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How one large institution is addressing workplace inequities

As part of our ongoing series A View from the Top, CEOs and DEI this week we sat down with Dr. Marc Gorelick of Childrens Minnesota. The series seeks to follow up with Twin Cities metro area CEOs who signed onto pledges to step up their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. The idea is to give our readers better insight into the companies, understand their struggles, and get updated on their progress in efforts to make their workplaces inclusive, diverse and equitable.

MSR: Tell us about yourself and how you got to the Twin Cities.

Gorelick: I grew up in New York City in Queens and then Long Island. Moved to Milwaukee in 2000 and was there for 17 years before coming to the Twin Cities in 2017. Pediatric emergency medicine was my specialty for a long time.

MSR: How did you come to lead this large organization?

Gorelick: My goal was always to see how I could have a bigger impact. As a physician I help people one at a time, very intense but satisfying. But its slow work and takes a long time to impact a lot of people. If I can get a system of care, I can impact a whole lot of people at the same time.

MSR: How did you decide you wanted to be a doctor?

Gorelick: I grew up in and around health care. My mother was a nurse. As far back as I can remember I wanted to be a doctor. It was a way of combining my interest in science and my desire to help people.

MSR: What is Childrens Minnesota?

Gorelick: Childrens is a pediatric health system. Its one of only 35 health systems in the country that are 100% pediatric. We are not a part of an adult system.

Our mission is to champion the health needs of kids. We do that by providing outstanding clinical care as well as education, research and advocacy. We are the largest pediatric provider in the state.

MSR: You signed on to a document with other health care providers to promote more diversity, equity and inclusion, which is now popularly referred to as DEI. Tell us why you signed on.

Gorelick: Shortly after I became CEO of Childrens Minnesota beginning 2018, I signed on to the CEO Action Pledge on Diversity and Inclusion, a national effort started in 2017 by a number of companies, I believe in New York. It was a way to get leaders of organizations, for profit and not for profit, to get those leaders to commit to actions that would increase the diversity and inclusiveness in the workplace.

Its something I have been passionate about for a long time. At the time we were only one of about 100 organizations that signed on to that pledge; its now well over a thousand. We committed to promoting honest and difficult conversations in our workplace around equity and diversity and inclusion, to provide implicit bias training in our organization so people could understand how that contributes to issues around lack of diversity and lack of inclusiveness.

And we share with each other best and worst practices. We ask, What are we doing? What works and what doesnt work? We were one of the early organizations to sign on to that [pledge], so its been a part of our work at Childrens Minnesota for a long time.

The statement you are referring to was an effort for us as health care providers, health care insurers, to understand how we could work together to address long known and now become obvious issues of health disparities and inequities within health care.

MSR: For some, committing to DEI is a matter of doing the right thing. Explain why this seems to be personal to you.

Gorelick: As a physician in the emergency department, you develop a very intense short connection with [patients] and you get to see what their lives are like. And having a front-row seat to the ways the disparity in our society affect the health of people and the way it operates within the health care system.

I think people who come through that experience either get jaded or become more empathetic. For me it led to greater empathy and a greater desire to want to do something to fix it. Its hard to spend time talking with people who are suffering from these inequities and not be moved by it.

Early on in my career I was treating a little girl in the emergency department about five years old. Nowadays we try to do things to make it a more pleasant experience; back then we just muscled through it.

This five-year-old girl had put something in her ear and I was trying to get it out of her ear, and I got a couple of the nurses to help hold her downnaturally shes five years old so shes wiggling and struggling. She is yelling, Get off me, get off me, and then she yells, Get off me you White people.

I thought to myself, here is a five-year-old girl. What kind of experiences has she had in her life that the worst thing she can imagine is not being held down by somebody, but being held down by a White person.

That was more than 30 years ago in Washington, D.C., and it has stuck with me. There was something there that was deep and has affected her experience. I thought I need to learn more about that. It was very powerful. It was troubling to me, and it spurred me to think differently about kids like her and her family.

MSR: What are your thoughts about Dr. Susan Moore, a Black physician who died recently from COVID-19 and complained of receiving biased and inadequate care at an Indiana University hospital?

Gorelick: It is sad. It is shocking, but not necessarily surprising. We hear from People of Color and Blacks about their experience with different treatment from health care professionals. The fact that it takes a peer, one of our own, to draw attention to it, that alone is troubling.

We see this all the time. We hear stories about this. There are studies that show there are racial differences in receiving pain medication for the same conditions. There are racial differences in access to certain procedures. There are differences in prescribing certain medications.

The evidence is overwhelming. People are treated differently by the health care system based on their race. Its true even when its somebody within the health care system.

For a long time we [Childrens] had a focus on improving patient safety. What we recognized is if there are disparities in treatment and if people are not treated with dignity and respect, that is another form of unsafe care.

As part of our safety monitoring system we started in January, we implemented a new kind of report that people can file. Safety learning reports we call them. We encourage people to report errors or when things go wrong or almost go wrong. We ask, how did that happen? Why did the wrong medication get sent? What can we do to prevent that from happening in the future?

We started a new kind of safety and learning report, a dignity and respect safety learning report. So if someone, either themselves or they witnesses someone being treated in a way that is not consistent with dignity and respect, they can report that.

If someone is a recipient of a racist comment or hears a racist comment, they can report that. We can investigate and ask what are the contributing factors. It has become a very powerful way for us to address some of these unfortunately deeply ingrained practices.

MSR: What is Childrens doing to make it a welcoming environment for Black people in particular and other People of Color?

Gorelick: We talk about diversity and inclusion. We have set goals to try to be more diverse in our hiring. We still have higher turnover rates for Blacks than we do for Whites.

We implemented implicit bias training throughout the organization. We try to understand all of the implicit bias that we bring to all of our interactions, starting with the senior leadership team. We want to know how we can be more appreciative of the value of diversity in our organization, not just as something we can say we have done.

We have done diversity and inclusiveness coaching. Organization-wise we have rolled out implicit bias training. We have six employee resource groups. It allows people to find solidarity and support as well as being a place for the rest of the organization to understand the issues that are preventing us from being more welcoming of Blacks, Latinos, or whatever group that employee group represents.

We have set targets for getting results. We have a target for diversity in hiring. We have a target for decreasing our turnover rate among Black employees. We are setting targets so we can hold ourselves accountable.

We are being intentional. We want to change not just the rhetoric, but the results. We have to do some intentional things to drive those results.

MSR: You helped craft a document calling for more diversity and inclusion, which 50 Twin Cities metro area CEOs signed onto in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Realistically what can corporations do to make sure we dont have any more George Floyds?

Gorelick: There are a few things. Corporations are one element of the community. I think we need to take seriously our role as community members. That includes being willing to speak up when there are issues that are affecting our community.

Business leaders have not always been comfortable with that, but more business leaders are willing to stand up and speak out about issues supporting policies that drive change. For example, many of the corporations that signed on to legislative reforms.

MSR: How do we ensure that the next pandemic does not hit the Black community so disproportionately?

Gorelick: Access to resources. Access to everything from personal protective equipment to vaccines to being able to work remotely and take other efforts to protect themselves

I hope that one thing we learn from this pandemic is that we need to prepare for the next one so we are not caught off guard as we were with this one. And in the course of preparing for the next one, we learn from the lessons from this one, in particular the disproportionate impact that a pandemic can have on different populations and communities, and incorporate that into the planning work.

MSR: The Black community historically has been the victim of lots of broken promises. How will people know that Dr. Gorelick is not just saying what people want to hear?

Gorelick: We need to be able to go out and say we used to have 25% of our workforce People of Color, now its 35%. We need to be able to say we use to have a 50% higher turnover rate [for BIPOC], now its only 10% higher. And we are working to get it to be equal.

To share our progress with the community is probably the best way. As the saying goes, action speaks louder than words.

MSR: What do you do best at Childrens? Or to borrow your expression, what does Childrens do that you would consider a hit out of the park?

Gorelick: We are committed to treating allchildren andfamilies. When we say our vision is to be every familys essential partner in raising healthier children, we put the emphasis on every. I think we do that very well.

We do not turn anyone away based on their ability to pay. This year we provided over $100 million in uncompensated care. We interpret over 70 languages of people who come to our facilities. Now what we need to do better is make sure the care we provide is equitable.

MSR: Tell us about the community organizations with which you are working/partnering.

Gorelick: Every few years we are required to do a community health needs assessment. We bring together about 45 community organizations that we engage with to help us understand what are the most important issues affecting the health of kids in this community.

What we have started to do is not only partner with them to identify the problem; now we are actually engaged with them to help us figure out how to address this problem.

As a result we have been working with the African American Leadership Forum, which has been holding [virtual] town halls that we have been sponsoring. One of our clinicians, Adrien Thornton, has been a guest on that town hall often.

MSR: How do folks keep from being overwhelmed and help them concentrate on the things that are important so we dont wind up doing nothing?

Gorelick: Knowing that there are so many terrific community partnerships that we can engage with is a helpful way of thinking about what we can do. Racism has been around for centuries. Racism is not going to go away tomorrow, and one organization will not get rid of it.

View original post here:

Attacking racism from the inside out - MSR News Online

With so much pivoting on health news this past year, The Spokesman-Review asked local leaders in medicine and wellness to offer their resolutions and outlooks for 2021.

Their answers deliver personal and community perspectives that see us emerging stronger after this pandemic. Caution is there, but its mixed with optimism.

Dr. Francisco Velzquez, Spokane Regional Health District interim health officer:

My health and wellness goals for next year are to lose some weight, get a COVID-19 vaccine, and stay safe and healthy so I can keep those around me safe and healthy.

My prediction for next year is we will succeed in controlling this pandemic.

Predictable? Maybe, but I think that they are also hopeful.

