Monthly Archives: March 2021

In the 1970s, in the spirit of back-to-the-land movements and intentional communities, a group of lesbian separatists in the United States decided to remove themselves from a society based on capitalism and patriarchy. They formed women-only farms, which began to crop up on small parcels of land in various rural areas around the United States, primarily near the two coasts. Their resistance to industrialization meant that many of them turned to sustainable and organic farming methods. They called their movement womyns land and sought farming as a liberation from an anti-environment, male-dominated society.

The womyns land movement was far from perfect. For one, these spaces were predominantly made up of white, middle-class women. Land access issues surrounding class and race did not disappear within the communes, and many of the women viewed farming as a means, rather than a crucial element, to living outside of the confines of society. Many found that the reality of farmwork didnt always match the idealism of the movement.

But despite the movements failings, the sociopolitical motivations behind the movement still exist and are now seeing a resurgence among queer youth. Queer millennials and zoomers have begun to echo ideas of the 1970s in farming and gardening, and while todays sub-movement is more informal and less homogenous, it seems that queer youth have increasingly connected queer oppression to environmental concerns.

[As a person] who is deeply concerned about climate change, I see the potential in farming as a way to make people connect to the land and heal the planet, says Marianne Olney-Hamel of Berkeley Basket CSA, an urban farm in Berkeley, California.

Of course, Gen Z has become known as a generation of viral moments. In an online culture, trends exist on social media platforms like Twitter and TikTok. Lately, queer subsectors of both platforms have been obsessing over a familiar idea: going back to the land to farm. On TikTok, the popular cottagecore aesthetic offers an idealized world where queer love can be visible in rural space, providing marginalized individuals exposure to ideas like self-sustainability and queer ecology.

The obvious question now is: Is queer farming another viral trend, or is this a second wave of queer back-to-the-land farmers?

I do think there is some truth to there being more queer farmers. With cottagecore, its somewhat imagined and definitely romanticized, but I dont necessarily think thats bad, says Lucy Bell, a farmworker who worked with Happy Acre Farm in Sunol, California. Bell explains that while the cottagecore trend has promoted an avenue for queer youth to explore a connection to farming and outdoor spaces, the online aesthetic often leaves out an important aspect of queer farming. The idea of wanting to be isolated and fully be yourself is romantic, but the communal aspect to me is truer to the queer culture and experience, Bell says.

In reality, todays version of the back-to-the-land movement goes beyond cottagecore, even if the movement has roots online. That [online] group isnt the same group thats actually going out and farming, but by creating the idea and romanticizing it is creating a generation of queer farmers that might not have existed otherwise, argues Max De Faria, a queer scholar, farmworker, and a Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow with the Congressional Hunger Center.

There is a notably increasing number of queer people supplying the nations food. Unfortunately, there are no exact numbers for how many queer farmer are there in the US since census forms do not ask questions about sexuality and gender identity.

Its a fun dream, but the realities of [running a farm], logistically, are hard, says Dede Boies of Root Down Farm near Pescadero, California. It does seem like nowadays theres a lot of the same glorified Oh my god, youre on a farm, its so great! Come spend a day with me and tell me how dreamy it is. Its hard every day, all day.

Beyond this, there exists unique factors within rural areas that draw queer people to this lifestyle. In many ways, rural life has allowed queer farmers an opportunity to feel comfortable in their skin, both by dressing in more androgynous farmers fashion and having a more intimate connection with the natural world around them.

While the modern gay experience has largely been depicted as urban, queer people have lived and farmed in rural communities for longer than labels have existed. For many living in suburban and urban nodes, there exists a common conception of rural areas being more heterosexist and transphobic than their urban counterparts. Although queer people may experience challenges such as fewer queer-only spaces and structural and legal access to resources, the majority of queer farmers studied have said that they experienced far less overt discrimination than they had anticipated. A lot of queer people find community in the outskirts of communities, says Bell.

Though, that can change depending on where in rural America queer farmers are planting themselves. We live in this Bay Area bubble where we feel fortunate to feel safe most of the time, says Boies. We can very much have people who dont support us, but no one is telling that to our face. I know the rest of the country is not that fortunate by any means and that rural living can be a challenge for queer people.

