sustainable health. These disparities often lead to Latino children and family to fall behind in school, social development, and overall physical well-being. Why is this the case? Why do these barriers exist? More importantly, how can we overcome these obstacles? On Tuesday Dec. 12, 2017, let’s use #SaludTues on Twitter to discuss innovative ways to help Latinos kids and adults get the help the medical, financial, social, emotional, and mental health resources they need. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Connecting Latinos to Resources” TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017 TIME: 1-2 p.m. ...

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Report: Latinos Makes Gains in Income, But Poverty Still a Problem



Many Latino families suffer a big lack of access to support for economic and educational success, and quality healthcare. This makes it harder for Latino kids to achieve academically, socially, and physically. However, hope appears to be on the horizon for Latino and all families, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. For the second year in a row, Americans made “solid” financial gains in 2016 as the median household income rose across the country. Also shown as positive signs were the poverty numbers fell, and the rate people without health insurance also fell, according to USA Today. U.S. Economy on the Rebound The median U.S. household income climbed 3.2% to $59,039, which followed growth of 5.2% in 2015; this is the largest on records dating to 1968. The combined increase ...

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Report: Teens Often Are Their Own Cyberbully



Most people know about cyberbullying these days. Continual cyberbullying online and through social media platforms can cause and/or increase depression, anxiety, low self-esteem among children, and Latinos especially struggle with bullying and discrimination. Texas even has David’s Law to criminalize and prevent cyberbullying. But, sadly, there's a new wave of cyberbullying that's harming teens' mental health: digital self-harm or “self-cyberbullying.” Cyberbullying’s New Victims Self-cyberbullying is when kids anonymously post hurtful messages about themselves online and on social media. In a first-ever study of its kind, researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Cyberbullying Research Center asked 5,600 U.S. high school students from across the country about ...

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