The Impact of Housing Insecurity on Community Health Outcomes: Exploring Collective Community Solutions and Housing Models in The Western Addition

In a city where housing is scarce and prices continue to rise, the lower income residents of the Western Addition are in panic. Historically, the Western Addition/Fillmore is ground zero for Urban Renewal. This community is still bouncing back from the negative effects of the out migration of Black residents, Japanese internment, and rapid gentrification. For twenty years, this part of the city was known as Harlem of the West due to its world-renowned Jazz and Blues composers, and is informally known as “Tha ‘Mo”. San Francisco has set the tone nationally for public, mixed income, and private housing that is known today. Literature reviews have highlighted the links between poor health outcomes, onsite services, and housing models in major cities like San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Boston. This paper will explore my VISTA position with the Engage San Francisco initiative, housed out of the University of San Francisco’s McCarthy Center, and the Success Center San Francisco in their career services office, located in the heart of the Western Addition-Fillmore District. I will pose questions, highlight barriers to access and providing services, offer some solutions through community identified needs, but most importantly increase thoughts and conversation on what community service providers, nurses, public health workers, and city officials can do to expand the use of existing services. As services providers and future health practitioners, how can we ensure that target populations have a means of accessing services while in crisis such as finding stable, affordable homes? How can we prevent an oversaturation of services as a solution to community problems? How do we work with communities where Maslow\u27s hierarchy of needs are severely compromised? How can we create consistent housing models for public and mixed income tenants on a national scale, that will support onsite service providers and encourage positive health outcomes in residents

Fear and Loathing of the Corruption Perception Index: Does Transparency International Penalize Press Freedom?

Depuis que la gouvernance compte, l’Indice de perception de la corruption construit par Transparency International (TI) est devenu l’indicateur le plus influent dans son domaine. Chaque année, un classement est ainsi établi, pointant du doigt les pays perçus comme les plus corrompus par les experts de TI. Cet indice est un outil puissant de lutte contre le fléau de la corruption, permettant effectivement de mettre une réelle pression politique sur des régimes « mal gouvernés ». L’influence de ce classement sur l’économie des pays concernés peut être importante, rendant parfois plus difficile l’accès aux financements, qu’il s’agisse de l’aide internationale ou des investissements directs étrangers. Bien souvent, il s’agit d’une double peine pour des populations déjà victimes au quotidien de services publics gangrenés par la corruption et le clientélisme. La mesure de la corruption, à l’image des différents outils mis en place pour évaluer la gouvernance, est une mesure qualitative, issue de perceptions. Comme toute perception, elle est sujette à la disponibilité de l’information et subit l’influence des médias. Nos analyses ont montré que le niveau de liberté de la presse pouvait avoir une influence importante sur ces perceptions, pénalisant les jeunes démocraties et l’ouverture progressive des médias. Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) has become the single most effective advocacy tool in the global fight against fraud, embezzlement and other abuses of public office for private gain. Countries relegated to the bottom tier of the CPI rankings are not only embarrassed (usually), but penalized financially, as the stigma makes it harder to secure aid and investment. For any multilateral loan officer or multinational plant-siting team, checking a country’s CPI rating is now basic due diligence. As well it should be: Corruption is a development scourge, acting as a stubborn brake on growth, a regressive tax on the poor, and - often - a corrosively effective enemy of democratization. Corruption assessment, not unlike governance assessment tools, is qualitative and the result of perceptions. Therefore, it suffers from the influence of information availability and media freedom. Our analysis, demonstrated that the media freedom extent may have a strong influence on corruption perceptions, penalizing young democracies and progressive media aperture.(Full text in french)

The Evaluation of Water Quality and Weather Patterns as Indicators for Escherichia Coli in Slaters Creek Watershed in Millersville, Tennessee