Although it is impossible to categorize queer farmers as a whole, they generally align with alternative food networks and sustainability models. Here, its easy to see the parallels between todays queer farming movement and the womyns land movement from the 1970s. Both women and queer farmers have expressed motivations based on their sexuality and gender that led them to become interested in farming.

From a historical lens, queer farmers, especially AFAB farmers, were motivated by the clearly flexible gender expression and remoteness that came with farming. It would be easy to hide out in the middle of the land and do subsistence farming, says De Faria, who explains that today, like previously, motivations are largely rooted in anti-capitalist or anti-the System sentiments of everything is bad in the world and farming is the one thing I can control and give back to the world.

Todays queer farming movement, like womyns land and other back-to-the-land movements, doesnt escape criticism, however.

Rural communities face so many challenges, from underfunding to lack of infrastructure to climate change, and our voices are consistently ignored because of assumptions that were ignorant or conservative, says Hannah Wilson-James, a homesteader and community organizer from Davenport, California. I worry that these romanticized TikToks rely on existing tropes about rural Americans and do little to amplify the voices of people who are already there, doing the work in these communities, because it isnt glamorous enough.

But thats not always the case. There is definitely and crucially a big distinction between a queer farmer and a farmer that happens to be queer, says De Faria. I think the latter has existed longer in terms of visibility.

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From Womyn's Land to Cottagecore - Earth Island Journal

The academics, the athletics and the extracurricular there are many reasons to go to boarding school. Students flourish in the rich culture of learning, friendship, arts, athletics and intellectual discourse. Why? At these 24-hour, intentional communities, students growth and development are front and centre.

Students at boarding schools are often exposed to a multitude of activities. This ensures they have well-rounded education, complemented with pursuits such as fine arts, painting, sports, dance, drama, and so forth. With big classrooms hosting a smaller ratio of students, this ensures each and every child gets equal attention in class.

They naturally inculcate a sense of punctuality and discipline in pupils as they are made to follow and maintain a schedule as to when they wake up, study, eat, and sleep. There are rules both within the school and in the hostels that each student follows diligently. It all comes together to groom them into more responsible, independent and confident individuals in future.

Here are four well-rounded boarding schools that produce all-rounded graduates:

Source: Hargrave Military Academy

A Hargrave Military Academy graduate is instantly recognisable. He exudes leadership, character and quiet strength in his faith. He is prepared for the rigours of college and to face lifes journey with determination, perseverance and resolve. He goes on to be a leader in his home, his church, and his community.

At this Virginia-based institution steeped in history and tradition, regarded as one of the best college-prep boarding schools in the US for grades 7 to 12, boys grow into young men and form bonds that last a lifetime with fellow cadets, faculty, and staff. The academys distinctive four pillars of academics, sports/athletics, character and spiritual development are fully integrated into a challenging and purposeful curriculum.

Its military model combines structure, routine, accountability, leadership, teamwork, decision making and personal pride to holistically develop a young man to their fullest potential. Every Cadet has a team of genuinely concerned teachers, coaches and staff dedicated to their individual success, ready to invest time outside of the classroom to mentor, lead and engage with cadets. A robust athletics programme provides opportunities for physical development and to teach sportsmanship through team sports, intramurals, and extensive recreational activities.

The result? Cadets who realise their individual potential, owning their self-confidence through an appropriate recognition of achievements. All academy graduates progress to college, part of a brotherhood that endures well beyond graduation. An alumnus Rocky Billing says, Hargrave was one of the best gifts my father gave me. Looking back now 18 years later, I know Hargrave definitely helped in making me the man I am today. To learn more about how Hargrave Military Academy develops young men into leaders of character who are prepared for lifelong success, click here.

Located at the foothills of the Green Mountains in Saxtons River, a gorgeous corner of New England, Vermont Academy is where students are supported to be their best selves and are able to flourish academically, emotionally, and physically in preparation for college.

Source: Vermont Academy

At this private boarding school, over 200 students from 20 states and 21 countries in grades 9 through to 12 plus a postgraduate year get to take part in an empowering combination of experiential learning and outdoor experiences. Both the arts and athletics are embraced here this means students can hike, ski, compete in writing and poetry contests, star in a performance, learn a new instrument, and win regional athletic championships. An iconic centrepiece of the campus is the on-campus ski hill where many students enjoy a Sunday afternoon during the winter months.