John Roll, professor; vice dean for research; Community and Behavioral Health interim chair at the Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine:

The pandemic has pushed me into a much more sedentary lifestyle than I had pre-pandemic 8-10 hours of Zoom meetings a day allow very little time for physical activity. Instead of getting 6,000 steps a day, some days I am lucky to get in 600 steps. I resolve to be more physically active in 2021.

I predict (hope) that people around the world will come out of the pandemic with a greater appreciation for the role behavior plays in health. I am confident fewer people would have died if globally people had adopted simple behavioral interventions on a greater scale (e.g., routine mask wearing, social distancing, not congregating). Simple behaviors like those are, in most cases, easy to implement, and the impact can be profound in terms of reduced suffering.

Certainly, vaccines and antiviral agents are important and exciting, but we all need to take responsibility for our own behavior and not wait for somebody to vaccinate us so that we can continue to ignore simple behavioral steps we can all take to help keep each other safe.

Mary Koithan, WSU College of Nursing dean:

My resolution is to support my family, friends and colleagues in their ongoing search for personal and professional well-being with an emphasis on stress-reduction strategies to live with joy and purpose in the here and now.

My prediction is that with renewed hope and an increased reliance on evidence-informed health policy and prevention and treatment strategies, we will round the bend on this pandemic by early summer.

Dr. Darryl Potyk, associate dean and chief for medical education for Eastern Washington in the University of Washington School of Medicine Gonzaga University Regional Health Partnership:

Resolution: To get outside in as many new ways as possible; big celebrations for the small wins.

Outlook: Its going to get better! But not as fast as we would like.

Phil Watkins, Eastern Washington University psychology professor and gratitude researcher:

Resolution: That I would look for, find and appreciate all the beauty, love and grace that life still has to offer me. That I would continue to find joy in my work and calling something that I have enjoyed for the last 30 years. That I would cherish and remember what Ive learned and how Ive grown over the past year. That I wouldnt take myself so seriously.

Outlook: Although the hope of returning to normal should offer some solace, Im concerned that we will continue to see increased incidence of emotional disorders, particularly disorders related to depression and anxiety. We are social animals, and were embodied creatures, and the social isolation and virtual life that many are experiencing right now is, Im afraid, a recipe for continued emotional struggles.

The poignant question for me is when we get some kind of control over this virus, will we actively seek embodied connection with others? Or, will we continue right along with our virtual life (predominantly online)? Im afraid that the path of least resistance will be to continue on in our current habits that we have developed over the last year. Reconnecting with people and life will take effort. We wont just be able to slide into a life that is truly connected with others.

But, on a more positive note, I really believe that many people have been able to take this last year as a significant pause in life a chance to reboot and reflect on what is really important. And I believe that this will have a significant positive impact on many people.

Dr. John Tomkowiak, founding dean, WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine:

In the new year, we will graduate our very first class of medical students, which means nearly 60 new MDs will be one step closer to serving patients in Washington and around the country, many in the rural and underserved places where access to care is needed most. As health care professionals and educators, we will continue to be guided by the words that have carried us for the past nine months: patience, persistence, inclusion, adaptability and grace. Together as a college, we will persevere, seek solutions and serve as the frontline of healing for the communities we serve.

All of us at the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine are filled with optimism for the new year. While we will continue to face the very real challenges of COVID-19 and social injustice, the flexibility and innovation we experienced in response to these issues will influence many of the ways we educate our medical students, connect with patients and focus our research efforts in 2021 and beyond.

Lynn Kimball, Aging & Long Term Care of Eastern Washington executive director:

Aging & Long Term Care plans to continue responding in dynamic ways to all that 2021 holds and predicts that our community will continue forward with resilience.

Sherry Nash, Sacred Heart Medical Center neuroscience nurse manager:

My resolution for 2021 is to take an outside walk somewhere I have never been at least once a week with a friend, my canine buddies or both.

Adam Richards, Sacred Heart director of emergency services:

If 2020 taught me anything, its that I need to be nimble and prepare for the unexpected. So for 2021, my plan is to be flexible and open-minded and support new ways of doing business. And, as always, be kind, always give grace, even when thats difficult.

Dr. Rebecca Mallo, Providence Health & Services division chief of medicine:

To be more present with my family 2020 has been pretty chaotic and at times overwhelming, so I will focus on being present at home, enjoy the moments of joy with my kids and husband and not check email.

Marlo Andreoli, director of clinical logistics at Providence:

I am focusing more on self-care habits for my mental and physical wellness. This includes making better choices in fueling my body and enjoying the outdoors more.

My health predictions for the new year include seeing the demand for telehealth grow drastically. The ongoing pandemic has put pressure on our current health care systems, and I believe we will see more telehealth in home care pathways, especially for ambulatory and low acuity health care needs.

Dr. John McCarthy, assistant dean of Rural Programs, University of Washington School of Medicine in Spokane; NATIVE Project chief medical officer:

Resolution: To work toward health equity for all as we have seen the inequities unmasked with the pandemic. This necessitates personal investment and intentional change as well as an accounting of my personal privilege.

Outlook: The social determinants of health will be more clearly identified as integral to ones health, and the inequities unmasked will be dealt with as this awareness becomes more clear. The changes here will be incremental whereas they need to be transcendental.

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Caution and optimism: Local health experts see a brighter 2021 after the pandemic year - The Spokesman-Review

Why Use a Structural Competency Framework?

Although some see tobacco use as a personal choice among adult informed decision-makers, looking at tobacco use through a structural competency framework calls attention to the larger societal forces that lead people to use tobacco. The structural competency approach frames health inequities in relation to the institutions and social conditions that determine health related resources and is focused on structural changes to address upstream causes of health disparities.17 The structural competency framework adds to the SDHs approach by acknowledging that social injustice and power dynamics underlie health inequity.18 Although the structural competency approach is used in social work and public health, it may be a new paradigm for clinicians focused on the care of individual patients.

Many structural issues perpetuate tobacco initiation and use on both a global and domestic scale. The tobacco industry aggressively targets vulnerable and marginalized groups, including children. People who smoke often have poor access to health insurance and health care, lack access to cessation resources, and live in poverty, all of which, in addition to other factors, perpetuate tobacco use and dependence. The lack of effective enforcement of age-for-sale laws means that too often youth have unregulated access to tobacco products.19,20 Tobacco dependence and exposure reinforces existing health disparities, and these health disparities perpetuate tobacco dependence, creating a cycle of intergenerational tobacco dependence, poverty, and poor health (Fig 1). Pediatricians can continue to engage and support individuals in cessation attempts while also recognizing and addressing economic, social, and political structures that reinforce tobacco dependence and exposure. Adding a structural competency approach to individual clinical interventions will help pediatricians recognize and address some of the structural factors promoting tobacco dependence and will allow pediatricians to push back against a cycle of addiction and disadvantage that reinforces its use.

Tobacco use and exposure reinforce existing health disparities, and these health disparities perpetuate tobacco use.

Targeting vulnerable populations is a well-established tactic used by the tobacco industry to recruit new smokers and maintain current smokers. Children, the most vulnerable group, have long been targeted and tasked to serve as replacement smokers by the tobacco industry.21 The rapidly developing adolescent brain is uniquely susceptible to nicotine addiction,22 and 90% of adults who smoke started smoking before 19 years of age,23 thus giving tobacco companies great incentive to recruit youth smokers. Documents reveal that the tobacco industry has clearly recognized this opportunity. Philip Morris executives noted, "Todays teenager is tomorrows potential customer...24 The 2014 US Surgeon Generals report acknowledged that the root cause of the smoking epidemic is evident: the tobacco industry aggressively markets and promotes lethal and addictive products, and continues to recruit youth and young adults as new consumers of these products.2 Although tobacco companies deny intentional marketing to children, they continue to advertise tobacco in outlets designed to reach children.25

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals are a focus of targeted campaigns, likely contributing to higher smoking rates compared with non-LGBTQ individuals. In 1992, a tobacco industry memo stated, We see the gay community as an area of opportunity. Philip Morris would be one of the first (if not the first) tobacco advertiser in this category and would thus own the market.26 The tobacco industry subsequently began advertising in publications aimed at the LGBTQ community and financially supporting LGBTQ organizations.27

Black and African American youth and adults have been systematically targeted through advertisements, retailers, and promotion of menthol products. More tobacco advertisements are found in communities with a higher density of Black and African American residents. In these communities, Black and African American youth have been recruited to smoke through advertising and the distribution of free cigarette samples.28 The proportion of Black and African American smokers who use menthol cigarettes increased from 5% in 1952 to 89% in 2011, likely because of aggressive racial targeting by the menthol cigarette industry. Between 1998 and 2002, Ebony magazine, a monthly publication with a large Black and African American readership, was nearly 10 times as likely to contain ads for menthol cigarettes as People magazine, which has a larger readership among white Americans.29 This targeted advertising has contributed to nearly 90% of Black and African American smokers using menthol cigarettes, which are more addictive and more harmful than nonmenthol cigarettes.7

American Indian and Alaskan native people are also subject to predatory targeting by the tobacco industry. Tobacco companies exploit the federal exemptions that accompany the unique sovereign status of tribal lands to increase their own economic profit, using tactics such as promotional coupons, price reductions, giveaways, and sponsorships.30 Tobacco companies employ manipulative strategies to exploit sacred use of tobacco. For example, the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, now owned by R.J. Reynolds, produced an exclusive line of authentic reproductions of Native American pipes, snuff containers, tobacco pouches, and other natural tobacco implements.31 These and other tactics are believed to contribute to the disproportionate burden of tobacco-related disease in Indigenous populations.30

Since the 1920s, women have been targeted through appealing tobacco advertising that gave them perceived psychosocial needs around weight loss, independence, stress relief, and the need to escape.32 As smoking rates for increasingly educated women started to decrease, targeting of low-income women increased, with significant resources devoted to understanding the psychological profiles of potential customers.32 R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company attempted to distribute coupons for packs of cigarettes in envelopes with foods stamps. Coupons were for individual packs, not cartons, because the lower-income groups tend to buy single packs.32

People living in rural areas are also at higher risk of smoking and tobacco-related disease. Rural adolescents start smoking earlier and are more likely to be daily smokers than adolescents living in nonrural areas. Young rural men have historically been targeted through tobacco advertisements featuring cowboys, hunters, and other rugged images. Antitobacco media are less likely to reach youth living in rural areas.10 This targeting contributes to higher rates of tobacco use and lower life expectancies in the 12 contiguous states collectively known as Tobacco Nation9: Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

The industry also cultivated relationships with organizations working with people with mental illness and funded research to encourage the erroneous ideas that cessation is too stressful for people with mental illness and that people with mental illness need to self-medicate with nicotine to relieve negative moods.8

Tobacco companies use targeted marketing strategies because they are incredibly effective in recruiting smokers. As big tobacco and big vaping become increasingly entwined,33 a resurgence of these advertising tactics aimed at attracting youth to e-cigarettes has been observed. Pediatricians need to be aware of this targeted advertising and its impact on vulnerable populations.34

Structural barriers maintain intergenerational smoking by reinforcing economic disparities and limiting access to tobacco-dependence treatment.

