Equity Watch

Housing 

1. Black homeownership is Hidden Valley’s legacy. Now corporate landlords threaten that: As investors have turned their eyes to the neighborhood, residents fear that, like other historically Black communities in Charlotte, Hidden Valley may no longer be within reach. – Charlotte Observer 

2. F.N.B. Corporation Further Expands Access to Credit in Diverse Communities: F.N.B. Corporation’s new Special Purpose Credit Program aims to promote homeownership and economic equality and is available to consumers in majority-minority neighborhoods throughout the F.N.B footprint. – First National Bank 

3. Protesters demand accountability from corporate landlords: Protesters say North Carolina’s corporate landlords are gobbling up affordable housing, driving up rent prices and pushing low-income residents out. – WCNC Charlotte 

4. Report: 1 in 10 New Hanover County renters face eviction risk: The North Carolina Housing Coalition has released their annual profiles on housing affordability for each county. This year, they have included foreclosure and eviction data. – WHQR 

5. How will Asheville end homelessness?: A new report lays the framework for reducing unsheltered homelessness in Asheville by 50%, and includes 30 multi-prong recommendations, which encompass priorities such as implementing an encampment resolution policy, restructuring the city and county’s Continuum of Care and expanding street outreach. – Citizen Times 

Health 

1. ‘We are not thought of’: The true impact of Western North Carolina’s maternal desert on rural women: Many of the region’s 153,000 childbearing-aged women have to drive hours to access health care. This lack of access means women often forgo prenatal & delivery care — resulting in serious health consequences. – NC Health News 

2. Lack of Racially Diverse NPs in Neonatal ICUs Creates ‘Glaring Health Disparities’: Underrepresented infants are born prematurely at higher rates and have increased rates of mortality and morbidity. More racially diverse nurse practitioners could offer valuable perspectives in caring for underrepresented patients. – Health Leaders Media 

3. Geography Affects Racial Health Disparities in Cancer Treatment Delays: Statewide, Black patients were more likely to see a 60-day gap in breast cancer care access than people of other races, but geography played a critical role in determining the scale of that racial health disparity. – Patient Engagement HIT 

4. Atrium Health unveils mobile unit dedicated to women’s health care: Atrium Health announced it’s expanding its mobile services. The mobile unit is looking to help eliminate disparities within maternal health care. – WCNC Charlotte 

5. How the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity Can Respond to the Health Threats of the Climate Crisis: The HHS’ Office of Climate Change and Health Equity must elevate the health and environmental justice implications of the climate crisis and provide the connective tissue needed to harness resources, leverage authorities, and coordinate federal expertise. – Center for American Progress 

Small Business & Economic Development 

1. VP Harris speaks in Raleigh on administration’s investment in small businesses: Vice President Kamala Harris spoke in Raleigh about the Biden Administration’s commitment to small businesses on Monday, stressing the importance of community banks and CDFIs in helping small business owners get what they need. – ABC11 

2. HBCU students help local minority-owned small businesses: The collaboration aims to increase access to resources specifically for small and minority-owned businesses and provide students an opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship. – ABC11 

3. Genesis Block Aims to Connect Minority Owned Firms to $2.5 Million in Contracts in 2023: Average minority business enterprise spending is 3.29%. This average must increase 4–5 times current levels to between 13%-16% to achieve revenue parity with white owned firms. – WilmingtonBiz 

4. Men Earn an Average of 10% More than Women in Climate-Related Work: Climate tech provides an opportunity to reinvent products and services as well as dated practices like pay inequity that no longer serve people or the planet. – businesswire 

5. ‘It can be scary’: how corporate America is hitting back against unions: The intense opposition from many major US employers to workers who are trying to unionize is a major factor in the recent decline in labor union density in the US, with the US having among the lowest union densities compared with other industrialized countries. – The Guardian 

Education 

1. Experts make the urgent case: ‘Child care is a public good’: Without access to affordable childcare, parents can’t run the businesses that provide the services upon which we all depend. Experts point to this as a cause of current worker shortages, the costs of which get passed to consumers in the form of longer lines and higher prices at the grocery store. – Education NC 

2. Schools struggle to retain special ed teachers. Advocates say invest more in them: Workforce shortages left a special ed class without a teacher for 5 months, an example of how children with disabilities can slip through the cracks. – NC Health News 

3. Black History Belongs in Early Elementary School: K-12 schools continue to grapple with how to best (or even at all) integrate Black history into social studies and language arts curricula. Too often, this essential content is only being introduced during Black History Month. – EducationWeek 

4. The College Board Strips Down Its A.P. Curriculum for African American Studies: After criticism from conservative politicians The College Board removed many Black scholars associated with critical race theory, the queer experience, and Black feminism from its new AP course in African American Studies. – The New York Times 

5. Hardister, Robinson help launch North Carolina’s first bipartisan HBCU Caucus: “The idea is to find out, how can we support HBCUs and their mission, to educate and provide quality education and highlight the historical impact that they’ve had on the state,” Hardister said. – News & Record 

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