Its small size and emphasis on relationships ensure every student is known personally by teachers which allows for tremendous academic and personal growth. Through its signature MAPS (My Action Plan for Success) program, students work on documents that allow advisors, teachers, coaches, and parents to give feedback to them and help keep track of their progress. These documents cover several areas, from student self-assessment of strengths and weaknesses to learning preferences and goal setting with action steps for success. My first week at Vermont Academy I began working with my advisor on my MAPS plan. It was a great way to start thinking and talking about my future and the classes that interest me, says alumnus Will Svensson. The MAPS program is housed in the Center For Learning at Vermont Academy which is the office responsible for student growth and learning.

The instructional approach here is guided by the following pedagogical values: student-focused, growth-oriented and active. With small and tight-knit classes, students receive the personal attention needed to discover their potential and develop a love for learning. Every day the academic program is challenging students to expand their thinking through active, hands-on learning experiences. To learn more about Vermont Academys Education for Life, click here or connect with the admissions office here.

Source: Blue Ridge School

As an all-boys institution in Virginia, Blue Ridge School (BRS) provides small class sizes and co-curricular programmes to help boys from 23 states and 17 countries, between grades nine to 12 reach their potential through personalised, structured, innovative learning practices in a college-preparatory, all-boarding community. A small student body of under 200 call BRS their home away from home.

The schools 5:1 student-to-faculty ratio, and an average class size of eight, allow deeper connections between students and teachers. BRS promotes a well-rounded education through their curriculum such as English Language Learners Program (ELL); Foreign Languages; Mathematics; Outdoor Education; Performing and Visual Arts; Science; Social Studies and Technology. The school also caters to students with learning disabilities and attention difficulties through its Fishburne Learning Center.

Blue Ridge has definitely made me a more well-rounded student. Being a scholar has always been a goal of mine, but Blue Ridge has also allowed me to participate in activities I most likely would never have had the opportunity to partake in, shares student leader Franck Germain.

The BRS experience extends to a wide variety of activities, societies, athletic fixtures and facilities on campus meaning students do not have to set foot off campus to learn and grow. Here, students are encouraged to express themselves through a choice of music, drama or visual arts.

Source: Forham School

Over 200 bright and motivated students with learning differences and 68 faculty and staff trained to equip them for college since 1930, the Forman School has been transforming lives. Located on New Englands prep school campus in Litchfield, Connecticut, Forman School attracts local day students and boarding students from more than 25 states and 10 countries.

Here, high school students and postgraduates with diagnosed learning differences such as dyslexia and ADHD learn by exploring abundant academic, artistic, athletic, and social opportunities. Open to any students entering grades seven to 11, Formans four-week summer programme is a coed boarding and day camp that provides insight into the Schools innovative teaching techniques.

Forman is a place where every student is known well, connection amongst students and faculty feels like family, big dreams and aspirations are fulfilled, and students are cared deeply about. I havent seen anybody on campus, teacher or student, who hasnt been transformed, said Bill Bucklin, Formans English teacher.

*Some of the institutions featured in this article are commercial partners of Study International

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Well-rounded boarding schools that produce all-rounded graduates - Study International News

March 19, 2021

By: Beth Thomas, ANN, and Adventist Review

Global Youth Day (GYD), a mission initiative of the Youth Ministries department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, will be celebrated on March 20, 2021 around the world.

The theme of GYD for 2021 is Reaching Out: Colors, Cultures and Communities, which stems from the Bible story of the woman at the well and Jesus interaction with her.

GYD began as a day of mission outreach in 2013. During that inaugural event, only 12 service projects were organized world-wide. Over the past eight years, GYD has grown exponentially, touching thousands of young people and producing hundreds of creative service projects in local communities.

Its an opportunity for Seventh-day Adventist young people around the world to collaborate together and be the hands, feet, and heart of Jesus, said Gary Blanchard, Youth Ministries director for the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

How will Adventist youth accomplish this in 2021? By creating intentional opportunities for conversation, Blanchard said. Youth leaders in every region of the world church will cater outreach specific to their local communities on March 20.

Jesus is our example; we follow Him as His disciples. Its important for the church not to wait for people to come to us. We must go to them, Blanchard said.

