New York City is combating more than just the immediate impacts of the COVID-19's pandemic. Last week, numerous city officials—including Mayor Bill de Blasio—announced new government programs to assist residents with food insecurity. With the help of his Taskforce on Racial Inclusion & Equity, the program will be aimed at those who are suffering some of the worst impacts: People of color. "Every New Yorker should have equitable access to healthy food," said Mayor Bill de Blasio to press release. "These programs will help families get nutritious foods without having to sacrifice spending on other critical needs." Previously the New York City agencies surveyed with community members, and this feedback helped to inform the issue areas of the Taskforce's work. During the ...
Amid the surging COVID-19 pandemic and one of the hottest summers in world history, public parks are a refuge. But not all parks are created equitably. Parks that serve primarily Latinos and others of color are half the size of parks that serve majority White populations. They are also five times more crowded, with hotter temperatures, according to a new study from The Trust for Public Land. "As cities struggle with extreme heat this summer, parks are one of the best ways for residents to find relief," said Diane Regas, leader of The Trust for Public Land. "We all need and deserve parks—and all of the benefits they provide—all of the time. But during this period of compounded public health emergencies, unequal access to quality parks can be downright dangerous."
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The coronavirus pandemic has had an overwhelming impact on many, and now the COVID-19 crisis also stands to exacerbate the nation’s sizable affordable housing shortage. With more people losing jobs and suffering other hardships—especially those in communities of color—the question of housing will play a larger role in the overall impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. This is more of a fundamental issue than some might think, according to Roger K. Lewis, a professor emeritus of architecture at the University of Maryland, “Most of us think about roads, bridges, transit systems, and public utilities, along with education and health care," Lewis, writes in a recent Op-Ed in the Washington Post. “But affordable housing is an essential component of infrastructure; an investment ...
Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of Salud America! at UT Health San Antonio, has been elected to a five-year term on the board of directors for the CDC Foundation. The CDC Foundation has facilitated over 1,700 partnerships, launched more than 1,000 programs, and raised over $900 million to help the CDC improve health around the world. Ramirez joins Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, vice president for Global Health at Emory University, as a new board member. "As the CDC Foundation continues to play an integral role in addressing domestic and global health challenges, including the current COVID-19 response, we are honored to have both Dr. Koplan and Dr. Ramirez join our board of directors," said Dr. Judith Monroe, president and chief executive officer of the CDC Foundation. "These two ...
Many people are longing for an end to the turbulent COVID-19 pandemic. Thankfully, healthcare and government leaders are focusing their efforts and funding to develop a vaccine to halt transmission of the virus that has killed over 140,000 people in the U.S. A COVID-19 vaccine is a worthy goal, but leaders also must address one sad fact before any treatment is made available — the widespread disparity found among the racial makeup of those who are immunized and those who are not. "It's racial inequality — inequality in housing, inequality in employment, inequality in access to health care — that produced the underlying diseases," Dr. Dayna Bowen Matthew, dean of the George Washington University Law School—who has spent her career focusing on racial disparities in medical ...
When he was 16, Erine Gray's mother caught the rare brain disease encephalitis, causing permanent damage and memory loss. Gray moved his mother to Austin, Texas, a few years later to help care for her. He was just out of college with an economics degree, doing contract work. She was 57 years old at the time with early-onset dementia, and no income. He struggled helping her with daily tasks and making sure she took her medications. Gray had to find a sitter for her when he left the house. Eventually she required 24-hour care. "Nobody has a road map for these types of situations, I learned that very early on," Gray said in an interview with Salud America! "We didn’t know what services were available to help." That's why, now 28 years after his mother's diagnosis, Gray is ...
U.S. Latinos are bearing an extraordinary burden when it comes to cases, deaths, other impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Worse, this continues a trend of this group's continual hardship of experiencing health and social inequities. Many reports suggest that this trend of Latinos and other people of color being disproportionately affected is worsening already harsh historical inequities. One of those inequities is drug use. Moreover, COVID-19 and opioid addiction can impact and worsen each other, mainly for people of color. "As people across the U.S. and the rest of the world contend with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the research community should be alert to the possibility that it could hit some populations with substance use disorders (SUDs) particularly hard," Dr. Nora ...
Since the founding of this country, Latinos, African-Americans, and all people of color have experienced harm at the hands of an unjust system. With the death of George Floyd at the hands of those meant to protect and serve, millions have taken to the streets to protest systemic racism across the U.S. Latinos, who are experiencing a rising burden of hate crimes, discrimination, and anti-immigrant sentiment, have joined in the Black Lives Matter cause to advocate for change — not just in African-American neighborhoods, but in all communities of color. “It’s not just black people being murdered by police. Hispanics are dying, too,” Fernando Garcia, executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR), told El Paso news station WWLP 22. “It’s not only one bad ...
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a devastating impact on housing Millions of Americans face are experiencing new levels of cost burdens. Worse, over half a million people will sleep on the streets any given night, according to a recent report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Still, this is not a new issue. Many U.S. cities were dealing with a homelessness crisis long before this outbreak. In 2018, 33 out of every 10,000 Californian residents were homeless. Now, the escalating pandemic has created a catastrophe threatening thousands of lives. During this pandemic, millions are homeless, and their lives are falling apart. They struggle to stay healthy, to hold jobs, to preserve personal relationships, to maintain a sense of hope.
California in ...