Access to health insurance is one example. In more than 40 states, people who smoke can be charged higher insurance rates than those who do not smoke35; in some states, these rates can be up to 25% higher than rates for nonsmokers.36 People from marginalized groups are already much less likely to have health insurance; raising premiums for people who smoke makes health insurance even harder and more expensive to obtain. In a 2016 study, authors examined the impact of tobacco surcharges on insurance coverage and cessation among people who smoked and found that smokers were 7.3% less likely to have health insurance coverage than nonsmokers.37 The authors also noted that tobacco surcharges increased neither smoking cessation nor financial protection from high health care costs.37 Without health insurance, tobacco users may have limited access to care for smoking-related illnesses as well as less access to tobacco-dependence treatment. The treatment they can access may be inadequate, for example, providing limited medication only for a limited period of time. Such regressive policies do little to treat nicotine addiction as a chronic illness; instead, they limit access to treatment for people who are addicted to nicotine.36

Life insurance is also more expensive for people who smoke,38 which affects the ability of those who smoke, who have a higher mortality rate from numerous health problems, to provide financial security for their survivors, including minor children or grandchildren, in the event of their demise.

Adding to the economic burden is hardship caused by missed work because of caregiver or child illness. Children are more likely to be absent from school if their caregiver smokes,44 meaning caregivers may have to miss work to care for their sick child. The cost of missing work to care for a sick child can be high; caregivers lose an estimated $227 million per year caring for ill children,44 which reinforces economic disparities. Repeated school absences can hinder a childs school performance45 and, in the long-term, may influence career trajectory and earning potential.44

The cycle of health and economic disparities among people who use tobacco is self-perpetuating; adults who smoke who are unable to escape the cycle of addiction are more likely to have children who smoke,46,47 giving rise to new generations addicted to nicotine and susceptible to these same economic hardships.

Read more:

Health Disparities in Tobacco Use and Exposure: A Structural Competency Approach - American Academy of Pediatrics

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - As the year comes to a close, KY3 takes a look back at several stories around Springfield and the Ozarks region that had a major impact in 2020.

In year driven by a global pandemic, economic uncertainty and political activism, we break down some of the top local stories from each month.

JANUARY

FEATURED STORY: Son of Greene County judges found dead in California after weeks-long search

Alex Holden, a Springfield native and the son of two Greene County judges, was found dead in late January after a weeks-long search in California.

Holden is the son of Greene County Judges Calvin Holden and Margaret Palmietto.

Police say Holden disappeared on the morning of Dec. 31, 2019. Investigators found his body along the American River in the Sacramento, California area. Authorities say foul play was not suspected in his death.

He just did whatever he did at the moment. He lived life to the fullest. He was the most caring, compassionate and caring children you could ever have, his father Calvin Holden recalled in January.

Family and friends gathered for a memorial in early February to pay respects to Alex Holden.

OTHER TOP STORIES: Severe storms damage homes in Fair Play, Mo. ; Two charged in Seymour, Mo. child abuse investigation ; Steckel out, Petrino in as MSU football coach

FEBRUARY

FEATURED STORY: Ozarks region celebrates Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory

Springfield and other communities in the Ozarks region cheered on the Kansas City Chiefs during the teams first Super Bowl championship in 50 years.

Before the age of social distancing, fans packed local sports bars, including Harbells and Coyotes Sports Caf, to cheer on the Chiefs during the Super Bowl. Springfields Academy Sports and Outdoors location stayed open several hours after the Super Bowl win to sell Super Bowl Champions merchandise and even had a line looped around the building on the night.

A 50-year wait for another Super Bowl run was particularly special for Michael Meyer, a Chiefs fan in Springfield, who said he became a part of Chiefs Kingdom half of a century ago at Super Bowl IV.

I had no idea Id be loyal this long. I have. Theyre just my team no matter what they do, Meyer said.

For Deborah Payne, a former Stone County resident, the Super Bowl victory meant more than just making history. It meant fulfilling a promise, holding a Super Bowl celebration for her son Travis, an avid Chiefs fan who died in a car crash 17 years ago. The family visited a gravesite in late February to remember her son and celebrate the Super Bowl victory with loved ones.

He told me one time that theyre going to win it and when they do, everybodys going to want to be a Chiefs fan, said Traviss cousin John Keithley. I can just imagine him now saying, Welcome to the Kingdom, everybody.

OTHER TOP STORIES: Tow trucks lead procession in memory of fallen Springfield tow truck driver ; Waynesville community gives prisoner of war a second funeral ; Springfield Housing Authority proposes complex for homeless veterans

MARCH

FEATURED STORY: Springfield officer Christopher Walsh shot, killed in the line of duty

A gunman fired several shots at a Kum & Go gas station in mid-March, killing Springfield officer Christopher Walsh and three others.

Walsh, a three-and-a-half year veteran with the Springfield Police Department, was killed in the line of duty in the late evening hours of March 15, when he attempted to rescue a shooting victim at the gas station at 2885 E. Chestnut Expressway. He died at the age of 32.

It marked the first time the Springfield Police Department experienced such a tragedy in decades. Walsh was the first Springfield police officer killed in the line of duty since 1932.

Chris died a hero, rushing in without regard to his own safety to protect members of his community. His courageous actions serve as an example to us all, said Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams one day after his death.

Three other civilians were killed. They include Troy Rapp, 57, who worked at the Kum and Go; Shannon Perkins, 46, who worked for WCA Waste Corporation; and Matthew Hicks-Morris, 22, who was a customer in the store.

The shooter, Joaquin S. Roman, 31, killed himself after firing shots at several people and officers inside of the gas stations convenience store. He also opened fire at officer Josiah Overton, who survived and returned to work in July after his recovery.

A string of reported shootings across southeast Springfield led up to Walshs death. Witnesses told police the gunman crashed his car into the convenience store, then entered the store and shot multiple customers and an employee. Walsh and Overton arrived in response, then were shot. The shooters motive remains unclear.

You get into this job primarily to help others who cant help themselves, said Brandon Keene, the Treasurer for the Springfield Police Officers Association, in March. Officer Walsh is no different. Hes a selfless person. He dedicated his life to helping his community and his country.

Officers led a procession in memory of Walsh on March 21. Hundreds in the Springfield community gathered along Battlefield Road to pay respects. Police cruisers from across the state, even from other parts of the country, joined the procession to escort Officer Walsh to his final resting place.

Tributes for Officer Walsh stretched deep into the new year. Tunnels 2 Towers, an organization that helps families of fallen first responders nationwide, paid off the mortgage to the home owned by Walshs widow in November. The city of Willard paid respects by adding an inscribed brick with Walshs name and his military rank to the Veterans Memorial at Willard City Park.

Before joining the Springfield Police Department, Walsh served with the United States Army for 10 years, and was deployed twice to active combat zones. He is survived by his wife Sheri and daughter Morgan.

NOTE: Walshs death, along with three others from the March shooting, were classified as homicides before the Springfield Police Department revised its crime reporting system. SPD says, as of Dec. 22, the city has investigated 27 violent deaths in Springfield this year. Eighteen of those have been determined to be murder. The citys record for deaths classified as homicide was 16, set three times in the last decade.

OTHER TOP STORIES: Greene County health leaders report first COVID-19 cases and deaths ; Springfield woman shares COVID-19 recovery story ; Woman gives birth in a Springfield Walmart

APRIL

FEATURED STORY: Pandemic leads stay-at-home orders, shuts down schools

The COVID-19 pandemic led some southwest Missouri communities, including Springfield, to adopt stay-at-home orders as early as March, one of the first significant decisions to combat the spread of the virus.

We would not be doing this if we were not 100 percent convinced that we are doing everything we can to protect life on a mass scale, said Greene County Presiding Commissioner Bob Dixon during a community Q-and-A session on the stay-at-home order in late March.

In early April, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced a statewide stay-at-home order, prompting some employers in the Ozarks region to shut down and limiting people to engage in only leave home for activities deemed essential.

The stay-at-home orders presented various challenges for businesses. Restaurants were limited to delivery, drive-thru and curbside options. Private businesses that didnt sell food or essential goods were ordered to close, particularly causing a hit to the entertainment industry.

We thought we had everything figured out, but when they just tell you youre going to close your doors, I dont think anyone anticipates that, said Randolph Medler, co-owner of Glenstone Cottage Antiques, in April.