Its also important to not stay within our own little groups, although its natural to do that, he added. If we do, we are never be able to reach the harvest. We need to reach out to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.

The Youth Ministries department provides suggestions for outreach projects to do, such as:

Kicking off GYD this year will be three one-hour programs hosted on the General Conference Youth Ministries Facebook pageeach designed for different time zones to participate. The first show will air on Friday, March 19 at 5:00 p.m. EST, followed by programs on Saturday (Sabbath), March 20 at 5:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. EST.

At the end of each hour program, the various regions of the world church will have the opportunity to share what youth groups are doing in their areas. At the end of the Sabbath day, all participants are invited to join a 30-minute wrap-up show at 5:30 p.m. EST to share testimonies and encourage one another.

The whole purpose of GYD is not just to have another program or event, Blanchard said, but to get young people excited about making service a lifestyle. We hope that reaching out to different colors, cultures and communities doesnt just happen one day a week or one day a year.

Blanchard points out that GYD is a perfect lead-in to the global Youth Week of Prayer that starts on that Saturday (Sabbath) evening and ends with Homecoming Sabbath on March 27. The theme for Week of Prayer 2021 is I Will Go, echoing Isaiahs answer when he was called by God.

Yeury Ferreira, director of Hispanic Ministries for the Greater New York Conference in the United States, wrote the devotional materials for the Week of Prayer that are available for download. Ferreiras messages focus on spiritual renewal, personal healing and forgiveness, guidance, and empowerment for service.

For more information and to view GYD festivities, visit Adventist Youth Ministries Facebook page, or the Facebook page of the Adventist Church. Follow Adventist Youth Ministries on Instagram.

The original version of this release was posted by Adventist News Network.

Continued here:

Global Youth Day to Reach Cultures, Colors, and Communities - Adventist Review

This house is located at 314 Burr Oak in Albion. It will serve as the campuss first substance-free house for the 2021-2022 academic year (Photo by Sondra Sewell).

Albion Colleges Office of Community Living (formerly known as Residential Life) is working to develop intentional living communities on campus in order to fit the unique needs of individuals. One of these intentional living communities is the brainchild of Dr. Shannon ONeill: the implementation of substance-free housing.

Substance-free housing is designed for students who are committed to being substance-free in all aspects of their lives. While substances are currently prohibited in most residential buildings, substance-free housing will add an additional layer to that. It is a commitment to refrain from all substances both inside and outside the residence.

Ryann Kaplan, a senior at Albion College, has devoted time as a practicum student to help ONeill bring this idea to life.

I think this opportunity is going to be really beneficial for a variety of people because the college environment is not conducive to people who are substance-free, said Kaplan.

Kaplan explained that students choose to partake in a substance-free lifestyle for many different reasons. These include but are not limited to dedication to academic success, religious reasons, addiction recovery and family/personal reasons.

I think the statistics are that on any given college campus, at least 20% of the students will be substance-free, said Kaplan.

So far, a high number of students have expressed interest in the new substance-free house that will be opened for the 2021-2022 academic year. The house, which is located at 314 Burr Oak, will be able to accommodate up to 15 students, including one resident assistant (R.A.) who will also be substance-free. Based on a Google Form that was sent out in the daily news email, 28 students have already expressed interest.

Trista L. Geier, associate director of Community Living and operations, said that she thinks this one house may not be enough.

I think theres some potential to expand substance-free housing across campus in the future, but I dont know what that looks like yet, said Geier.

In order to be able to live in the substance-free house, there will be a low-stakes, one-on-one interview process that students will need to go through. Kaplan explained that oftentimes, students may feel pressured by their parents to choose a substance-free option, even if they do not truly want it.

The interview is really just to gauge how serious you are about it, how committed you are, if you really are substance free. Kaplan said. Other than that, its going to be kind of on a first-come first-serve basis.

For the 2021-2022 academic year, the substance-free house will be open to sophomores, juniors and seniors. Some factors about the house are still up in the air, such as how much it will cost and whether it will be separated by gender. Additions to the house, including a firepit to host substance-free get togethers, are also being considered.

If students are interested in joining a substance-free living community, they can contact Dr. Shannon ONeill at soneill@albion.edu.

