November 2018

Water, Health, and Equity

Overview

Water, Health and Equity explains why America’s water infrastructure is failing and describes the impacts of those failures on public health in low-income communities and communities of color. It proposes policy solutions, developed and advocated by the Clean Water for All coalition, which -- if implemented -- could create a national water infrastructure that works for everyone.

Act Now to Defend Trans Rights!

An attack on any of us, is an attack on all of us!

The present Administration continues to demonstrate that the society it seeks for America is the exact antithesis of an equitable society. An equitable society is one in which ALL can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential. The New York Times reported this weekend that the Trump Administration intends "to establish a legal definition of sex" that would "exclude [transgender individuals] from civil rights protections under federal civil rights law." Such actions defy the very principles of equity and put the Administration's inhumanity once more on full display.

The proposal would impact the lives of two million people, causing disarray and revoking equal access to health care, housing, education, and fair treatment under the law. Like so many efforts promoted by this Administration, the proposal ignores the legal and medical precedents, strong science, and general decency and compassion that undergird these supports for transgender individuals.

We must all lift our voice to register our outrage at this blatant bigotry. Let this Administration know that we will not stand by quietly while it attacks any of us. The strength of the equity movement lies in our solidarity. An attack on any of us, is an attack on all of us!

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

  • Contact senior Administration officials. Let them know that you are opposed to any proposed rule that would strip transgender — or any — people of their civil rights and other protections.
     

October 2018

Advancing Health Equity and Inclusive Growth in Cincinnati

Overview

As home to nine Fortune 500 companies, and new investment in neighborhoods such as Over-The-Rhine, Cincinnati is poised for an economic renaissance. But not all residents are benefiting from this recovery. Persistent racial and gender inequities are preventing many residents, particularly women of color, from thriving. This profile illustrates how disparities in income, housing, educational attainment, and many other areas are costing the Cincinnati region billions of dollars in potential economic growth each year. In addition, the accompanying policy brief offers a series of recommendations designed to close some of these gaps. They were developed by PolicyLink and the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) at USC, in partnership with the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, Interact for Health, the United Way of Greater Cincinnati, and with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Read the profile, policy brief, and fact sheet, and see the press release.

The New York City-based Surdna Foundation has announced grants totaling more than $3 million in support of organizations working to foster just and sustainable communities in the United States.

A zip code is much more than just a five digit number. It can tell you where to send mail, where a person lives and where they work. The impact of that number can also reach far beyond geographic location; it can reveal inequality and the likelihood of upward mobility in different locations. Medical professionals have begun to consider zip code as an indicator of health, well-being and even life expectancy.

Mitch Landrieu, the former Mayor of New Orleans and recipient of the 2018 JFK Profiles in Courage Award for his decision to remove four Confederate monuments from that city, noted on accepting the award that "[c]enturies-old wounds are still raw because they were not healed right in the first place. Here is the essential truth. We are better together than we are apart."

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