Stay-at-home orders lasted through early May for the state and several communities in the Ozarks region, but they left some local business scrambling to reopen, including bars and breweries.

Theyre following the science, they are thinking it through, and I understand it, but for a small business... we are the newest brewery in town it hurts, it hurts really bad, said Carol McLeod, co-owner of Hold Fast Brewing, days before Springfield lifted its stay-at-home order.

The city of Springfield started loosening restrictions in late-April, phasing into several stages in an effort to fully reopen the economy. Springfield is currently in Phase 3C of its Road To Recovery plan and remains under a civil emergency order entering the new year due to the pandemic.

OTHER TOP STORIES: Missouri schools ordered to close for remainder of year ; Springfield nurse assists with hospital in NYC amid pandemic ; Citations issued to motorcyclists in Springfield over stay-at-home order ; Gas falls below $1 in Springfield

MAY

FEATURED STORY: Thousands protest in Springfield over racial injustice

The death of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked protests over racial injustice nationwide, including several weeks of political demonstrations in the Springfield area.

Floyd died on May 25. A bystanders video showed Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyds neck for several minutes, even after Floyd said he couldnt breathe and slowly stopped talking and moving. Chauvin and three other officers face criminal charges in Floyds death, and all four have been fired from the Minneapolis Police Department.

Hundreds gathered for two protests in south Springfield on back-to-back days during the final weekend of May. Groups met near Glenstone Avenue and Battlefield Road, one of the citys busiest intersections, then marched down Battlefield Road holding signs and voicing against racial injustice.

On May 30, protesters briefly gathered alongside cars traveling on Battlefield Road. A few demonstrators stood in front of cars traveling in an area that had been blocked by police. The following day, a group assembled on Battlefield Road near the intersection, lying on the concrete for several minutes screaming I cant breathe!

Several protesters said their message was about peace and support for one another, saying they felt supported by local law enforcement during the demonstrations.

For them to support us, and weve seen on social media where police have also had signs saying they are ready for justice, thats just an amazing thing, said Wyatt Shaw during a May 31 protest. The people can protest, but the people who actually work with those people have to also step up, and they have.

Other protesters said the gatherings were just the beginning of efforts to have their voices to be heard.

You have to get angry enough to want to create that positive change because, as long as you sit idle, youre not getting mad enough, said protester Larry Flenoid II. Its just words on Facebook, a lot of talk, with no actions behind it.

Springfields largest protest of the year came the following weekend on June 6, when police a crowd of 2,500 people turned out for a protest throughout downtown. The demonstration began at Park Central Square, then progressed with a march throughout several sites, including City Hall, the Springfield Police Department station and the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge.

Multiple organizations passed out water, sunscreen and face masks for protesters throughout the afternoon. The protest also featured a voter registration booth that allowed residents to register to vote in future elections.

Demanding accountability of your elected officials is extremely important, said State Sen. Brian Williams (R-Ferguson) during the protest. If you dont have folks in office that are going to go to their respective bodies and advocate for the interest of the people, then youre going to run into these challenges all the time.

Protests over racial injustice stretched into early July for the Springfield area, while surrounding communities like Bolivar, Branson and Camdenton held protests for similar reasons throughout the spring and summer.

OTHER TOP STORIES: Lebanon community hit hard by storms ; Crowds pack Lake of the Ozarks amid pandemic ; Health leaders warn of COVID-19 exposure at Springfield Great Clips ; On Your Side Investigation: Neighbors paid Springfield tree service, jobs arent done

JUNE

FEATURED STORY: Springfield officer Mark Priebe struck outside SPD headquarters, faces lengthy recovery

A driver struck Mark Priebe, a 21-year veteran with the Springfield Police Department, outside of the departments headquarters on June 9. Officer Priebe suffered serious injuries, including multiple rib fractures and a spinal cord injury.

According to Police Chief Paul Williams, the driver, later identified as Jon Routh, crushed Priebe against a barrier after causing a disturbance inside the building.

Williams said staff asked Routh to leave the parking lot. According to court records, Routh urinated on the stations door handles as he left the building. Investigators say, as officers tried to flag down Routh, he hit the accelerator on an SUV and struck Priebe.

According to court documents, Routh believed the FBI or a police department were sending people to mentally harass him. Authorities found a text on his phone from just two hours before the incident that included the words Im going to run over a cop I think.

Routh faces charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action. Per court records, a judge issued an order committing Routh to the department of mental health in October because of incompetency to proceed. His next court appearance is set for April 8, 2021.

On June 16, Mark Priebe and his wife filed a lawsuit in Greene County Court against Routh. Supporting documents called for punitive damages in such amounts to prevent a repetition of such conduct in the future, plus court-related costs and relief that a judge feels is just and proper.

The lawsuit claims Routh should be held accountable for intentional assault, negligence, and loss of consortium, companionship, and all other services provided. It adds that Priebe may not be able to work again and will be a parapelegic for life, while future medical expenses could cost millions of dollars.

Officer Priebe spent several months in Colorado for physical therapy and medical treatment, returning to Springfield in September. During therapy, Priebe walked for the first time since the incident with help from a robotic device called an Esko. It allowed Priebe to move his hips in a lateral direction, stimulating movement with help from leg braces.

Priebe returned from rehab on Sept. 10. Community members, friends and loved ones welcomed Priebe back from rehab on Sept. 10, lined up along an intersection in Republic to send him well wishes.

I think thats what gets us more emotional, with everything thats happened since June, is just the outpouring of support, Priebe said in October.

The Springfield police union organized a fundraising account for Priebe and his family, while several local organizations have held fundraisers to help his family. In October, hundreds gathered for the Priebe Strong 1062 Race in Republic, an event that raised an estimated $30,000 for Priebes family.

Weve still got a road ahead and a lot of things I need to work on and figure out, Priebe said in an August update. We appreciate all the continued prayers and thoughts and support. I couldnt ask for any more. Its been amazing as it has been from the beginning.

OTHER TOP STORIES: Protesters, counter-protesters gather in Branson over Confederate flag ; Back The Blue rally draws crowds in downtown Springfield ; Escaped pet monkey gains spotlight in Oregon County ; On Your Side Investigation: Free rent promotion in Springfield makes false promises

JULY

FEATURED STORY: Springfield responds to COVID-19 pandemic with mask mandate

To mask or not to mask? That became a key debate for Springfield and other southwest communities moving forward from the halfway point of 2020.

On July 13, the Springfield City Council approved a citywide mask mandate in response to the pandemic. City leaders heard more than 100 public comments on the issue over four-plus hours prior to making a decision.

The Springfield-Greene County Health Department takes an evidence-based approach to protect and promote the health of our community, said Clay Goddard, the health departments director, following the decision to implement a mask mandate. Evidence continues to underline the effectiveness of wearing face coverings to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and as such, is the recommendation of this department.

Scientific research factored into the citys mask mandate. A CDC study examined the effects of masking from when a Great Clips employee in Springfield tested positive for COVID-19 in May. The research determined that masking, a requirement for customers and employees at the salon, limited the spread of COVID-19 with nearly 140 people exposed to someone who contracted the virus.

Healthcare officials at Mercy Springfield and CoxHealth also urged city leaders to approve a mask mandate. In the first week of July, CoxHealth reported a 43% increase in positive test results compared to the final week of June. CoxHealth CEO Steve Edwards said COVID-19 testing increased in July, but so did infections and hospitalizations from the virus, contributing to the call for a mask mandate.

Theres no science that says when its too early because theres really no harm done with wearing a mask, but there is science that may say its too late, Edwards explained to KY3 in July.

Some local residents found it difficult to support such a mandate. More than 100 people protested against a mask mandate ahead of the July 13 city council session, many arguing that wearing a mask was unconstitutional and an infringement on their rights.

The city of Springfields tipline took more than 300 calls regarding the mandate on July 16, the first day it officially took effect. The Springfield Police Department handed out its first mask mandate violation ticket in December and now encourages locals to call 911 to report a mask violation.

I think we have taken a little longer time to educate and make sure people really understood because there was some difference of opinion, but the officers are ready and willing to do that, said Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams in August when addressing enforcement of the mask mandate.

City leaders have extended the mask mandate twice ahead of a planned expiration date. Springfields mask mandate will remain in effect through April 2021. Branson, West Plains, Nixa and Ozark have all issued similar mask mandates since Springfields order took effect in mid-July.

OTHER TOP STORIES: COVID-19 outbreak at Kamp Kanakuk in Stone County ; David Leong, inventor of Springfields cashew chicken, passes away ; CoxHealth opens new COVID-19 unit

AUGUST

FEATURED STORY: Nine charged in Lawrence County homicide investigation

Nine people are behind bars, facing murder charges in the death Sarah Pasco, an Aurora, Missouri woman who investigators say was kidnapped and fatally shot on August 16.

Investigators say Pasco and another woman were kidnapped, then thrown into the trunk of a car and taken to a remote location near the town of Miller, Missouri. Suspects forced the pair down an abandoned well and shot both women, per investigators.

Pasco died instantly. The other woman survived and played dead until the kidnappers left, then alerted authorities to Pascos body in the well.

Authorities arrested nine suspects, including the suspected shooter Gary Hunter Jr., over a four-day span in mid-August.

In my 28 years here, I dont know that weve ever had nine first-degree murder suspects at one time. Thats just unprecedented, said Lawrence County Sheriff Brad Delay in August.

Among those arrested include:

All nine suspects face charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, kidnapping and first-degree assault in the case, though additional charges vary for each suspect.

Sheriff Delay says the community played a vital role in helping law enforcement track down the accused. The sheriffs office received hundreds of tips from community members, in addition to some out-of-state leads, while investigating the death. This led investigators to a likely motive.