Read more from the original source:

College Introduces Substance-Free Housing The Albion College Pleiad Online - Albionpleiad

LaShyra Nolen was spending time with her family in December when the first COVID-19 vaccines were approved for use in the United States. During her visit, the second-year medical student at Harvard Medical School found herself fielding questions and listening as her relatives expressed reservations about the newly approved vaccines.

For Nolen, who is the first Black woman to serve as student council president at Harvard Medical School, it cemented the idea that there was a need to create safe spaces for intentional community conversations where Black residents could get their questions about the vaccines addressed and answered.

It was clear to her that her own loved ones worries and questions were not being addressed by public health officials or news coverage of the medical developments in the fight against the coronavirus.

I was really like, OK, we need to create a program where were bringing people from the community with other people from the community and really having honest conversations about this vaccine and what it means for our community and our loved ones, Nolen told Boston.com.

To address that gap, she founded the We Got Us empowerment project, a collective of Black community members, students, and health care professionals dedicated to providing education about the COVID-19 vaccines and inequities in health care. More than 40 pre-med and medical students are involved with the project, which is led by a team of seven, including Nolen, who serves as the founder and executive director.

The name of the project, which launched March 4, takes into account the ways historically the Black community has come together when it has been let down by the government, Nolen said.

We are going to be the ones who are creating the information, creating the access, and making this experience survivable and bearable for ourselves, she said. Were going to get out of it, and were going to be OK. Because no matter what, our community always has one anothers backs.

The work Nolen and her colleagues at the project are doing also aims to provide validation for the concerns being expressed about the COVID-19 vaccines. As the vaccines have rolled out, individuals have brought up past examples of medical racism pointing to Henrietta Lacks as well as the infamous U.S. study of untreated syphilis in Tuskegee as having a role in hesitancy around the vaccine.

But Nolen said she wanted the project also to address that there hasnt been as much recognition of the present-day experiences Black people have with medical racism and the ways it has manifested during the pandemic. Those present-day experiences are also a factor that deserve recognition, she said.

[The project] was a way of creating a space for us to come together that was validating our struggles, both past and present, Nolen said. And helping us understand what this vaccine really had to offer us.

We Got Us is focusing its outreach and work around three pillars: empowerment through education, conveying information not convincing, and harm reduction through promoting public health.

The project holds what it calls empowerment sessions with members of the community, where leaders from the group give a presentation that delves into the history of medical racism. During the sessions, project members talk about the COVID-19 vaccines, the different side effect panels for the doses, and what the trials for the inoculations showed.

They then go over questions members of the community have about the vaccines.

The next pillar of ours is that we want to convey, not convince, Nolen said. So were not out to try to convince people to get the vaccine. But really we just want to convey the information that we found as health professionals, students, and pre-health students. Really just sharing that with folks so that they have the same amount of knowledge as everyone else and theyre on an equal playing field once they decide to make that decision about whether or not they think the vaccine is right for them.

Language plays an important and powerful role, the medical student said. Even vaccine hesitancy doesnt accurately represent what is occurring, since there is a history and reasons for why members of the Black community do not trust a system that has inflicted harm on them, she said.

Theyre trying to figure out, what are my options and let me figure out when this is going to be best for me, if its best for me, and if I should even trust these institutions that have traditionally harmed me, Nolen said. And let me just get all the information that I need first before I make my decision.

What individuals are really doing is deliberating, she said. And organizations like We Got Us are working to help fill in the gaps of information.

Paying attention to language within the context of history is an important part of the outreach and work the group is doing.

We shouldnt be going into communities and trying to convince them to do anything because they have the right to make the best decision for themselves, Nolen said. But lets give them the tools and the knowledge and the access necessary to make sure that they have the agency to make that decision.

For the last pillar, harm reduction through public health, the project is focused on making sure individuals understand the importance of mask wearing, social distancing, and washing hands. When out in the community, project members give away packets they call empowerment kits containing masks, hand sanitizer, and information about where individuals can go to get vaccinated.

The problem with the discussion around vaccine hesitancy, Nolen said, is that it doesnt fully account for how Black communities dont have access to vaccination clinics because of an unequal and inequitable rollout.

