October 2021

By Tara Siegel Bernard, The New York Times, October 11, 2021 Kindergarten often brings a flood of notices about events, school supplies and class photos. But when Vaniqua Hudson-Figueroa’s daughter started at a public school in Queens, there was one that Ms. Hudson-Figueroa wasn’t expecting: The city had opened a college savings account in her child’s name — and it already had $100 in it. For Ms. Hudson-Figueroa, the account opens up possibilities she didn’t know she had when she was her...

By Eric Lutz and Erin McCormick, The Guardian, October 15, 2021 R esidents of Benton Harbor, Michigan , a predominantly Black city that has dealt with elevated lead levels in its water for at least three years, have welcomed an announcement by the governor that all lead lines in the city would be replaced over the next 18 months. The governor, Gretchen Whitmer, promised an “all-hands-on-deck” approach to addressing the water crisis that has been plaguing this impoverished city since at least...

By Ibram X. Kendi, The Atlantic, October 14, 2021 E arly on the evening of October 23, 2019, I took a tour of the Lorraine Motel. I’d been to Memphis, Tennessee, several times before, and I’d come back to speak at the National Civil Rights Museum, which encompasses the motel. But until that October, I’d never been able to bring myself to visit the site of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. I saw what King saw moments before he saw no more. His second-floor room had been preserved.

By Madison Pauly, Mother Jones, October 14, 2021 Early on a Saturday morning in June 2015, a passerby notices a silver BMW stopped at an off-ramp in Oakland, California. The car’s turn signal is on, and the motor is running, but it doesn’t move as the traffic light cycles. Through the tinted windows, the driver appears passed out in the front seat. So the bystander calls 911 to report a medical emergency. Soon, armed police officers swarm the scene. If they are concerned the driver might...

Free 6-week Resilience Circle for Educators starts Wed Oct 20

Tips to deal with Surge Depletion in a free 30-min webinar Oct 20 at noon PST

Take a look at all of the shareable resources (documents, webcasts, social media posts, etc.) created for the Resilient Wisconsin initiative . ACEs, adversity's impact Lack of trust exacerbates loneliness spiral Exposure to childhood adversity is linked to early mortality and associated with nearly half a million annual U.S. deaths, study finds Association between adverse childhood experiences and adverse pregnancy outcomes Childhood adversity a leading preventable factor in death?

Aristotle believed, "Courage was the first of human virtues because it makes all others possible." The need for courage is paramount in today's new world. While some wish to return to 'normal' I believe it’s a time to take advantage of being out of our collective comfort zone and embrace our growth as individuals and as a society. Change takes courage and it is no coincidence that this is our first character value in the formula for Choosing Love! As American poet laureate and legend Maya...

Technical assistance is available to applicants until 11/1. Last month we launched People, Parks, and Power (P3), a national initiative to invest in green space, health equity, and racial justice. P3 is a joint effort of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, led and managed by Prevention Institute. Through this new initiative, $7 million in funding is available for community-based organizations and base-building groups working to advance park and green...

Friends, Please join us tomorrow for the start of our two-part series Engaging Faith and Community Partners in Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) . These webinars support faith and community leaders addressing the prevention and mitigation of ACEs and their possible impact, including substance use disorders (SUDs), suicide, and other health risks. Join both webinars to hear from experts about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and their potential consequences. This two-part...

By J. Brian Charles, The Trace, October 18, 2021 R ay Kelly worried that the sound system wasn’t going to work. If the speakers failed, he was less likely to draw people to the park to build support for Baltimore’s movement to defund the police — to shift law enforcement funding to other services and projects that proponents hope can decrease violence. If he couldn’t get their attention with music, Kelly worried, he wouldn’t be able to explain the opportunity they had to radically reimagine...

By Kelsey Osgood, Hannah Sheldon-Dean, and Harry Kimball, Child Mind Institute, October 2021 Even before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, mental health professionals were struggling to meet the needs of the 1 in 5 children and adolescents with a mental health or learning disorder. Then the pandemic hit, bringing an upsurge in youth reporting mental health challenges. In this report, we examine the growing body of research on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s mental...