It basically comes down to drugs. Drugs is whats ruling this entire thing at this point, said Delay. People are ripping each other off over drugs. They get mad. Then they do things like commit acts of murder. It just unfortunately blew up in our faces all at once.

Pasco leaves behind two children. Court proceedings stretch into the new year for all nine suspects. The next hearing for Gary Hunter Jr. is set for February 5, 2021, per court records.

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2020 In Review: A look back at the top local stories in Springfield and the Ozarks region - KYTV

Following an Eater tradition, we asked a group of restaurant critics, journalists, bloggers, and as a new twist this year a couple industry pros to weigh in on the year in food. Their answers to an annual Year in Eater survey will be revealed in several posts this week. First up, the dining experts share their restaurant standbys for takeout and delivery in 2020.

Tom Sietsema, Washington Post food critic: Unconventional Diner, Baan Siam, and Revelers Hour (that fried chicken!) never failed to please, and for special occasions, Rooster & Owl reminded me what a talent we have in chef Yuan Tang.

Ann Limpert, Washingtonian food editor and critic: I regularly returned to the Convivial burger, to Red Lights Detroit pizza, to the jerk-style wings at Comet, and to the cheesesteak at Ghostburger. And for nights when we were feeling fancy, the butcher steak and a wedge from St. Anselm, plus buttermilk biscuits for the next morning. PS I swear I do eat vegetables.

Tim Carman, Washington Post food columnist: I ate my fair share of Indian dishes this year. They travel well. Theyre comforting. My go-to was Jewel of India, a strip-mall operation in Silver Spring that always delivers, in at least two senses of the word.

Jessica Sidman, Washingtonian food editor: Ive definitely ordered Makan more than any other restaurant these last several months. Even my 16-month-old daughter cant get enough of their chicken sate. Rasa for days when I miss office bowl lunches. Sushi Taro or 2Amys for days when the pandemic is just too much and I really need to treat myself.

Lenore Adkins, freelance food writer: I kept it local for the most part because of the pandemic, which meant dividing my time between NoMa and Ivy City. So I was constantly hitting up Gravitas and Bakers Daughter in Ivy City and Stellina Pizzeria near Union Market. When I ventured outside that bubble, it was usually to swing by Mlange for those juicy burgers. My boyfriend and I LOVE that place and we are up there pretty often, at least three times a month; I always get the Classic Burger, no lettuce.

Anela Malik, Feed the Malik blogger: For takeout and delivery both, this year has been full of Ethiopian food. It travels well and Ive turned to Chercher, Habesha Market, and Ethiopic more times than I can count.

Takera Gholson, Flights and Foods blogger: Full Yum 2 (4940 South Dakota Ave NE) is my neighborhood Chinese restaurant for takeout. Their food is always nice and fresh. They closed briefly, but we were excited to have them back once they reopened.

Raman Santra, Barred in DC blogger: In general, to help support my neighborhood restaurants and avoid filling the pockets of predatory third party delivery companies, we almost exclusively order takeout from spots within a short walk or bike ride away. Maketto, Mangialardos, Bullfrog Bagels, DC Harvest, and Dukes Grocery were spots we supported the most for takeout in 2020.

Paola Velez, executive pastry chef for Maydan, Compass Rose, and La Bodega: Albi (especially the soft serve), Maydan, ABC Pony, Kuya Jas, Little Cocos, Coconut Club [heartbreak emoji], Cane, Wiseguy Pizza, Taqueria Xochi, Queen Mothers, Unconventional Diner (chix dinner forever!) and so many more but these are my rotation currently.

Simone Jacobson, co-owner of Thamee: I have to say that while Ive always been enthusiastic about supporting woman- and BIPOC-owned businesses, 2020 is the year I made it my personal mission to vote with my dollar as a diner, and not just as an industry cheerleader of the people I love. I became very intentional about supporting small, independent restaurants whose staff and owners come from marginalized communities.

With that in mind, while there are tons of great places to eat and drink in D.C., all of my favorites for 2020 are BIPOC-owned and operated.

Takeout Before March 2020, I ate at Pho Viet at least once a week, sometimes up to three or four times. So when the pandemic hit, I knew it was important that I continue to visit Michael and Nina (the owners), and Lorena (our favorite server) as much and as consistently as possible. While my industry peers and I tend to try to keep Pho Viet off of lists like this one (fearing theyll be inundated with new business and then we wont be able to just walk in for our hangover cure), they deserve all our praise and support. Of course their pho is second to none, but the #37 combo with honey lemongrass pork is my favorite takeout item (sub rice for rice noodles for a super fragrant and satisfying hot meal).

Delivery When I finally broke my once a week only rule for delivery and got cooking-at-home fatigue, I started exploring new restaurants and found Momos Cafe to satisfy my craving for Taiwanese comfort food (which I blame on having a Taiwanese-Japanese American business partner). Sadly, I never got a chance to eat on-site but was blown away by how well the Taiwanese spicy pot and the popcorn chicken traveled. The spicy pot is worth every one of the $22 I reluctantly first spent on it, packing both hearty comfort and heat in one bowl.

Gabe Hiatt, Eater D.C. editor: I dont get to return to my favorites as much as I like, but my neighborhood standby has long been El Sol (for formidable salsa verde, tacos dorados, carnitas quesadillas with made-to-order tortillas, and even a solid ribeye steak). One takeout option I felt compelled to revisit this year was Your Only Friend, where Columbia Room beverage manager Paul Taylor has created the supreme sandwich pivot in town, as far as Im concerned. The giant chicken nugget, held together with the help of transglutaminase, is an achievement in poultry. Baan Siam delivery has impressed on multiple occasions. A sweet and spicy pomelo salad, chef Jeeraporn PBoom Poksupthongs signature chicken khao soi, and kanom krok (itty bitty coconut milk pancakes) were recent highlights.

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Where D.C. Restaurant Experts Loved to Order Takeout and Delivery in 2020 - Eater DC

We made the change by changing our cultureand how we workedto intentionally identify, mentor, network, promote and hire individuals that improved our outcomes and enhanced the organizations diversity.

Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

We often hear managers report they interviewed a Black candidate, but they werent qualified. When it comes to hiring, Black Americans and other underrepresented groups face discrimination at every step of the employment process.

We also hear that the pool of underrepresented candidates ready for executive leadership is shallow and the pipeline narrow. We agree. But the problem isnt with the candidates: people of color are often systematically excluded from leadership opportunities, despite one survey which found 52 percent of people of color indicated a strong desire for top leadership roles, according to a recent report released by the Building Movement Project, an organization based in New York City.

A 2018 NYC Services and NPCC report found that 70 percent of the citys nonprofit CEOs and executive directors are Caucasian and only 15 percent are Black, despite Blacks making up 24 percent of the population.

According to the Building Movement Project report, institutional supportor the lack of itis responsible for the gap between the desire of people of color to lead and realization of that goal. The report found that whites get mentored more often. Mentoring is key to advancement. In 2016, 43 percent of respondents of color said they had a mentor within their organization, compared with half of whites. By 2019, the percentage of respondents of color saying so had risen to 48 percentbut an even larger percentage of whites56 percentsaid they had received internal mentoring.

The fact is, little has changed in over a decade. In 2009, Philanthropy New York released a groundbreaking study, Benchmarking Diversity, A First Look at New York City Foundations and Nonprofits, which found that 70 percent of nonprofit executive staff were Caucasian. Its clearly time we do more to invest in people of color and move the dial on organizational leadership diversity.

There are multiple paths to executive leadership, the easiest being family legacy and influence and, typically for the rest of us, broad experience and being networked. It worked for us. But it happened because we were chosen, we were introduced, and we were mentored.

That does not happen for enough Black Americans and other people of color. Native-born Black individuals especially are denied, discouraged and persistently excluded from success. Yes, the pool is shallow and the pipeline is narrowthat is in many ways intentional.

It doesnt have to be that way.

At The Childrens Village, one of the nations oldest children and family serving organizations, we had an executive team that was mostly white in 2004, and the pipeline among our 450 employees was not diverse. We decided to change. Diversity on our executive team has doubled from 30 to 60 percent. More than half of our administrative teamour benchis now made up of people of color. And last year, 80 percent of internal promotions were people of color. For an organization that now counts over 1450 employees, this is a significant shift, driven by a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

We made the change by changing our cultureand how we workedto intentionally identify, mentor, network, promote and hire individuals that improved our outcomes and enhanced the organizations diversity.

We started by insisting that our executive leaders identified and hired candidates of color and we held them accountable for doing so. Diversity and inclusion is a regular agenda item, not just at our management team meetings, but at our board meetings tooelevating the conversation and the visibility to the top. Additionally, we regularly monitor our diversity dashboard to measure against progress. Those charts and numbers reinforce the organizations commitment to improving diversity.

We also required executives to mentor and invest in relationships. Mentorship is critical. When successful it creates opportunities for learning, personal growth and introduction to a broader network. We asked staff to set aside time every week to identify, mentor, and network hard-working staff that go unnoticed. And the CEO led by example, not just mentoring new people, but continuing to mentor long-standing mentees, some who were elevated to the executive team.

Our organization stipulated that first and foremost internal diverse candidates must be considered for open positions and tasked hiring managers and the Human Resources department to identify individuals for promotions. Last year, out of 140 internal promotions and transfers, 75 were Black/African American and a total of 117 were people of color.

And we also fostered internal awareness and dialog around issues of race and otherness. Individualsinternal or externalwith lived experience were invited to speak with the larger organization. Its different hearing directly about navigating in a different skin than reading about it in the paper.

Finally, but importantly, we recognized that color is not a proxy for true diversity. New immigrants of color contribute greatly and enrich our democracy, but they are not a substitute for native-born Black Americans. The American narrative continues to be anti-Black, where some immigrants of color are chosen and presented as an example of diversity. If you have people of color among your executives and in your pipeline but no native-born Blacks, your work remains undone.