We want to make sure as We Got Us that we tell you why the vaccine is important and give you all the facts you need to know about it, but we also want to make sure that we empower you and support you by making sure that once you decide to say yes, that you know where you need to go, how youre going to get there, and making sure that were putting pressure on our government leaders to make this accessible to everyone in our community, she said.

Since launching, We Got Us has joined the Black Boston COVID Coalition, which was started in May 2020 to advocate for actions and resources to stem the spread of COVID-19, with the goal of leaving Black residents and Black businesses in a better place post-pandemic than we were before and during. The project is also partnered with the Boston Public Health Commission to visit various COVID-19 testing sites this month to provide pamphlets they created about the vaccines, share the services the group is offering, and help answer questions in-person that community members might have about getting inoculated. The organizers are also planning to set up similar efforts at grocery stores, barbershops, parks, and other locations in Boston moving forward.

Theyre also working with community leaders in Brockton, with a planned collaboration with 24 Hr. Power, a group that uses graffiti as an art form to help individuals in recovery from addiction, on April 10. The project is partnered with Teen Empowerment in Boston, too, working with eight youth members who are doing empowerment sessions for other young people and high school students in the community.

We Got Us already has almost 20 different community partners and is looking to expand into Greater Boston, Nolen said.

We want to make sure wherever there are Black people who have been impacted disproportionately by this pandemic, we want to get to them, she said. And that means also working to make sure that were connected with our Afro-Latinex communities as well in Chelsea and thinking about how we can make sure that the work that we do is accessible as possible.

The medical student said while We Got Us was launched in response to COVID-19, it is an initiative that she believes must exist beyond the pandemic.

She sees the coalition of Black medical students, pre-med students, and health professionals from across the state tackling the work of changing policy and influencing policy as the pandemic comes to an end, switching their educational outreach to other health issues, such as maternal mortality and prevention of hypertension and diabetes.

Seeing the momentum and work that has occurred already has been amazing, she said.

Thats always been my objective, just as a future healer finding ways to make really genuine connections with community members in a way thats really rooted in healing and love, Nolen said. And I think that oftentimes, being a Harvard Medical student, it can feel like Im a part of this institution and this ivory tower that isnt as rooted in wanting to give that love back to the community and trying to really put the community first.

But the efforts being spearheaded by all her colleagues with We Got Us is a really beautiful example of the work shes always wanted to see done with health and community.

Everyone is all hands on deck, and theyre all doing such amazing, inspirational work, she said.

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A coalition of medical students is working to provide education and empowerment to Black residents related to COVID-19 - Boston.com

A coalition of California prosecutors, including California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, on Monday sued Brookdale Senior Living, which operates senior living communities across the country, for allegedly misrepresenting its quality of care and incorrectly discharging residents.

The lawsuit claims that Brookdale provided CMS with false data on Nursing Home Compare which were used to tabulate nursing home star ratings, which reflect nursing home care quality. Brookdale allegedly over-reported nursing staffing hours, which contributed to the facilities' four- and five-star ratings.

The lawsuit also alleged that Brookdale transferred or discharged residents without adequate notice in an attempt to make room for "residents who will bring in more money."

Becerra, President Joe Biden's choice for health secretary, said the state will ensure Brookdale will "face consequences for violating the public's trust."

"We are holding Brookdale accountable for artificially increasing its profits by cutting corners when transferring or discharging its patients. It lured individuals to its facilities through false promises about providing the highest quality care," Becerra said in a statement. "Choosing a skilled nursing facility is no simple task. Seniors, people with disabilities and their families rely heavily on accurate data to make that decision. Californians have been directly impacted by Brookdale's behavior."

A Brookdale spokesperson said the company is aware of the lawsuit, and related lawsuits against other skilled nursing providers, and "categorically den[ies] that Brookdale engaged in intentional or fraudulent conduct."

"We are disappointed in the allegations against the skilled nursing industry. Publicizing unproven allegations is reckless and undermines the public's confidence in a service necessary to the care of elderly individuals, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic," the spokesperson said. "Brookdale is dedicated to providing quality care to our residents and patients, and we take our mission of enriching the lives of those we serve seriously."

The lawsuit involves Brookdale's 10 skilled nursing facilities in California and the district attorneys of Kern, Alameda, San Diego and Santa Cruz Counties and the Los Angeles city attorney.

