As a community, we often talk about the young people who are the “most vulnerable” or who are at “high risk.” Admittedly, we don’t always know who exactly those young people are and what their experiences have been. And far too often, those labels become the only story we associate with them. We don’t always know how to...
Read moreYour access to medicine, lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines and other pharmacy services might depend on what part of town you live in.
The Urban Institute recently updated the Quality of Life Explorer data maps to include several new metrics, one of which is particularly relevant as we enter year three of the global pandemic. “Proximity to a pharmacy,” ...
Read moreHealth and economic mobility are connected, and the burdens of poor health don't fall equally on different groups in our society.
In Charlotte, where you live — along with your race, income and other demographic factors — has a big impact on aspects of health, from access to pharmacies to fresh food and even average age of death.
On Aug. 26, a panel of local experts convened...
Read moreHealth influences everything from a person's ability to work to medical debt, and health inequalities have big consequences in our community on economic mobility and people's ability to get ahead. Yet the burden of poor health is not evenly spread, because of food deserts, lack of access to insurance, pharmacies and doctors, and the embedded effects of decades of racial segregation and...
Read moreContributing writer Martin Zimmerman interviews Sarah Hazel, recently appointed as Chief Sustainability & Resiliency Officer for the city of Charlotte.
Sarah Hazel comes to the...
In addition to everything else in 2020, we had more than our fair share of rain. In fact, by early November we had already seen 53 inches of rain in the Triad region of North Carolina, which is well over a foot above our normal rain level for an average year. Charlotte received almost 59 inches of rain in 2020, far above average as well.
For someone who enjoys outdoor recreation as a...
Read moreA family friend’s favorite saying when things get tough is “we gotta push on through.” That brief statement reflects her reluctance to put a rosy spin on difficult circumstances — especially when the path forward isn’t always clear — but also her belief in the need to keep moving forward anyway, using the resources available to make the best of the situation.
As we approach the six-...
Read moreHousing First Charlotte-Mecklenburg (HFCM) was launched in 2015 to end chronic homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg by scaling housing first, particularly the housing first permanent supportive housing model.
Housing first programs prioritize housing as an early step in service delivery, have low-barrier admissions policies, maximize client choice in housing and services, use a harm...
Read moreCOVID-19 has had an immediate and potentially lasting impact on the housing stability of low-income renters in Charlotte and the nation. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced a federal eviction moratorium through the end of 2020, missed rent is not being forgiven.
Read more