All this work took tremendous effort. And the work is not donenor will it ever be. Creating a diverse workforce is to make a commitment to work differently, permanently. It is worth all the effort. Diversity is not about numbers. It is about creating successful organizations, communities and society.

Jeremy Kohomban, Ph.D. is president and CEO of The Childrens Village and president of Harlem Dowling. Alastair Short is a board member at The Childrens Village. Deborah Finley-Troup, MS, is vice president of Human Resources at The Childrens Village.

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Opinion: How City Nonprofits Can Diversify Their Workforce and Leadership Teams - City Limits

Nicole Villalpando|Austin 360

2020 was a year that challenged many a parent. In a matter of minutes, kids were home from school, home from college. Older kids sometimes were furloughed or laid off and also moved back in with parents. Grandparentsoften were separated physically from their children and grandchildren.

We discovered how to learn virtually, how to connect virtually, how to air hug from our patios and in our Zoom screens.

2020 was a year of woe as well as whoa. We mournedthe lives lost, but we also slowed down.

We learned the value of family togetherness andpatience with the people we love the most, and how to carve out space in every corner of what feels like a shrinking home.

We also learned the value of getting outside, taking a walk, watching the sunset, pausing for a moment each day to see the beauty that's around us. We found gratitude in many small things.

We asked Austin moms and female thought-leaders what they learned from 2020 and what they hope to bring into 2021.

May your 2021 be filled with gratitude and moments of joy.

Cristina Bocanegra, wardrobe stylist, creator of Mini Market, Love Child online magazine and Current Conference for women:What I've learned: to let go of words like selfless and perfection, especially when it comes to motherhood. I'm neither, and that's OK.

To go with the flow! Two of my three businesses rely on in-person events (not great for aglobal pandemic) ... or so I thought.When we switched to a virtual format for both Current Conference and Mini Market, I was so surprisedby the positive response and support from our attendees.

I learned how to be a more present mother, wife and friend by simply disconnecting. Removing apps on my phone that otherwise distract me from growing those relationshipsis a new weekly practice of mine.

I learned just how important it is to support small businesses.I committed to shopping small and local back in March and have loved getting to know the people and their stories behind the businesses.

My hopes for 2021: to carry the gratitude I feel right now, at the end of the wildest and hardest year, into the next one.

Nakeenya Wilson, executive director of Black Mamas ATX:I have learned that We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. (Proverbs 16:19). A lot of people set New Year's resolutions, professional goals and travel plans,but we had to abandon our plansfor COVID-19. We are not in control;God is.

My hope for 2021 is that collectively we have learned to be more compassionate, givingand mindful based on all of the lessons learned in 2020.

Bethany Hegedus, children's books author and founder of the Writing Barn:2020 schooled me as a mom. It taught me messes are OK, that adventure lies in our own backyards, and talking to a 5-year-old about systemic racism is scary, but what is scarier is if we as parents don't address the hard stuff inside and outside our homes and that we are NOT meant to do this alone. Or perfectly. Ever.

My mama hopes for 2021 are simple: more hand-holding, an abundance of hugs outside our home circle, and high-fives to those of us who learned that surviving is sometimes what thriving really looks like.

Simone Talma Flowers, executive director of Interfaith Action of Central Texas:Even though 2020 stretched many of us to the limits, with loss, grief, loneliness, isolationand uncertainty, we learned that we did not break we bent, contorted, adjusted, learned new ways of being, and did what was necessary to keep ourselves, loved ones and our community safe.

I look forward to learning how we can be more flexible with each other in building a stronger and safer community.

Allison Chase, regional clinical director of Pathlight Mood & Anxiety Center and Eating Recovery Center:While 2020 has been beyond challenging in both our personal and professional worlds, it is those silver linings that we cannot lose sight of. 2020 has forced us to slow down and appreciate the things we so often took for granted like our health and our family connections.

It is my hope that as we move into 2021 and this pandemic gets under control and lifes activities pick up again, we can take the time to slow down for a moment and remember who we are and what is important to each of us.

Gerry Tucker, author of "Bedside Chat: A Book of Meditation and Inspiration":This past year taught me the importance of personal time alone and self-care. As a mother and employee, I rarely spent time alone or time attending to my physical, mental and spiritual health. However, I have learned the importance of exercise, meditation, massagesand journaling.

During this year I experienced stress and anxiety, and self-care was the only relief. I learned to first take care of me, and I can thentake care of everything and everyone else.

I am hoping for a spiritual evolution in 2021. It will be a time of metamorphosis when communities and society will change into the humanistic, generous, law-abiding, tranquiland blessed nation that our forefathers envisioned.

This requires that each of us be loving, respectful of others, supportive and tolerant of others. I am also hoping for a government of and for the people for all individuals.

Andra Liemandt, founder and CEO of the Kindness Campaign:Connection has to be intentional, and five words can make all the difference. How can I support you?

For 2021, I hope we can use the rawness of this past year to go deeper with our relationships. And heres the thing: We have the perfect opportunity to do so. A lot got stripped away in 2020, leaving us with bare truths, painand exposed cracks cracks that were there all along, in our larger society and in our interpersonal relationships. Now, I truly feel we can lean into those truthsand be radically honest about what we all need to thrive.

I do believe 2021 will be a year of healing; 2020 set us up for that. In this new year, we can cultivate relationships and systems that nourish us. We can be more honest, more precise in the ways we give. The outcome will be more authentic connections, which are hard-won and oh-so-precious, because we had to get super vulnerable to achieve them.

Renee Peterson Trudeau, author of "Nurturing the Soul of Your Family": What I learned:I am stronger and more resilient than I realized.Just when another piece of devastating news would arrive in my inbox (my senior in high school will not have a graduation ceremony, all my 2020 self-renewal retreats have been canceled, etc.), I would pause, find inner strength, reach out to my backbone friendsand discover a reframe for what I was experiencing.

Sometimes this looked like a creative hack (offering a retreat online) or a redirect (my sons piano teacher rocked it online), and often it meant having the courage to release expectations and just let go.

Resiliency is a choice, its a perspective, its a skill you can cultivate, and its about choosing to be bigger than the issue that is causing you stress. In our house, we constantly reminded ourselves, Go easy on yourself; were in the midst of a global pandemic.

Gifts from 2020 include clarity. This time has been illuminating for me around life purpose/work, relationships, where/how I want to live and how I want to BE in the world.Ive also cultivated a deeper, wider gratitude practice (the fastest way to feel better fast), have gotten clearer around which friendships nourish me and how to cultivate these. Through my work with women/moms across the U.S., I heard a resounding theme: We want to simplify. Were less interested in shopping and stuff and more interested in creating a life that is centered on our values for ourselves and for our children.

My greatest hope for 2021 is that people will stay awake and actively keep working for change.I think were just starting to get traction and have much work to do especially around social/racial injustices and climate change work. I really hope we can all stay engaged, alive, aware and keep asking, How can I keep these issues at the forefront and what is uniquely mine to do in 2021?

Allison Schickel, founder of the Brobe post-surgical clothing:Take it a day at a time. Trying to juggle it all is impossible and WILL eventually catch up with you. 2020 has taught me to TRY and slow down a bit. Three kids at home, virtual learning, a first-responder husband, and me keeping my business afloatforced me to go with the punches and made me realize that I didnt have to DO IT ALL.

The world was not going to collapse because the dishes didn't get done or the laundry didn't get folded. With all the horrible things that 2020 brought, I feel it also brought unexpected friendships with neighbors, long walks with family just talking, and actually getting a nap in every once in a while.

My hope for 2021 is that we continue to not move at 1,000 miles per hour and can still enjoy those family walks, Saturday night game night with the kids, the fun cul-de-sac happy hours with neighbors, and for me personally, to focus more on my own health and taking time for ME everysingle day.

Reenie Collins, chief executive director of Health Alliance for Austin Musicians:As a mother with grown children, 2020 has made me realize just how important home is for all of us. I have realized that home is much more than a physical space. As mothers, we help create home by the traditions and simple daily things we do to keep our family togethereven if we are apart.

Holly Christine Hayes, founder of Sanctuary Project jewelry line made by survivors of sex trafficking:In the rush and busyness of life as we knew it, moments of motherhood drifted by without much thought. The entrance of 2020 forced a slowness we never knew we needed. We took time to be with our loved ones and treasure the quiet and the mundane reading books, cooking together, staying home. I pray we carry this intentionality and slowness into 2021 and all the years to come!

Elaine Garza, principal of Giant Noise, public relations firm:I just asked my husband what I havelearnedand he said, "That your husband is awesome." Of course, that made me laugh, but it also solidified my theory that attitude really makes a huge differencein not just my environment but the environment of those around me.

I live with my husband and two teenage girls,and I think we could have all had a miserable year had we let ourselves get caught up in all the sadness and fear in the/our world.

If I feel down or worried, I stop and think about all that we do have and all that I am grateful for, and it truly changes my state of mind. That might sound corny, but it's true for me.

For 2021, I hope for an end toCOVID-19, I hope kids can get back to school safely, that teachers can feel safe at work, that our incredible health care workers can rest and get the recognition they so deserve, and that our beloved restaurants, hotels and live music venues can prosper.

Judy Knotts, author of "You are My Brother: Lessons Learned Embracing a Homeless Community":Being elderly and living alone, I discovered I missed hugs. So I had to improvise. In this socially distancing environment, I would frequently touch my fingers to my mask and toss an imaginary kiss in the air that sometimes was caught. And when sending emails to my faraway family and friends, I learned to say what was truly in my heart "I love you."

