In April, 2014 the Governor of Massachusetts signed the Transportation Bond Bill, which authorized $50 million dollars for the creation of Complete Streets policies. Complete Streets are defined as streets that provide accommodations for users of all transportation modes including, but not limited to, walking, cycling public transportation, automobiles, and freight. States and local governments across the nation have adopted new policies for Complete Streets; however, some have been slow to put these policies into practice. In February 2016, Massachusetts (11.2% Latino) launched the Reimbursable Municipal Funding Program to incentivize Complete Streets projects across the state. The reward for municipalities that chose to participate is: Funding for technical assistance ...
The U.S. Department of Education recently announced new federal guidelines for states and school districts across the country to better serve students that do not have a permanent home. The new guidelines were mandated by federal legislation and will become effective on October 1. According to federal data gathered during the 2013-2014 school year, there are 1.3 million homeless students in the U.S. This population is also among the country’s most vulnerable. “Struggling to survive was a constant battle, but having your entire support system, your entire family, stripped from you so quickly and completely – it's an experience I will never be able to fully and accurately articulate,” said Levi Bohanan, special projects manager in the Office of the Secretary of Education and ...
The majority of working adults go to work when they’re feeling sick, especially those that work in low-paying jobs, according to results from a poll conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and NPR. The majority of workers who report for duty feeling sick work in the healthcare and food industries. "It's one of the biggest food safety problems that there is, and we've known about it forever," the Minnesota Department of Health's Kirk Smith told NPR. The poll found that over 60% of workers with low-paying jobs report to work with the flu and other illnesses, compared to 55% of workers with average earning jobs and 52% with high paying jobs. “A lot of them went to work because they were worried about losing their jobs if ...
Nearly three million U.S teens suffer from depression—a condition that affects more Latinos than other ethnic backgrounds—according to a new government study, CBS News reports. "Adolescence is a critical time in a person's development, and battling with depression can be devastating for teens unless they receive effective treatment," said Paolo del Vecchio, director of the Center for Mental Health Services at the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). According to the report, the rate of depression among teenagers increased to 11% between 2013 and 2014, up from 9.9% the previous year. "Effective treatment is available, but parents, teachers and all concerned members of the community must work to assure that adolescents in need get help," del ...
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced changes to its Distressed Asset Stabilization Program (DASP), which brings relief to families with severely delinquent home mortgages. The program, part of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), would allow those that qualify to reduce their principal loan amount. Housing is well understood to be an important factor of physical and mental health and well-being. Certain families with distressed mortgages could soon be eligible for a reduction of their outstanding loan amounts as part of the new regulations. Families that pay excessive amounts of their monthly and/or yearly income for housing often have insufficient funding remaining for other needs, such as food, medical insurance, and preventative ...
Neighborhood leaders and residents like Paul D. López and Fany Mendez in the Denver, Colo., neighborhood of Westwood worked together with local organizations to tackle safety concerns on Morrison Road, an arterial street that bisected their neighborhood. In addition to safety issues, they were also concerned about health, because kids can’t play and people can’t walk on busy, unsafe streets. Their efforts led to a pedestrian-activated traffic light, traffic calming features, medians, and aesthetically-pleasing infrastructure and landscaping to make the road more accessible to all. Unsafe Street Scares Kids and Families
Paul D. López, the District 3 City Councilmember in Denver, Colo. (31.8% Latino), grew up a few blocks from his current office on Morrison Road, a busy main ...
Westwood Unidos and Re:Vision, two local organizations in the Westwood neighborhood of Denver, Colo. (31.2% Latino population) were already working to make the area a healthier place for families. Westwood Unidos organized local community members, like Fany Mendez, to teach fitness classes in their spare time wherever they could, such as schools, churches, and even bars. When Westwood Unidos learned about a small building that was going to be torn down on a piece of land recently purchased by Re:Vision, Westwood Unidos raised the money to transform the building into a community center named La Casita, with educational and physical activity classes taught by Mendez and local community members.
Westwood Families Not Active Enough
Fany Mendez, before she became the Coordinator of La ...
SaludToday Guest Blogger
Jim Vogel
ElderAction Physical activity plays a huge role in mental health, particularly as you age. Though aging takes a toll on your body, it’s no excuse to become sedentary. Aging does not prevent exercise; it simply means you need to find new ways to do it. Here are a few ways Latinos can stay active and keep their minds healthy during retirement.
Daily or Weekly Walking Groups
A popular way for seniors to exercise is joining walking groups. Seniors that live close together can get together and schedule regular neighborhood strolls. These walks are a great reason to leave the home and be social. Studies are finding that morning walks are extremely beneficial for mental health while the group aspect is perfect for seniors who often ...
According to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 8 in 10 public pools in the U.S. are not up to code, BabyCenter reports. The CDC reports that, out of 48,000 public pools across the country, 8 in 10 had at least one safety violation and 1 in 8 had to be closed immediately. “Environmental health practitioners, or public health inspectors, play a very important role in protecting public health. However, almost one-third of local health departments do not regulate, inspect, or license public pools, hot tubs, and water playgrounds,” said Michele Hlavsa, chief of CDC’s Healthy Swimming Program. “We should all check for inspection results online or on site before using public pools, hot tubs, or water playgrounds and do our own inspection ...
