Disparities in chronic disease, injury, and premature death contribute to worse health outcomes, decreased productivity, and increased direct and indirect healthcare costs for minority racial/ethnic populations and people with low socioeconomic status. Inequities in housing, transportation, environmental issues, and access to healthcare, mental health, healthy food and active spaces contribute to these disparities. But we can’t address these inequities if we don’t have local data to show the way. Data like the new Salud America! Health Equity Report Card can identify health inequity issues in your county, compared to the state and nation, and help you build a case toward solutions. Let’s use #SaludTues on September 24, 2019, to tweet about how you can use data to make ...
Illinois has joined California as the second U.S. state to enact immigrant tenant protection law. State Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently signed a new law to prevent landlords from disclosing or threatening to disclose a tenant’s citizenship status to authorities for the purpose of intimidating or eviction. The law prevents landlords from, in essence, blackmailing tenants. Ilinois modeled its law after California, which passed its tenant protections in 2018. “Where you were born has absolutely nothing to do with your ability to pay rent on time, which is what the relationship between a landlord and a tenant should really be about,” Pritzker said, according to the Chicago Trubine.
Inside the New Immigrant Tenant Protection Act?
Illinois' new immigrant tenant protection act ...
When it comes to paying the bills, housing costs usually make up the largest portion of an individual or family's budget. Worse, too many Americans spend more than financial experts recommend—over 30% of their monthly budget—on housing. In 2017, 36.9 million experienced this problem. This issue places "cost burdens" on those individuals, make it hard for them to afford other necessities, such as transportation, buy healthy food, and build wealth. This is a problem for minority groups especially, especially Latinos who lack access to cost-effective options throughout the country. Affordable housing access should be considered a human right, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley said in a statement in the National Low Income Housing Coalition's (NLIHC) recent report, "Out of ...
Early experiences can influence a person’s entire life. Specifically, stress due to adversity, poor nutrition, and exposure to environmental toxins can lead to biological changes, which make people more likely to experience physical and mental health problems later in life. Although individual interventions are important for addressing immediate needs, they alone will not advance health equity, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The report provides science-driven recommendations to address the social, economic, environmental, and cultural determinants of health and early adversity. They say to advance health equity, decision-makers must address the systemic root causes of poor health and chronic ...
For nearly 100 years, it has been illegal to build anything other than detached, single-family homes on most residential land. As a result, many cities are facing a housing affordability and stability crisis which disproportionately displaces Latinos and low-income communities of color, contributing to disparities in health and wealth. That’s why advocates across the country are pushing for rent control and more inclusive zoning laws — and it’s working in Oregon (13.3% Latino). This year, Oregon passed Senate Bill 608 and House Bill 2001. These laws include three major policy changes: Banning no-cause evictions, passing state-wide rent control, and legalizing duplexes.
Affordable Housing Crisis
As access to affordable housing diminishes across the nation, Americans are ...
Fifty years after the federal Fair Housing Act banned racial discrimination in lending, Latinos and other minorities continue to be routinely denied mortgage loans at rates far higher than their white counterparts. Worse, research shows this disparity can lead minorities to apply for high-cost mortgages. That research draws on 2016 data, which is among the most recent, available evidence, according to The Hill. "An analysis of data released by the Federal Financial Institution’s Examination Council released by Clever Real Estate Hispanic home buyers are 78% more likely to use high-cost mortgages for home purchases, putting them at greater risk of foreclosure," John Bowden, a Hill reporter writes. "Just 10% of white applicants were denied mortgages that year."
What does the Data ...
More than 30,000 people and groups submitted public comments to oppose the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) plan to cut off federal housing aid and evict "mixed-status" immigrant families. That is the most comments HUD ever received on a plan. The prior record was 1,000 comments. Several groups led the response. National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) and the National Housing Law Project (NHLP) led a Keep Families Together campaign. Salud America!'s letter campaign was signed by 3,382 of its network members and filed as a comment! Many comments denounced HUD's plan as a "ruthless" attempt to break up immigrant families. "It's unbelievably cruel that we have come to this, that the whole family suffers because one or maybe more are not U.S. citizens," ...
Many people spend up to 90% of their time indoors, whether at the office, in a restaurant, or at home. The way architects, designers, and construction workers erect these buildings can impact human health — including the way light is disbursed. Medical professionals and those in charge of building these structures need to collaborate to create a culture of holistic health. Natural and artificial lighting make significant impacts on people’s sleep cycle, skin, and eyes, according to the European Union’s Scientific Committee. “There is a concern that the emission levels of some lamps could be harmful for the skin and the eyes,” the group states. “Both natural and artificial light can also disrupt the human body clock and the hormonal system, and this can cause health ...
Many U.S. churches are taking dedicated action to assist those in need of affordable housing by building developments on their properties. "There's so much land owned by houses of worship anywhere you go in the country," David Bowers of Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit focused on housing solutions, said in a speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF). Churches and religious institutions are among the country’s largest landowners. Many of them have additional unused land or adjacent sites that are suitable for development. The current lack of affordable housing in America has substantial implications for many Latinos and dramatically impacts their quality of life.
Religious Institutions' Role
Places of worship usually offer a variety of amenities that make them ideal ...
