Equity Watch
Housing
- No area is affordable: New Triangle housing report reveals challenges for most buyers: A family in the Triangle living on a median household income earns just 70 percent of what they need to comfortably buy a house. – ABC11
- Is $50 million enough for affordable housing? And 4 more Charlotte summit takeaways: $50 million can only fund 300 of the 32,000 units that are needed to meet the needs of Charlotteans who don’t have an affordable place to live. – Charlotte Observer
- ‘The economic consequences are real’: The government is taking steps to make the home-appraisal process more fair, after reports and a new docuseries reveal instances of racial bias and undervaluations. – Market Watch
- HUD Announces New Proposed “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” Rule, Taking a Major Step Towards Rooting out Longstanding Inequities in Housing and Fostering Inclusive Communities: Rule expands upon HUD’s previous policy, implementing opportunities for transparency and accountability while bolstering economic equity for American families. – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- HUD Announces $5.5 Million in Funding Opportunity for Hispanic Serving Institutions: The $5.5 million will help establish research Centers of Excellence (COEs) to conduct housing and community development research for underserved communities. – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Health
- Cost of Living: Effect on the Nation’s Mental Health: Rising cost of living is having a serious impact on stress levels, mental health, addictions, physical ailments, and relationships as family members are focused into working more hours to cover bills. – Rehab Recovery
- Comprehensive food nutrition program aims to combat disparities in diabetes treatments: Fresh Start provides in-person group classes, a produce prescription and one-on-one health coaching to help address social determinants of health complicating diabetes management for low-income, uninsured patients in Eastern North Carolina. – NC Health News
- This state could be the last one (for a while, anyway) to expand Medicaid: North Carolina appears on track to become the 40th state to expand Medicaid. It all depends on what the legislature – which returns to Raleigh today – does. -NC Health News
- Flywheel Foundation announces Health Equity Innovation Challenge Launch in Concord: The Challenge is a business idea competition seeking solutions to problems that cause disparities in healthcare outcomes for those living in North Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Rowan, Stanly and Iredell Counties. – WBTV
- Out of prison, but struggling to stay healthy: People released from incarceration suffer massive health problems — from diabetes to substance use disorders — and are 13 times more likely to die soon after release. To address these issues, hospitals are employing formerly incarcerated people to help. – AAMC News
Small Business & Economic Development
- New government funding package includes ‘historic step forward’ for pregnant workers, new mothers: Pregnant workers and birthing parents are poised to get new workplace protections, thanks to two amendments included in the $1.7 trillion federal government spending package. – CNBC
- ‘It bothers me’ | CRVA overlooked qualified minority and women-owned small businesses for $750K job: The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority paid one small business more than $750,000 over the last decade without giving minority and women-owned businesses an equal shot at the same job. -WCNC
- Women and minority-owned businesses look to expand in 2023: Business owners say inflation and commodity prices are the two largest factors impacting their businesses. Despite the economic challenges, they are planning to expand in 2023. – Spectrum News1
- Black entrepreneurs highlight value of representation: I “Just want to show (young people) … my face in here and know that there is somebody who looks like them that’s running their own business”. – ABC11 News
- NC at ‘forefront’ of clean energy transformation which could mean more jobs, investment: The state is preparing workers for roles in the clean energy sector; in August 2022, North Carolina A&T State University received a $23.7 million grant to create and launch a clean energy workforce training program. – WRAL Tech Wire
Education
- U.S. Department of Education Awards Over $35 Million for Grants to Support Cradle-to-Career Solutions in High-Needs Communities: The Promise Neighborhoods and Project Prevent grant programs will provide support services and programs to students from low-income backgrounds and mitigate the impacts of exposure to community violence. – U.S. Department of Education
- New report shows North Carolina’s K-12 public school funding is among the lowest in the country: Out of all 50 states and D.C., North Carolina was ranked 48th for funding level, and received a distribution grade of C for the 5% difference in state funding for low-poverty and high-poverty districts. – EdNC
- Thousands of NC students can’t pay for school lunch: The end of a pandemic-era federal free school lunch program is putting a strain on schools across the state with more than $1.3 million in student meal debt. – CBS17
- Regional leaders discuss a new STEM education alliance for Eastern North Carolina: The new alliance will operate at the intersection of education, professional learning, workforce development, and economic development to reverse the decline of the region’s homegrown workforce. – EdNC
- U.S. Department of Education Awards Project SERV Grants to North Carolina Central University, Philander Smith College, and Hampton University: Project SERV grants were awarded to three HBCUs that experienced bomb threats last year. Schools will use funds to address student safety concerns. – U.S. Department of Education
