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 ...
From air contamination to water pollution, current white house officials are taking sizable steps to reduce the government’s role in environmental protection. Now the EPA implemented new rules that rescind Obama-era green energy regulations set on the coal industry—a promise the President made on the campaign trail. These rules cut initiatives to reduce America’s emissions levels and allow plants to operate longer hours, according to the New York Times. Andrew Wheeler, Chief the Environmental Protection Agency administrator and a former coal lobbyist, said his agency implemented the rollback to correct the previous administration’s overreach in climate change issues. Still, many researchers and advocates oppose the new rule for “dirty power.” “No matter how you ...
The San Francisco district attorney’s office said it plans to enable prosecutors to make charging decisions in some criminal cases without knowing the race or background of the suspects and victims, a move aimed at reducing the potential for implicit bias in prosecutions, according to the L.A. Times. This is great news for Latinos and minorities, who traditionally face negative stereotypes and police discrimination.
What is Implicit Bias?
This unconscious thinking is preconceived attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions. Assumptions like these then influence your actions and judgments: A widely held, simplified, and essentialist belief about a specific group (race or ethnicity, language, socioeconomic status, sex, sexuality, and so ...
Every segment of American society—individuals, families, communities, and businesses—benefits from public transit. However, there is a lack of equity in these services. Latinos, for example, often report bus routes are unreliable, infrequent, or even unsafe, contributing to disparities in health and wealth, according to a Salud America! Research Review. An equitable transit network for Latino and all families starts with an equity analysis. That’s why transportation advocacy group, LINK Houston, conducted its Equity in Transit 2018 Report. They found that nearly one million residents in Houston, Texas (44.5% Latino) are living in areas with high-transit needs, but do not have access to frequent weekday, weekend, and evening services. Do you know who has access to ...
Roundup manufacturer, Bayer, has faced countless lawsuits over their products’ toxic link to cancer development — now, they’ve begun a $5.6 billion research project to find safer alternatives. The company announced this 10-year plan last week, urging they have heard consumer concerns and vow to make concrete changes going forward. The statement comes as Bayer fights over 13,000 court cases and large payouts to families who claim they got cancer from exposure to Roundup. “We are now starting to implement a series of measures to drive transparency and sustainability across our business,” Bayer’s CEO, Werner Baumann, said in a statement.
Plans for the Future
The company aims to find safe alternatives to harmful chemicals, such as glyphosate, and promote honesty, ...
Rules on the age for smoking cigarettes are tightening up across the nation. Texas (19.6% Latino) legislators have taken a significant step in this issue — passing legislation that will raise the legal minimum age to purchase cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and other goods to 21. Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 21 into law earlier this month and will go into effect on September 1. Government officials and medical professionals hope passing tobacco 21 bills across the country—and other e-cig bans—will make significant shifts in addiction rates. “Any teen using any type of tobacco product or e-cigarette raises their harm from zero to a level that is unacceptable,” Jeffrey Hardesty, research program manager at Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for Global Tobacco ...
Last week, San Antonio’s (64% Latino) Southside Independent School District dedicated the Susan Hall Community Health Clinic, which will offer care to students, families, staff, and other district members. This is a big deal for health in the South Side of San Antonio, where residents live 15-20 years less than those on the North Side, according to the 2016 Bexar County Community Health Needs Assessment. Southside ISD has been in talks with University Health Systems (UHS) to run the clinic and is expected to vote on an agreement at its July 18 board meeting.
Health Needs on South Side
Many low-income families on the South Side lack access health care and health-promotion opportunities: 12.41% of households don’t have a vehicle, compared to 5.49% in Texas;
30.39% of ...
At least one person has been killed in a traffic crash in Texas every day since Nov. 7, 2000. That’s why Vision Zero Texas has enabled advocates to push Texas leaders, including a letter-writing campaign (with Salud America! participation) and in-person advocacy, for strategies to improve road safety and set a goal to have zero deaths on state roads. The efforts are paying off. In May 2019, the Texas Transportation Commission voted to adopt a goal of reducing traffic fatalities on the state’s roadways to zero by the year 2050!
Traffic Deaths in Texas
Nearly 3,600 people died on Texas roads in 2018. Why? Human factors, like distracted driving and speeding, vehicle factors, like breaks and headlights, and roadway factors, like access points and pedestrian crossings. ...
The Ohio State School Board this week approved social and emotional learning (SEL) standards to apply to students in K-12─and hundreds of Ohio educators and Salud America! members submitted comments to help refine those standards. Ohio now is one of only eight states with K-12 SEL standards. These standards aim to help students build emotional awareness, empathy, strong relationships, and responsible decision-making. How did this big change happen? What role did Salud America! and the public have?
The Growth of SEL in Ohio Schools
Students who get support for social and emotional learning in schools do better academically, socially, behaviorally, and mentally, research shows. SEL is part of a larger plan in Ohio (3.8% Latino) to prepare all students for life after high ...