What is my wish for 2021? That we would ignore all labels of race, skin color, ethnicity, gender, religion, political persuasion, sexual preference, economic status, employment rank, citizenship standingand education level, and imagine instead that each person we meet is a pilgrim, just like us, taking up space on our planet Earth.

Kathy Terry, founder of inLieu charitable giving app and co-founder of P. Terry's Burger Stands:I think for me, 2020 has been the year that has confirmed my belief that we are all in this together.I want my kids to learn to see the world through the eyes of others: A world where we can all be successful. Where everyone has access to basic needs, love, compassion and happiness.

In order to do this, we have to open our eyes andour hearts and get out of our bubbles to witness all the amazing people right next to us.In the end, we all just want to be seen and to be heard we want to know we matter and have value.

My hope for 2021 is that we move away from the me world we have created and build a we world.

Barbara Frandsen, author of "Dignity in Death": Love and forgive yourself so you will be able to keep loving your children.

When you need to cry, do so. If you slip into dark humor, go with it (but maybe privately).Laugh at your own jokes, even if they are terrible.

Even the greatest moms need to rely on a spiritual power beyond themselves.

Your children are not you. They are the arrows that will live in a future you cannot even imagine.

Allow children to develop their own courage and grit.They will need it to take care of you later.

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Austin moms reflect on a 2020 like no other year in parenting, hopes for 2021 - austin360

On a Sunday evening in late September, with wildfire smoke hanging in the air, a few dozen people gathered in the rooftop kitchen of a Hollywood apartment building called Treehouse for their weekly communal dinner.

The buildings co-founder and chief executive, Prophet Walker, stacked plates and cleaned up cutting boards behind the tiled kitchen island, while the buildings designer, Sean Knibb, manned the pans of turmeric chicken sizzling on the stove.

The rest of the residents drank wine and chatted as they waited to eat. A woman with the vibes of an Instagram astrologer waved hi at a man who seemed to leap from a Vineyard Vines catalog. One wall of the kitchen was open to the deck outside, but people were squeezed together at small tables. Nobody was wearing a mask.

It looked like a scene from the past, or from the future. These people werent friends, at least not before they moved in. They werent family, save a few parents with their children. They were co-livers, a building-sized pod in the time of COVID, in a housing experiment with grand ambitions.

Co-living isnt a new idea, or even a new target for tech money. Start-ups like Common, Bungalow and WeLive, the co-living division of the smoldering office-space Hindenburg WeWork, have been raising venture capital and carving up apartment buildings across the country in recent years. Most sell rooms to renters as a cheaper option, a nouveau-SRO with foosball in the laundry room and catered Taco Tuesdays on the patio.

Treehouse is taking a different tack. Walker and co-founder Joe Green, a tech entrepreneur in the Facebook orbit and big booster of psychedelic research, say they want to create the togetherness of intentional communities like co-ops, communes, or Burning Man without the anticapitalist politics or freegan cuisine. In an era when luxury is synonymous with isolation private jets, private islands, Uber Black versus Uber Pool theyre betting that real community can be packaged as a premium, an amenity that keeps atomization at bay as surely as heated floors banish cold feet.

From the outside, the five-story building on Carlton Way near the open cut of the 101 looks like any other upscale new construction sans serif font, little balconies, black-painted steel. But inside its walls, things look different, starting with a floor plan heavily tilted toward shared spaces.

The laundry/art room in the basement.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Rotating committees of residents determine which rental applicants get approved, and the process involves more checks of vibe than credit. Leases come with signed commitments to community values, and instead of simply showing up for scheduled events, residents are encouraged to create their own classes and shindigs for the rest of the building. Only 10% of the units are set aside as affordable for low-income tenants, but all are currently occupied by poets.

The rooms are pitched at the upper middle of the rental market in central L.A., with rents starting at $1,715 a month, plus a $210 fee to cover utilities, housekeeping, free coffee and Sunday dinners, yoga classes and other events.

Specifically, theyre pitched at people like Kimberlee Archer. When Archer left Facebook for a high-ranking job at Snap in May, the 38-year-old marketing executive could have rented an upscale pad with ocean views or found a spot up in the hills. But she wanted to live with other people, pandemic be damned. Before leaving Oakland, she googled coliving space.

A few weeks later, she moved into one of Treehouses units really just a bedroom and a private bathroom, furnished in the style of a cozy boutique hotel (Knibb also designed the Line Hotel in Koreatown).

Ive lived by myself, Ive lived with family members, Ive lived with roommates, Archer said. But after a career heavy on work travel, she realized she didnt need a lot of space she was used to living in a hotel room. What I enjoy is having really good conversations with people I dont work with.

A bedroom in Treehouse Hollywood.

(Treehouse)

She shares a kitchen with four other suitemates and shares the common spaces of the building with the rest of Treehouses 40-plus residents: Theres the lobby/cafe, laundry room/art studio, screening room/Japanese-themed bar, two-story library curated by the resident librarian, and on the roof, a garden, a deck, the communal kitchen, and yes, a little treehouse, wrapped around a 100-year-old olive tree shipped in from Sacramento.

The company views the Hollywood building as a beta test for its bigger plans: a network of Treehouses across Los Angeles, from Koreatown to Compton. A complex keyed toward families interested in co-life is already in the works in Leimert Park. Residents will be welcome to stop by any other Treehouse in the city for coffee or drinks on the roof when theyre in the neighborhood.

Walker and Green make an odd couple of utopian housing entrepreneurs. What brought them together was loneliness.

Walker grew up in Watts, broke someones jaw in a fight over a DiscMan and went to Ironwood State Prison on an assault and robbery charge when he was 16. He got out and got into Loyola Marymount University, then worked on some of L.A.s splashiest real estate projects as a developer with Morley Builders, attempting a run for state Assembly in 2014 along the way.

Green grew up in Santa Monica and went to Harvard, where he found himself sharing a dorm with Mark Zuckerberg. He declined a chance to quit school to go work at the social network but managed to start a series of successful tech companies of his own. In 2013, he teamed up with Zuckerberg to start FWD.us, a lobbying shop that used tech money to push for immigration reform, among other issues.

By the time Green and Walker met in 2016, both had reached a similar conclusion: They had found success but felt more alone than ever.

I never experienced lack of community until I made money, Walker said. Growing up in Watts, he said, he felt like the child of everyone on the block. Prison, if anything, was an even more intense experience of closeness with his neighbors. Living in a hundred-person open dorm requires radical transparency literally theres no dividers between 15 toilets, Walker said. We needed each other to not go crazy.

After his run for office, he started thinking about how L.A. bred loneliness the skyrocketing rents, the neighbors who never met, the way that markets and neighborhoods in the city segregate people by race, class, age and interest.

For Green, loneliness struck when he was on a spiritual sabbatical following the self-described failure of his lobbying efforts. Alone with his thoughts, he realized he had been happier as a kid first in his Santa Monica neighborhood, with friends up and down the block, and then at Harvards Kirkland House, where undergrads lived in separate rooms but shared common space.

He began reading about the spread of loneliness in modern society, and was drawn to the work of Johann Hari, who argues in his book Lost Connections that leaving the multigenerational home and familiar neighborhood is a new phenomenon of the last 70 years, and that this isolation is to blame for increasing depression, anxiety, addiction and suicide.

In 2016, mutual friends introduced the pair at the opening of Locol, a burger stand in Watts started by celebrity chefs with the mission of bringing healthier fast food to low-income neighborhoods. Walker had helped build the restaurant with a construction crew drawn from the neighborhood, and he says he was looking for a new project that captured the same feeling of building community and using physical space to actually do so.

They hit it off, but Treehouse wasnt fully born until Green went on a silent meditation retreat a few months later. I spent several days being unable to get my mind off of a vision for this building, Green said. When he got back to San Francisco, he spoke with his friend Michael Birch, the tech millionaire behind the elite S.F. social club the Battery, who reintroduced Green to Walker. Soon, they started scouting out locations.

Unlike most co-living companies, which reconfigure existing apartment buildings, Walker and Green saw that they needed to build from the ground up to get the mix of public versus private space they wanted.

But the decision to start from scratch presented its own challenges. Banks typically finance real estate projects based on dollars per rentable square foot, a model that assumes that shared spaces in the building, such as stairwells and lobbies, are worthless. Green and Walker had trouble finding a lender willing to back their plan. It was, frankly, through some relationships and luck that we finally found a bank that was willing to do a construction loan, Walker said.

A number of prominent tech names have since bought into the vision, though Green is the largest financial backer. Alexis Ohanian, who started the online community Reddit, chipped in, as did L.A. investor Arlan Hamilton and Justin Kan, who co-founded the streaming platform Twitch.

By that Sunday in late September, it seemed like the vision was working, at least to a visitor, even in the face of the pandemic.

After Knibb introduced the meal squash blossoms, jeweled rice, chapulines and a big salad along with the chicken Elizabeth Williams, an Australian screenwriter, saw that a journalist had joined for the evening and immediately introduced herself.

Williams had moved into Treehouse after a few cripplingly lonely months in a Studio City apartment, after moving to the U.S. in 2019. She explained that she grew up in a close-knit neighborhood in Townsville, North Queensland, no locks on doors, the kids would just swarm around like bees, where her fondest memories were of neighborhood game nights and jam sessions. She was happy to pay extra for a built-in community.

Michele Esquivel, Treehouses lone inhabitant older than 50, sat eating squash blossoms and rice at a table with three building mates. Her 14-year-old daughter, Violeta, hung out at the next table over.

For years, Esquivel had wanted to move into the city from Orange County, where she worked as a nurse at Kaiser, mostly to help Violeta pursue her budding career as a slam poet. The closest place they had been able to afford was in Long Beach, until she heard about Treehouse earlier this year.

