Health Equity and COVID-19

All families, neighborhoods, and communities will experience the coronavirus pandemic. Schools are closed across the country. Unemployment is at an unprecedented level. Our health is at risk in ways we never imagined as we balance physical distancing mandates with our mental and emotional health needs. 

How we will experience coronavirus was in large part shaped before the pandemic. The policies and systems we inherited have had significant influence on the environmental conditions in our neighborhoods -- things like access to food, living wages, education resources, and availability of broadband. What coronavirus has made exponentially more visible are the inequities of our economy, healthcare systems, fragmentation of social supports, and outsized burden on Native communities and communities of color.  

The vital conditions and urgent services we all need all the time to reach our full potential are the same resources we need in response to the coronavirus as we recover. In fact, this pandemic has provided an opportunity to move beyond recovery, and to reimagine our shared futures in ways that are more equitable.


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The Fullest Look Yet at the Racial Inequity of Coronavirus
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Brought to you by NYT
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What the Coronavirus Is Doing to Rural Georgia
Story - Written
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'Rona and Racism: A Survival Guide
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Brought to you by KQED
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COVID-19 and Health Equity - A New Kind of “Herd Immunity”
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Brought to you by JAMA
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What the COVID-19 Pandemic Means for Black Americans
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Brought to you by Springer
Staff Pick!
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The COVID-19 Community Vulnerability Index (CCVI)
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Brought to you by Surgo Foundation

The immediate response to coronavirus has also revealed the power of connection, the depth of our civic infrastructure, and the creativity of people to work together across boundaries in new and innovative ways.  


As we begin to recover, we know that cannot return to life before COVID-19. Instead, we have an opportunity--and responsibility--to consider a different future. How can we bring the lessons learned, experiments that worked, and the connections we’ve built into our shared future? What does resilience mean to our neighborhoods, cities, communities, and states?


“Through thoughtful, targeted, careful recovery this nation can begin to address the root causes of the racial and ethnic devastation — physical and economic — that has sadly become the salient story of this crisis. To effectively advocate for this new world, it will be necessary to break out of silos and join together to demand and usher in a groundswell of liberating actions that begin to build an economy that respects and includes all, especially-low income people of color whose economic vulnerabilities have been laid bare. We will need transformative solidarity.” Michael McAfee, President and CEO of PolicyLink



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COVID-19 & Race: Commentary
Resource - Blog
Brought to you by PolicyLink
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Equitable Enforcement of Public Health Laws
Resource - Blog
Brought to you by ChangeLab Solutions
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Housing Policy Must Change in Wake of COVID-19
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Brought to you by Shelterforce
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Talking About COVID-19: A Call for Racial, Economic, and Health Equity
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Brought to you by Opportunity Agenda
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COVID-19 & Race: Actions
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Brought to you by PolicyLink
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Pandemics Are Also an Urban Planning Problem
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Brought to you by CityLab
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Leading through the Portal to Claim our Humanity
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Brought to you by National Equity Project
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As we spatially separate we must also stay connected
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Brought to you by Othering and Belonging Institute
The America We Need
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Brought to you by NYT
Published on 07/14/2020

Dialogue is one pathway for lifting up often unheard voices, building empathy, and moving toward a shared vision. By listening to and being heard by others, we can start to tell our shared story--and strengthen our sense of belonging and connection. The Well Being in the Nation (WIN) Network Dialogue Guide: Life in the Time of Corona offers community change-makers a starting point for understanding the Coronavirus pandemic personally and collectively. 


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Dialogue Guide: Life in the Time of Coronavirus
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Brought to you by Community Commons
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Communities WIN: A Community Guide for Dialogue and Action
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Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 01/22/2020
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Commons Good Podcast: Monte Roulier
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Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 07/07/2020
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Communicating About Racial Equity and COVID-19: Connecting Data to Context
Resource - Guide/handbook
Brought to you by PHI
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Commons Good Podcast: Parisa Parsa
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Brought to you by Community Commons
Published on 04/22/2020
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Weaving Community During Crisis
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Brought to you by The Aspen Institute
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Dialogue as a Process for Community Change
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Brought to you by Community Commons

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