Commuting is often the worst part of our day. Driving is linked to poor physical and mental health, increased risk for traffic fatalities and serious injuries, and is the leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions. Changing the way you commute can help improve your health and the health of the environment. Whether you’re heading back to school or just want to change up your routine, ditch the car and explore ways to add walking, biking, and transit to your commute. UPDATE: Check out the recap on Wakelet. Let's use #SaludTues on September 11, 2018, to tweet about ways to change your commute and why it’s important. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: “Change the Way You Commute: Why & How”
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. EST Tuesday, September 11, 2018
WHERE: On Twitter ...
In Columbus, Ohio (5.8% Latino), the diverse Southern Orchards neighborhood suffers racism, a lack of affordable housing, economic segregation, violent crime, poverty, and expensive medical use. That’s why the whole neighborhood has become a hospital’s “patient.” Nationwide Children’s Hospital saw “unsafe conditions” as their patient’s top symptom. They diagnosed their patient with “unstable housing,” which is known to cause many economic, social, and health hardships, especially for Latinos and other people of color. The hospital prescribed a “housing intervention” and spent the past 10 years revitalizing Columbus’ South Side and Southern Orchards neighborhood through its Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families (HNHF) partnership with faith, community, ...
About 1 in 6 children are food insecure. They don't know where their next meal is coming from. Fortunately, your school can help these students! The new Salud America! "School Food Pantry Action Pack" is a free guide to help school personnel talk to decision-makers, work through logistics, and start a School Food Pantry to help hungry students and reduce local food insecurity. A School Food Pantry accepts, stores, and redistributes donated and leftover food to students. The Action Pack was created by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio. Dr. Ramirez had input from Jenny Arredondo, nutrition director at San Antonio ISD, who started school food pantries on 10 campuses in 2017-18, based on a Texas law change led by Diego Bernal. Get the ...
Food swamps cover large parts of the Dallas area. In fact, almost 700,000 Dallas County residents—including more than 245,000 children—live in low-income communities with limited supermarket access, according to a Dallas Morning News report.
Food Swamps & Latinos
We already know that food deserts and food swamps are making low-income Latinos obese. A food desert is an area more than 2 miles or 15 minutes away from a grocery store. A food swamp includes a food desert and a high-density of stores and restaurants that offer high-calories fast food and junk food, relative to healthier food options. It can be hard for Latina mothers to navigate food swamps. For Dallas’ Latino and black populations in areas like Pleasant Grove, Oak Cliff, and East Dallas, food ...
Latino and black children are more likely to die of numerous childhood cancers than their white counterparts, NPR reports on a new study in the journal Cancer. Latinos also are more likely to receive a cancer diagnoses in later, less curable cancer stages. Socioeconomic status plays an enormous role in childhood cancer survival as well. Latino and black children are more likely to live in areas of poverty, which subjects them to persistent racism and institutional bias. "We know that there are some economic differences that are closely tied to race and ethnicity," Rebecca Kehm, lead author of the study, told NPR. "I wanted to show that there are other factors at play than the genetic component."
The Study: Social Class & Disparities
Cancer is the leading cause of death ...
Buses don’t run to a Latino mobile home community outside Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Instead, people there are forced to rely on cars─dangerous, expensive, polluting cars─ when they need to get to jobs, food, and healthcare. This isolates them from opportunities for health, jobs, and affordable housing, just like many other suburban and rural parts of our nation. Fortunately, planned public transit improvements will enable more buses across the Twin Cities, including the mobile home community. But how? Will it work for Latinos and all vulnerable neighborhoods?
Twin Cities Growing in Population, Traffic
The area to the east of the Twin Cities─the Interstate 94 (I-94) corridor─is expected to see a 24% increase in population and a 30% increase in jobs by 2040, according ...
Denver's lack of affordable housing is reaching crisis level. Teachers, police officers, and health care workers were getting "priced out of a city with a glut of quality housing, something many U.S. communities experience today," Next City reports. A group of finance and equity specialists, deal-makers, and policy folks wanted to help. They created a first-of-its-kind initiative called LIVE Denver (Lower Income Voucher Equity). The program, with $1.2 million in city funding, will bring hundreds of 21,000 brand-new, vacant apartment units within financial reach of severely rent-burdened families. Will it help solve the affordable housing crisis in Denver and elsewhere?
Affordable Housing and Health
Access to affordable, safe housing is a priority for maintaining good ...
Sonja Trauss hated her commute. Driving her car a long way from home to her job as a math teacher was unproductive, wasted time. It was expensive. It was stressful, harming her physical and mental health. And it was dangerous. Yet this was Trauss’ reality with no affordable housing near her job. But Trauss grew tired of paying so much time, money, and stress to drive a car because of a shortage of affordable housing in Marin County (16.1% Latino) in California’s San Francisco Bay Area. She decided to make a stand. Trauss formed a group to push for more affordable housing and challenged developers, decision-makers, and opposition to affordable housing in this region. Did it work?
Transportation Costs Matter for Affordable Housing
Behind housework, the daily car ...
Food insecurity affects at least 1 in 6 U.S. children. In states like Texas, 15% of children go home from school wondering where their next meal will come from. Sadly, food insecurity is linked to behavioral and developmental problems. It also contributes lower performance on tests, absenteeism, and grade repetition. But there is good news! Texas public schools can address food insecurity and reduce food waste thanks to a new law that allows schools to redistribute food to students by starting its own School Food Pantry! Register for our webinar on Aug. 28 to get free tools to help you start a School Food Pantry in your school. Or bring food pantries to many schools in your district! Our webinar will feature two Salud Heroes, Texas State Rep. Diego Bernal and Jenny ...