Water quality sampling was conducted in conjunction with the city of Millersville, Tennessee in order to assess levels of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in Slaters Creek. The city of Millersville is under a storm water National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit that requires compliance monitoring. In the past, monitoring of E. coli has resulted in noncompliance with state water quality regulations. A water quality assessment, including E. coli and water quality parameters, was conducted to determine if E. coli levels varied between dates within the study area. Statistical methods were utilized to determine if variations existed between the sampling strata, potential sources of pollution, and external influences, such as rainfall. Results indicated that principal components analysis is a viable tool for elucidating water quality changes and explaining variability in the data. Future watershed monitoring in Millersville should include biological sampling to determine the chronic effect of pollutants from storm water runoff

Oral Health Disparities Across Racial/Ethnic Groups.

Oral health disparities persist across various sociodemographic groups in the United States. Data were obtained from the 2007-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey(NHANES)to investigate differences in tooth count, self-rated condition of teeth, decay in at least one tooth, and ownership of dentures across racial/ethnic groups

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of the Bright Kuiper Belt Object 2000 EB173

We have obtained a near-infrared spectrum of the bright Kuiper Belt object 2000 EB173; the spectrum appears featureless. The spectrum has a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio to rule out the 1.5 and 2.0 μm absorption from water ice even at the low level seen in the Centaur Chariklo. In addition, we can rule out a 2.3 μm absorption at the level seen in the Centaur Pholus

Religious Orientation and Religious Coping in Adolescents With and Without a Chronic Illness

Religion plays an important role in most people\u27s lives and can greatly affect how individuals cope and interpret stressful situations. However, very little is known about how adolescents incorporate religion into their lives (e.g., is it central or peripheral to their lives, do they utilize religious coping). Furthermore, given the additional stressors experienced by adolescents who have a chronic illness, it is likely their religious orientations and religious coping strategies are different from their healthy peers. Thus, the present study was designed to examine the constructs in both typically developing and chronically ill adolescents. Additional constructs of hope, general coping, and quality of life were also included to explore the relationship these constructs have to religious orientation and religious coping. Participants included 179 adolescents aged 13 to 17 diagnosed with a chronic illness (n = 81) and healthy controls (n = 98). The Chronic Illness group was further subdivided into Sickle Cell Disease (n = 27), Diabetes Mellitus (n = 27), Cancer (n = 21), and Other (n = 6) groups. The majority of participants reported being members of the Christian faith (72%); 58% were female; 62% were African American, and 36% were Caucasian. Participants completed self-report measures for the various constructs and their parents reported demographic and illness-related information. Participants in the healthy group were obtained through undergraduates at a southern university. Participants in the Sickle Cell Disease and Cancer groups were obtained through regularly scheduled clinic appointments; the Diabetes Mellitus group was obtained through mailers from the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi. Results indicated that adolescents with a chronic illness report spending more time thinking about their religion relative to healthy controls, report internalizing their religious beliefs more than healthy peers, and report using more religious/spiritual coping than healthy peers. Adolescents\u27 perception of illness severity was not correlated with religious orientation or religious coping. There were no differences between the groups with regard to quest religious orientation. The differences between the various illness groups and exploratory findings regarding hope, quality of life, and general coping are discussed as well as areas for future research

Utilization of The Star Model™ as an Onboarding and Leadership Development Tool

The purpose of the project was to utilize The Star Model™ as a tool to address onboarding and leadership development. Training and development are important to the success of any organization. Specifically, onboarding of new staff and board members, as well as continuous leadership development of all staff, plays a critical part in the success of a nonprofit organization. To address this need, StepUp Ministry took a proactive approach and implemented a consultancy project to address this issue. The ultimate goal of the project was to ensure that staff and new board members received meaningful retreat and training opportunities that would support the goals of the organization and demonstrate their commitment to be a mission-forward organization. In addition, the opportunity to improve communication internally and externally ensured that program participants received the customer service they need and deserve in the LifeSkills training. Results indicated that the newly implemented opportunities were successful and well received by staff and new board members