February 2022

By Robert Maunder and Jon Hunter, Image: iStock, The Conversation, February 10, 2022 Every day we are exposed to things like pollution and ultraviolet light which increase our risk of illness. Many people take on additional risks — due to tobacco smoke, fast food or alcohol, for example. But there is a less-recogized exposure that is even more common than smoking and increases the risk of heart disease , diabetes , cancer , chronic lung diseases , sexually transmitted infections , chronic...

By Angela Roberts, Photo: Heather Mongilio, The Frederick News-Post, February 9, 2022 In partnership with the Frederick County Health Department and Frederick Health, the county’s Health Care Coalition on Wednesday shared the finalized list of public health issues that will guide local health improvement efforts over the next three years. Of the five health concerns discussed during last month’s public input session, the coalition’s board of directors selected three for the final priority...

By Sana Chehimi, Photo: Unsplash, Prevention Institute, February 8, 2022 As we begin 2022, it’s clear that the inequitable impacts of climate change, the pandemic, and racial injustice share common roots: existing systems that accept as a cost of doing business the oppression, exploitation, and degradation of BIPOC communities to enrich the few. They also share a structural solution: adopting a community health-based economy. Our vision is that we can replace a carbon-based economy with an...

By Marisa Iati, Steven Rich, and Jennifer Jenkins, Photo: Katherine Frey/The Washington Post, The Washington Post, February 9, 2022 Police shot and killed at least 1,055 people nationwide last year, the highest total since The Washington Post began tracking fatal shootings by officers in 2015 — underscoring the difficulty of reducing such incidents despite sustained public attention to the issue. The new count is up from 1,021 shootings the previous year and 999 in 2019. The total comes amid...

By Dan Parks, Photo: 510 Media, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, February 10, 2022 The Hidden Genius Project, which trains and mentors Black boys and teenagers about technology careers, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills, was at a crucial point in 2015. The small Oakland, Calif., charity was seeing rapid growth in the number of volunteers who wanted to participate, and it was ready to hire paid staff so it could expand its operations. It needed money. Its timing was fortuitous. It was...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AZZtR3fQhvg&fbclid=IwAR2WjjMn1RtbGZRWLBBI_eZNS_kPoLlJC14It2aJXsRNjRHqq-pgkX1EGdw

Hello! Rural Opportunity Institute (ROI) just wrapped up our first cohort of the Resilient Leaders Initiative , a 9-month program that supported 5 local organizations to pilot trauma-informed practices. This was the first social accelerator program model to that is: -focused on public agencies (not startups) -rooted in a rural community -supporting orgs on piloting trauma-informed practices Click here for the in-depth press release. Click here for a 2-page summary of outcomes. Thank you to...

By Jesse C. Baumgartner and Laurie Zephyrin, Photo: John Moore/Getty Images, The Commonwealth Fund, February 2, 2022 The Affordable Care Act (ACA) led to historic insurance coverage gains and reduced racial and ethnic disparities, but our recent scorecard report on racial health equity shows that large gaps remain in nearly every state. Black and Latino/Hispanic people, along with American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) people, are much less likely than white people to have health insurance.

By Lisa A. Gennetian, Christina Gibson-Davis, and Lisa A. Keister, Image: from study, EconoFact, January 20, 2022 The Issue: Research and policies aimed at addressing poverty tend to focus on family income. Yet, the future financial resilience of U.S. households with children will be shaped not only by the income they earn but also by their wealth holdings. Wealth is a critical resource that enables households to deal with unexpected economic shocks — including recent experiences of job loss...

By Pam Jarvis, Photo: Runar Pederson Holkestad/Creative Commons, Yorkshire Bylines, January 30, 2022 As time goes by we see more and more initiatives funnelled into education to ‘close the gap’ between children who live in families with incomes that place them into the ‘disadvantaged’ category. Yet again and again we find that very modest returns leave politicians disappointed. Instead, we should be looking at the environments that children inhabit before they even enter the school gates.

By Mary Ann Wolf, Image: WRAL, WRAL, February 8, 2022 As we continue our focus on the whole child and student mental health, it is important for us to consider how a child’s experiences affect their brain and their behavior. When I think back to teaching two decades ago, the research about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) had not yet come out. I remember some of the behavioral challenges. I often wonder about how I may have been able to support my students differently and more...

By Kristin Toussaint, Image: iStock/Getty Images Plus, Fast Company, February 8, 2022 For many Americans, benefits like expanded unemployment, stimulus checks, and child tax credits were crucial for staying afloat during the pandemic. But those benefits weren’t available to everyone: Undocumented and mixed immigration status families were often excluded from that assistance, or failed to receive the benefits even when they were eligible . Now, a new guaranteed basic income pilot and study in...