Now they live in a suite with three other poets, whose rooms make up the 10% of units that are affordable in Treehouse, which the building includes in exchange for denser zoning allowances. Esquivel said that it could feel like a retirement home for millennials from time to time, but she was surprised at how well it was working out.

I felt the vetting process was long and tedious, and they asked really odd questions, but I understand it now, Esquivel said. To maintain the vibe of the building, potential renters have to go through an extensive application process, with other renters serving on the application committee. Everyone has to sign a commitment to the buildings core values being kind, present, curious, candid and responsible as part of their lease.

Prophet Walker, left, and Joe Green in a communal space at Treehouse. Every Sunday, residents gather here for a shared meal.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

One question had been what she would bring to the table as a resident; she had picked her cooking and her massage therapy practice. Now she sets up her table on the roof deck and gives massage sessions to residents. Other Treehousers give fitness classes in the basement gym, or teach lessons on medicinal herbs in the rooftop garden. Every Sunday, a rotating group of residents gets a $500 budget to cook or order family dinner for the whole building.

The building shares a Slack for internal announcements, which also plays host to the occasional call-out and heated conversation. To keep conflicts to a minimum, residents have set up a regular series of conversations, called Tree Talks, where the community values are often invoked to keep things kind and candid when residents are being less than responsible. A resident who washed their dogs clothes in one of the shared machines was a source of building-wide tension. Now, after a Tree Talk, a washer and dryer set is earmarked just for items that might have pet hair on them.

Esquivel said there were some initial issues with dish-doing and living room clutter within the poets suite, but the benefits have outweighed the rough patches. We would have never met anybody in these circles, Esquivel said, and especially for her daughter she thinks its been a wonderful experience, shes learning to cohabit with other people, other age groups.

A dissenting voice on the deck came from James Swiderski, who owns a solar energy company. He had always lived alone, and described his decision to move into Treehouse as a personal challenge. He planned to leave soon. Im glad I came, I dont regret it, Swiderski said. But it was an overstep for me, to be honest.

For Green, too, co-life has only been a temporary change of pace. When the pandemic first swept over California, he was staying in the spacious Beverly Hills house that his dad grew up in, which he said was in certain ways the peak of what Americans think they want. But Beverly Hills got lonely.

He moved into a room at Treehouse, where residents had created a building-wide bubble of viral trust after a few nervous weeks that had left the common areas mostly empty. Immediately, Green said, he could feel his COVID isolation anxiety melt away. He could post on Slack and 10 minutes later have a Settlers of Catan game going on the roof. It felt so much better, because I had people to be around. Still, after several weeks, he returned to his primary home in San Francisco.

Walker has no plans to leave. After the meal wound down and people began to filter back to their rooms, he finished doing the dishes, then plopped down in a booth, proud of the social feat he was in the process of pulling off: filling a building with strangers who were becoming friends, or at least fond acquaintances, against the head wind of a pandemic that has mostly driven Americans further into isolation.

Between its opening in fall 2019 and the beginning of the pandemic, Treehouse had rented only a third of its rooms. In the months since, the building has nearly filled up. The pandemic showed us if nothing else how important community and proximity is, Walker said. We have all these massive online communities, and thats like cool, cute, but people in quarantine in New York and Italy still felt compelled to sing out their windows with their neighbors during the first lockdowns.

Walker reached for a painful memory from his teenage years in Watts to underscore the point: I watched my best friend get murdered in front of me, Walker said. That should be like a death knell to anyones psyche, but he credits the neighborhood with saving him.

The entire block came outside, Walker said, and then when they saw what happened, every single person, just about, hugged me, like youre gonna get through this, this sucks, but weve got you, and every day weve got you. His hope for Treehouse is that it can build that kind of neighborhood, one where everyone knows your name and comes together in tough times, but for people like him who left their neighborhoods behind.

And of course, he hopes that it can make a lot of money at the same time. It just so happens that through density arbitrage, through a host of laws, through real estate financials, the Treehouse business model is an incredible investment, Walker said. But truly, were trying to build a community.

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Treehouse is trying to cure L.A. loneliness with co-living - Los Angeles Times

December 17, 2020

O'AHU Working together with residents across O'ahu, the Honolulu Department of Community Services (DCS) organized the creation of urban gardens at seven City-owned, special needs housing locations this week. With the goal of providing sustainable, fresh produce for those facing food insecurity, more than 160 garden beds were crafted and 20 fruit trees planted through a Food Security-Scaping Program seeded with CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Funds. The project will benefit nearly 1,100 residents from vulnerable communities including: previously homeless families & youth, kpuna, domestic violence survivors, and low-income families.

"Growing our own food on-island is vital to making our community more resilient," said Mayor Kirk Caldwell. "Expanding our food production footprint will not only provide locally grown produce; it is part of a movement where the food we eat is grown, picked, processed, distributed, and prepared by the people of Oahu for the people of O'ahu. Along with helping to sustain the bodies of those affected most by the pandemic, this project will also feed their spirits as they see their hard work grow into what will become vibrant urban gardens."

At ALEA Bridge in Hale'iwa, program coordinators installed 13 garden beds and fruit trees like mulberry and avocado in late November. April Keller and her young son venture out to the flourishing gardens every morning to look at the array of growing vegetables, including tomatoes, squash, lettuce, and kale as well as herbs like mint.

"My son really loves tomatoes and picking them off the vine so we are both really excited to see them growing," Keller said. "He is fascinated with the whole process, and it's a good teaching opportunity for him."

Keller looks forward to tending the garden and making healthy meals and mint tea for her family. She recently harvested cabbage, cilantro, green onion, parsley, and kale from the gardens to create kalua pig and cabbage with cilantro rice.

"This pandemic has truly shone a light on the need for food security among our vulnerable communities. Each of these project locations is a place that has offered safety and stability to 'ohana through housing," said DCS Director Pamela Witty-Oakland. "Now we get to work together to plant literal seeds for their future that will help to feed nearly 1,100 residents not just for weeks or months, but for years to come."

Participating Affordable Housing Sites

People Served

ALEA Bridge serves formerly homeless families and youth.

15

Mnoa Gardens provides affordable rentals for kpuna.

92

West Loch Senior Villages provides affordable rentals for kpuna.

173

Hale Maluhia shelters survivors of domestic violence.

56

Kahauiki Village serves formerly homeless families.

549

Vancouver House serves formerly homeless and at-risk families.

107

DE Thompson Village provides affordable rentals for kpuna.

100

"The project emerged out of an intentional response to implement multi-faceted solutions, prioritizing sustainable relief to individuals and families being hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis," said Lala Nuss, climate resilience and equity manager at the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability, and Resiliency.

This project is inspired by the City's Community Recreational Gardening Program, founded in 1975 and supporting nearly 1,230 plots at 10 community gardens. In addition, the Mnoa Gardens plot neighbors the public community garden located at Mnoa Valley District Park. "This is a fine example of how a community garden model can be incorporated into diverse properties and potentially make a significant impact on food security and the health of our communities," shared Joshlyn Sand, Director of the Honolulu Botanical Gardens and the City's community garden system. "We have seen the passion that our communities have for these kinds of gardens, and now this amazing program can help empower more future gardeners in so many ways."

The project is made possible by a private-public partnership with the Honolulu Department of Community Services, the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency, Department of Parks and Recreation, Department of Land Management, Hawai'i Community Foundation, SSFM International, Supersistence, local landscaping companies, and community-based nonprofits.

The Department of Community Services (DCS) is an agency of the City and County of Honolulu focused on creating opportunities to improve the quality of life for the people of O'ahu. DCS oversees the City's work in key areas such as housing, homeless services, community development, aging & disability resources, grants, housing & rental assistance, workforce training, and youth services.

This press release was produced by the City and County of Honolulu. The views expressed are the author's own.

Link:

Urban Gardens Created To Address Food Insecurity In Honolulu's Vulnerable Communities - Patch.com

Cream City Hostel, 500 E. Center St., opened in the summer of 2019, and will soon transforminto the first cooperative housing for Milwaukee residents thanks to a $450,000 program-related investment loan (PRI) from Bader Philanthropies, Inc.

Cream City Hostel was not yet through its first year of operations when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and it was forced to close its doors. The shift to cooperative housing will begin in January 2021, with hopes to introduce it to the neighborhood in the spring or summer of 2021.

RiverBee LLC, the buildings ownership group of more than 40 Milwaukee investors, hopes to provide housing for at least 12 residents. This model could be replicated in other communities.The cooperative tenant housing model offers an intentional living community that helps support people dealing with losses and uncertainty such as jobs, instability and landlord challenges. Its also particularly well-suited for the COVID-19 pandemic realities by creating a safe pod of known residents.

The beauty of this pivot is that the project will stay true to our original vision of this work, which was to collectively empower the community, ourselves and each other to make our lives and neighborhoods better, says Juli Kaufmann, social entrepreneur, managing member of RiverBee LLC and president of Fix Development. We are proud to continue to create a safe and diverse place to bring the community together.

Kaufmann led the $1 million redevelopment Cream City Hostel project, partnering with Riverwest residents Wendy Mesich and Carolyn Weber. Additionally, more than 40 community members, most of them from the Riverwest and Harambee neighborhoods, became direct investors in the building, using a crowdfunding ownership model. Kaufmanns business model is to use real estate as a tool for social change and is the only real estate model of its kind in Milwaukee. Her work focuses on creating small businesses and local jobs using community-based funding options.

Were glad to partner with Bader Philanthropies because theyre a community partner thats mission-aligned, said Kaufmann. We wanted to pivot thoughtfully, in the same vein as the hostel was designed for the neighborhood to be the highest and best use for the community. This model will fill a need for low-income residents.

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Cream City Hostel to become cooperative housing - OnMilwaukee.com