Eight wards make up the District of Columbia (D.C.). Of these, wards 5, 7, and 8 are routinely considered the most underserved. Compared to their wealthier neighbors hailing from Wards 2 and 3, residents of Ward 5, 7, and 8 tend to have lower median household incomes and struggle with greater barriers to access to a wide range of services. …
Ward 5: Current Trends in Demographic Disparities Read More »
2020 was a tumultuous year for the United States, and not only because of the coronavirus pandemic. Discussions regarding race and police brutality came to a head as reports of dozens of African American citizens killed during confrontations with police made national headlines. These incidents—which come on the heels of decades of important progress within the …
What is Nix The 6? Understanding Calls for Police Reform and Its Impact on DC Police Read More »
It\’s been more than a year since the COVID-19 pandemic began, yet the evolving nature of the global crisis remains a challenge to public health officials and citizens to this day. At this point, science suggests that the most common measures initiated in response to the pandemic virus—social distancing, hand washing, and widespread mask use—are …
How is The COVID Vaccine Rollout Happening in Washington DC? Read More »
Every 2 minutes, a woman in the United States is diagnosed with breast cancer. It\’s an alarming statistic, but there is some good news hiding behind it. For instance, the overall rate of breast cancer deaths, while slowing a bit in recent years, has gone down since the late 1990s. According to 2017 research from the American Cancer Society, the number of women who …
Breast Cancer Trends Among Communities of Color: What You Should Know Read More »
Every October since 1985, the world honors Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This is \”an annual campaign to increase awareness of the disease\” according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. It has decades-long support from the likes of the American Cancer Society and the National Football League. Today, the purported goals of Breast Cancer Awareness Month are to: …
Is Breast Cancer Awareness Month Helping the Cause? Read More »
For most Americans, it\’s difficult to imagine going to bed hungry every night, not being sure where the next meal will come from (or when), and struggling to bring home enough nutritious food to feed the family. Yet this is exactly the stressful situation faced by an estimated 40 million Americans every year. Food insecurity—defined by the U.S. Department …
Fighting the Food Deserts: On Food Insecurity in D.C. Read More »
As of September 13, 2020, 616 Washington D.C. residents have lost their lives to COVID-19. Another 14,622 residents have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus driving the current global pandemic. While things appear to be trending in the right direction—the District of Columbia is consistently reporting case positive rates below 5%, among other metrics for an eventual Phase 3 reopening—these …
3 Things to Know About Socioeconomic Disparities and COVID-19 Read More »
It\’s not hard to empathize with people who are affected by the coronavirus pandemic. After all, most people have been directly or indirectly impacted by the public health crisis in some way—physically, socially, financially, and/or emotionally. According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, about nine in ten Americans say their personal lives have …
Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 on DC\’s Homeless Youth Population Read More »
In late December 2019, officials from the central Chinese city of Wuhan reported an outbreak of a mysterious respiratory illness. This illness, later named COVID-19, is caused by a new strain of coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. The virus is thought to have evolved in bats or pangolins before jumping to humans, in what is called a zoonotic transmission. Within a …
The Impact of COVID-19 on the DC Healthcare System Read More »
On October 17, 2019, the District of Columbia City Council held a public hearing on Bill 23-0318, the “Community Safety and Health Amendment Act of 2019.\” Initially introduced in June of this year, the intention of Bill 23-0318 is to decriminalize sex work (prostitution) if those involved are at least 18 years old. Incumbent to the bill …
Newly Proposed Bill to Decriminalize Sex Work in D.C.—Can We Predict Its Impact? Read More »
