Nominate Your Community Leaders for ‘Best in Complete Streets’ Recognition



Does your city, county or state have a Complete Streets policy to promote the safety of drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and all? Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago would love to know! You can nominate of public health agencies and advocates who help develop, adopt, and implement Complete Streets policies from 2013-2018 for a "Complete Streets and Public Health" recognition. Nominations are accepted from now to March 30, 2018. Why Complete Streets? Many Latino communities lack safe places to play and be active, according to a Salud America! research review. This can often lead to fewer opportunities to be physically active. Complete Streets policies can help. Complete Streets are equitable for all users—drivers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and commuters ...

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Teachers Ditch Cars, Embrace Alternative Transportation



Nearly 9 of 10 teachers wake up, get in cars, and drive solo to Arlington Public Schools every day in Arlington County, Va. (15.4% Latino). This clogs the streets and pollutes the air outside schools. So, with the student and staff populations set to rise in coming years, how could Arlington get its staff and parents to drive less, and instead use healthier transportation options like ride-sharing, walking, biking, and mass transit? They tried "transportation demand management," or TDM. TDM is the opposite of building bigger roads and parking lots. It focuses on helping people use alternatives to driving. "At its most basic level, TDM is a program of information, encouragement and incentives provided by local or regional organizations to help people know about and use all ...

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#SaludTues Tweetchat 3/13: Women in Health, the Environment, and Policy



The places we are born, grow, live, work, and age were not created equitably for all. Women of color tend to live in places with less access to opportunity—safe places to walk and play, healthy food, quality education, public transportation, employment opportunities, and preventive health care. This hinders educational attainment, income, and physical and mental health. Fortunately, women are increasingly standing up to the historical social, environmental, and political issues that spur poor health. To celebrate Women’s History Month, let's use #SaludTues on March 13, 2018, to tweet about awesome women who have and continue to build a culture of health for Latino and all families in the places they live. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: "Women in Health, the Environment, ...

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Latino Nonprofit Will Give Free Rides to Doctor Appointments



Bus service is slow and sporadic in eastern Suffolk County, N.Y. A 15-minute drive can take two hours by bus. This makes it hard to get to a doctor for people in this 19% Latino county. Take it from Byrony Freij, a local Spanish-speaking pediatric counselor. She told Newsday that some households share one car, which is usually in use during the day. Undocumented residents avoid driving. Hours on a bus to visit a pediatrician is difficult for mothers recovering from childbirth. That's why Freij is happy to see that nonprofit Organización Latino-Americana is launching a free transportation program to help Latino and all residents get to pediatric and other doctor appointments. "It's a huge relief," Freji told Newsday. "But it’s a shame that it has to be a nonprofit that ...

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Climate Change: A Solution to Global Warming & Health Equity



More Latinos walk and bike instead of drive cars than non-Latinos, which could be the key to address climate change and health equity, according to a recent English and Spanish survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Transportation design, however, doesn't always make it easy to walk and bike safely. Salud America! continues its three-part series exploring the issue of climate change for Latinos, today tackling whether leaders get more people out of cars and into active transportation, boosting health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Part 1 of the series tackled what climate change is, why Latinos are worried, and whether they should be. Part 2 addressed what kinds of policies Latinos would support to address climate change. The Rise of Latinos Walking ...

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Climate Change: Latinos Support Big Policy Changes


People of color are exposed to more pollution from cars, trucks, and power plants than whites a new 10-year study shows. SoPeople of color are exposed to more pollution from cars, trucks, and power plants than whites a new 10-year study shows. Source: Latina Listaurce: Latina Lista

U.S. Latinos are more supportive of climate change policies and are more willing to demand political action than non-Latinos. In fact, half of Latinos (50%) think the United States should make large-scale effort to reduce global warming, even if it has large economic costs, compared to 33% of non-Latinos, according to a recent English and Spanish survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Salud America! continues its three-part series exploring the issue of climate change for Latinos, today addressing what kinds of policies Latinos would support to address climate change. Part 1 tackled what climate change is, why Latinos are worried, and whether they should be. Part 3 will focus on a potential solution for both climate change and health equity. Two Big Policy ...

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Climate Change: Latinos Are Super-Worried



More than three of four Latinos worry about global warming and climate change, a higher worry rate than their non-Latinos peers, according to a recent English and Spanish survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Why are Latinos so worried? What policies can help? How willing are Latinos to take action, and how will that impact health equity and safer streets? Salud America! is excited to launch a three-part series exploring the issue of climate change for Latinos. Today we will tackle what climate change is, why Latinos are worried, and whether they should be. Part 2 will address what kinds of policies Latinos would support to address climate change. Part 3 will focus on a potential solution for both climate change and health equity. What is Climate ...

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Get $12,000 to Create Safe Routes to Parks!



Your community can apply for a Safe Routes to Parks grant to increase equitable access and safe walking connections to parks. The JPB Foundation has provided a grant to the Safe Routes to School National Partnership to fund the Safe Routes to Parks Activating Communities program, which follows the Safe Routes to Park Framework, a collaborative effort between the National Partnership and the National Recreation and Parks Association. The framework provides a structured process by which communities can increase safe and equitable access to their parks and green spaces. The framework includes four main areas of activity: 1) Assessment, 2) Planning, 3) Implementation, and 4) Sustainability, with each area heavily infused with proactive community engagement. Grantee communities will ...

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