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First thought when thinking about cultural competence, is the aspect of being aware of the cultural differences, backgrounds, and nationalities of this diverse world we live in. But how about being culturally competent in relation to being trauma informed? From what I have learned from Rosa Ana Lozada, CEO of Harmonium, is being trauma informed is not only about who has experienced trauma and the severity of it, but how each person reacts to the experience of trauma. Being aware of the...

Planners call them Accessory Dwelling Units—plus the inevitable acronym, ADUs. What they mean are the granny flats and in-law apartments sprinkled throughout cities and towns across the land, the finished basements, above-garage studios, rehabbed carriage houses, and other outbuildings on parcels generally zoned for single-family homes. But here’s what they really are: an instant source of affordable housing, if only they could be freed from extensive restrictions that cities and towns have...

On Martin Luther King Day in January—a day set aside to honor a man who fought against racial injustice— two black students at Boston Latin School (BLS) launched a social-media campaign to expose the racially hostile school climate they say exists at America's first and oldest existing public school. #BlackatBLS soon cast a spotlight on a string of shocking alleged incidents: from verbal slights that disparaged black students’ intelligence and identity , to classmates posting racial slurs on...

Although researchers are paying closer attention to mental health than ever before, our usual notions of healthy aging are still very centered on pathology—that is, diseases like cancer, diabetes, or hypertension. A new study suggests that, whether a person is healthy or not is a more complicated matter, and it has little to do with age. “Health has long been conceived as not just the absence of disease but also the presence of physical, psychological, and social well-being,” write Martha...

My sister, Katy, and I grew up in a family of teachers. My mother, my father and my aunt all dedicated themselves to educating, inspiring, encouraging and supporting each student who came through their classrooms. While I chose to go into public health, Katy followed in their footsteps and is a fifth-grade teacher. Many of her students experience challenges at home that no child should have to face. So in order for her students to be engaged in learning, not only does she need to know her...

For Baltimore’s Project C.O.R.E. urban redevelopment plan , the state of Maryland is offering up hundreds of millions of dollars to seduce investors into developing some of the city’s most blighted corridors. The challenge for those developers will be to find ways to ensure that new and renovated housing is affordable for low-wage earners. “Affordable,” however, has long-ago become an elusive target, especially in cities like Baltimore where both poverty and housing costs are out of control.

In 2013, for the first time, a majority of public-school students in this country—51 percent, to be precise—fell below the federal government’s low-income cutoff, meaning they were eligible for a free or subsidized school lunch. It was a powerful symbolic moment—an inescapable reminder that the challenge of teaching low-income children has become the central issue in American education. The truth, as many American teachers know firsthand, is that low-income children can be harder to educate...

Very rarely does one sentence have immediate impact on me. Very rarely does one sentence change the way I interact with my family. But this one did. It was not from Henry Thoreau or some renowned child psychologist. It was invaluable feedback from children themselves. And if I’ve learned anything on my Hands Free journey, it is that children are the true experts when it comes to grasping what really matters in life. Here are the words that changed it all: “… College athletes were asked what...

I wanted to share I Ted Talk I just did in Richmond, VA on Tedex Talk RVA. I would so appreciate where appropriate you might share this link with others ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HG8H4n2j9I I continue to be grateful for staying connected and learning from this community ... and want to contribute to the awareness we all wish to raise and the conversations we are all having with our communities about ACEs and all of our role in building community resilience. I would love feedback...

A white-haired woman who says her knees hurt performs the first scene of “Material Witness” at La MaMa. Ominous music plays, followed by sounds of loud exhalation. Or is that the wind? The woman (Gloria Miguel) has just been talking about “each place I leave my voice in the air.” “Material Witness” — a Spiderwoman Theater, Aanmitaagzi and Loose Change production — can be poetic that way. At other times, it’s rowdy and playful, displaying an enormous sense of energy, strength and good will.

Feminine products are having a moment. With some calling for a red wave to take the taboo out of menstruation, politicians across the country are trying to make tampons and sanitary pads as affordable and accessible as possible. Five states have eliminated sales taxes on pads and tampons: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland and Minnesota. In New York, a bill awaits the governor's signature, and other efforts to improve access to sanitary products are underway. The bill would...

As researchers work to understand the human genome, many questions remain, including, perhaps, the most fundamental: Just how much of the human experience is determined before we are already born, by our genes, and how much is dependent upon external environmental factors? Oncologist Siddhartha Mukherjee tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross the answer to that question is complicated. "Biology is not destiny," Mukherjee explains. "But some aspects of biology — and in fact some aspects of destiny —...