Blog

By Sara Mar, Public Health Post, August 24, 2021 The climate crisis is generating high demand for renewable sources of energy . As calls to harness wind, solar, and hydropower increase, our reliance on coal is on the decline. Coal-fired power plants emit many harmful pollutants. These include air-borne particles called PM2.5 , and chemicals such as sulfur dioxide . Both of these pollutants can cause breathing problems. Children are especially affected by air pollution. They breathe more...

From Audria Belton, Truist, August 17, 2021 Grameen America, a nonprofit community development financial institution helping low-income women entrepreneurs build small businesses, announced today it has received a $1.5 million grant from Truist Foundation to strengthen its current program model to empower Black women entrepreneurs. “Seed funding from Truist Foundation will play a transformative role in innovating and adapting our model to advance economic independence for Black women...

Miss out on an event from Racial Truth & Reconciliation Week 2021? Check out the recordings for each day’s events in their Events Archive or on Voices for Virginia's Children's YouTube channel ! Trauma-Informed Return to School This month, students and teachers are returning to classrooms amid an ongoing pandemic. In this interview with Newsweek , Dr. Nadine Burke-Harris and other experts talk about the importance of acknowledging the trauma of the pandemic and how to help students and...

By David Agren, The Guardian, August 13, 2021 When people from the Mexican state of Tlaxcala travel to other parts of the country, they are sometimes insulted as traitors by their compatriots. Tlaxcala is Mexico’s smallest state in size, but it played an outsized role in Mexico’s early history, not least when indigenous Tlaxcalans allied with Hernán Cortés’ tiny band of invaders to bring down the Aztec empire. Now, as Mexico marks the 500th anniversary of the fall of the Aztec capital...

By Tony Bravo, San Francisco Chronicle, August 26, 2021 As a college student arriving in San Francisco in the late 1980s, Cecilia Chung wasn’t just looking for higher education. The future transgender activist and chair of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission was looking for a community. “I knew I could find someone (here) who could understand what I was going through,” said Chung, speaking at City Hall on Tuesday, Aug. 24, as part of the declaration of San Francisco’s first Transgender...

By Stacey Colino, The Washington Post, August 24, 2021 It’s an unfortunate example of deja vu all over again . The devastating surge in the delta variant of the coronavirus has abruptly curbed our newfound freedom — bringing back mask mandates, restrictions and fear, and leaving many Americans frustrated, stuck, demoralized or worse. Among the most common responses are despair ( I can’t go through this again! ) or anger ( I can’t believe I have to go through this again because some people...

By Leslie Nemo, Discover, August 11, 2021 Vacations are about more than dips into the pool or long naps (though those are nice). The time away from work and possibly spent with loved ones is good for our physical and mental health, as study after study shows. Sure, researchers can’t account for how every vacation detail might change how people feel when they clock back into work, says Brooks Gump, a public health researcher at Syracuse University. “The quality of the vacation, the length of...

By Steve Pitman, Cal Matters, August 26, 2021 Even before the pandemic, mental health disorders were among the most common chronic illnesses Californians face. The COVID-19 crisis — and the resulting isolation and economic downturn many have experienced — have intensified these challenges. More than one in five American adults reported symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder in the last year — a 20% to 40% increase from the pre-COVID period. The good news is that mental health parity...

By Zaidee Stavely, EdSource, August 24, 2021 As students return to in-person classes, some California teachers are focused on giving English learners lots of time to talk and write about their feelings. In order to learn to speak, read and write fluently in English, those students need many opportunities to practice interacting with their peers in the language. A lot of English learners didn’t get enough of that practice during distance learning. During the pandemic many school districts...

The foster care system is designed to temporarily shelter children who have been removed from their homes due to maltreatment. Each year, the United States has more than 400,000 children living in foster care (1) . Placing children in foster homes can help to provide them a safe environment. Foster parents are dedicated to giving the best care for children living in their homes. Their care can provide children with a safe and stable environment to thrive and survive (2) . Effective child...

A Public Health Approach to Fostering Resilient Children and Communities By Kim McPherson, MPAff, Senior Program Officer at St. David’s Foundation Published August 10, 2021 We don’t remember our earliest experiences, but our bodies do. The period of brain development that occurs prenatally through preschool sets the stage for lifelong health. Seizing this window of opportunity is the central goal of the Foundation’s Child Resiliency work . While the rationale for our efforts is grounded in...

By Bobbi Dempsey, The Guardian, August 25, 2021 F our weeks ago the Biden administration officially began implementing the child tax credit in what was hailed by Columbia University as an initiative that could “cut child poverty in half in the US”. Most eligible families have received just one monthly installment so far – but for many American parents struggling to make ends meet during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, it has already made a huge difference. The American Rescue Plan – passed in...