August 2021

By Denise Lu, Charlie Smart, and Lazaro Gamio, The New York Times, August 12, 2021 Nearly every county in the United States became more diverse in the last decade as the nation recorded its first drop in the white population in 2020, according to detailed data on race and ethnicity released by the Census Bureau on Thursday. More than a third of the nation now lives in counties where people of color are a majority. The decline in the white share of the population is a continuation of the...

By Maanvi Singh, The Guardian, August 12, 2021 The Bootleg fire stampeded through southern Oregon so fiercely that it spit up thunderclouds. But when the flames approached the Sycan Marsh Preserve, a 30,000-acre wetland thick with ponderosa pines, something incredible happened. The flames weakened and the fire slowed down, allowing firefighters to move in and steer the blaze away from a critical research station. That land belongs to the Nature Conservancy, an environmental nonprofit that...

By Adele Peters, Fast Company, August 6, 2021 For the last six months, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that works with people experiencing homelessness tried a simple experiment: If it gave some people a small basic income of $500 a month, how much could it help? The nonprofit, called Miracle Messages , pairs unhoused people with volunteer “buddies” who make weekly calls and texts and offer support. (The volunteers also use social media to reconnect people experiencing homelessness with...

The cycle of childhood trauma spanning many generations has destroyed more children than all the wars ever fought in this world. And most people look the other way and pretend they don't see. What can we do? Open our eyes, admit to ourselves that something in our families is broken, and take a big step toward finding the hidden door that will make it possible for those broken by abuse to find themselves and heal. Like the memory of the actual traumatic events that haunt the victims, the...

By Ashley A. Smith, EdSource, August 11, 2021 Just who is Daisy Gonzales, California’s new acting community colleges chancellor? Her journey, which she describes as an “incredible story,” may resonate with many of the system’s 2 million students. “I became aware that I was in foster care at the age of 4” she said. As a child, Gonzales grew up in a variety of places including group homes, child care facilities, and even with relatives. As she made her way, earning a Ph.D. and serving the last...

FREE 8-week training on building positive relationships with children who have experienced trauma. Meet Tuesday nights from 5:00 to 7:30 PM Central time, virtually using Zoom. Learn researched-based practices and skills that align with TF-CBT (Trauma-Focused - Cognitive Based Therapy). If you would like more information or have any questions please reach out to Rhonda at rrude@lacrossecounty.org .

By Rebecca Ruiz, Mashable, July 11, 2021 The monarch butterfly, known for its distinctive orange color, is now on the verge of extinction. Numbering in the millions in the 1980s, the monarch population has been in steep decline thanks to habitat loss, pesticide use , and climate change . So, in fall 2020, when I spied several monarch caterpillars feasting on a neighbor's milkweed plant, I excitedly pointed them out to my young daughters. We soon noticed the caterpillars inching their way...

Join us via Zoom Monday, Aug 16, 2021, 06:00 PM Central Time (the US and Canada) for the EmpowerSurvivors program, Conversations With Evey & Elizabeth! * Register in advance for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYvc-mqrTosGNUlAetA_6uHylmrarnexWzM After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. * This program will be recorded * Cost: Donation to EmpowerSurvivors...

A robust body of research shows that early childhood trauma can have a significant effect on development and academic success as well as relationships and well-being across the life course. Early childhood educators are well-positioned to be agents of healing and resilience-building. Santiago Canyon College is offering a 3-unit, hybrid (remote/blended) course for early educators. The course curriculum addresses the physiology of the body's stress response system, the role of early childhood...

By Yasmine Al-Sayyad, The New Yorker, August 11, 2021 I n a recent, widely circulated Op-Ed, the New York Times columnist Ezra Klein derided the “conventional wisdom” in the public-health discussion of covid-19 vaccines that “there is some argument, yet unmade and perhaps undiscovered, that will change the minds of the roughly 30 percent of American adults who haven’t gotten at least one dose.” The vaccinated are at the end of their tether with the holdouts. With covid cases on the rise once...

By Wendy Sarubbi, University of Central Florida, July 22, 2021 As the population ages, communities must adopt more creative ways to help older adults stay mentally and physical healthy and engaged, especially in light of the social isolation caused by COVID-19, according to a UCF population health researcher. In a recent study in Gerontology & Geriatric Medicine, Su-I Hou, professor and founding director of UCF’s School of Global Health Management and Informatics , identified models of...

By Jasmine Garsd, National Public Radio, August 9, 2021 Increasing gun violence across the country is a growing concern. In one New York neighborhood, paid members of the community help curb tensions that lead to shootings. They can do what police can't. AILSA CHANG, HOST: New York recently declared a state of disaster emergency over rising gun violence. The governor's office has announced several initiatives to address the situation, and one of them is hiring more of what's known as...