Brentwood, Tenn.-based Brookdale operates more than 700 senior living communities in 43 states, which can serve more than 64,000 residents.

"Residents of skilled nursing facilities are often our mothers, our fathers and our grandparents who are facing challenging times in their lives. Rules designed to protect nursing facility residents must be followed to ensure the dignity, respect, and compassion that residents deserve," Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer, who is leading the lawsuit, said in a statement. "When companies fail to comply with these rules, they create environments that subject the most vulnerable among us to unnecessary victimization, stress, and even physical harm. This case seeks accountability for offenders and is a reminder to all skilled nursing facilities of the importance of following rules designed to ensure the protection of vulnerable residents."

The rest is here:

California sues Brookdale Senior Living over quality concerns, fraud allegations - Modern Healthcare

As more and more people get vaccinated, the number of COVID-19 infections and deaths are finally declining. We know this pandemic wont last forever.

But what happens next? Do we just pick up where we left off in March 2020? Or have things changed in a fundamental way?

We asked 10 people to imagine life after the pandemic.

What will work look like after COVID? What about parenting? Friendship? Faith? Will our understanding of public health change, as epidemiologists race to get ahead of the next pandemic?

The truth is, nobody knows exactly what comes next. Uncertainty continues to reign. But for the first time in a long time, it feels like we can reasonably contemplate the future we are no longer locked in the perpetual present.

Read through each contributor's short essay below, or jump around to different topics using this navigation:

In the beginning, we had Zoom, and it was fine: virtual happy hours and online game nights that kept friendships alive when we had to be physically apart. But the pandemic separation couldnt last.

In late spring, I took my first illicit walk with friends; we wore masks and glanced sideways to see if wed be shamed. By summer, we were venting our frustrations during walks around a pond, holding birthday dinners outdoors, taking socially-distanced selfies with the timers on our phones. When winter came, we layered up like ice fishermen and huddled around fire pits on 30-degree nights.

I want to double-dip in the guacamole. I want to sip your cocktail to see if I like it, too.

Weve needed each other, and thats good to know. One of the hardest things about COVID has been the way it rendered friendship dangerous so many transmissions springing from in-person gatherings, as friends came together despite the directives. You can condemn all of those people as cavalier about public health. Or you could see their lapses as a feature of humanity.

Weve learned, this past year, that connection isnt the same when its remote. And while many of us have broken the rules at least once or twice, we should acknowledge the lengths weve gone to see each other in relative safety.

When the COVID threat is gone, I predict that well double down on the joys of physical friendship. I want to live dangerously with my besties. I want to double-dip in the guacamole. I want to sip your cocktail to see if I like it, too. I want to scream together into a karaoke microphone. Ill pick the first song: With a Little Help From My Friends. --Joanna Weiss,Editor, Northeastern University'sExperience magazine

In some ways, COVID-19 will be remembered as a triumph of biomedical science. We developed safe and effective vaccines something that usually takes a decade or more in less than a year. And, despite a number of stumbles, improved therapeutics reduced mortality from the virus in hospitals more than fourfold in a matter of months.

But COVID-19 provided, even more memorably, a terrifying and revealing view of our failure to create a world that generates health.

Once this pandemic ends, well undoubtedly be having more conversations about how to prevent future pandemics, and ensure a healthier future. But will we be thinking about health in a bigger sense?

Fundamentally, health is not health care.

Fundamentally, health is not health care.Decades of underinvestment in healthy environments, adequate education, safe workspaces and livable wages resulted in a country that was unhealthy and vulnerable to the ravages of a novel virus. The U.S. has had the highest per capita rate of COVID-19 infections throughout the pandemic.

This moment should teach us that avoiding the next pandemic will require us to rethink how we approach health, so there are no haves and have nots. Its recognition that we cannot be healthy, unless we build a world with safe housing, good schools, livable wages, gender and racial equity, clean air, drinkable water, a fair economy.

Its time to change how we think about health. --Sandro Galea,Dean, Boston University, School Of Public Health

My husband and I are in our late 60s. Fed, housed, and able to freelance, weve weathered the past year with gratitude and relative ease. But like many of our peers, the pandemic has intensified our feelings about how we want to live the rest of our lives, in intentional community. Our choices feel quite personal, but they are representative of emerging trends.

In a post-pandemic future, we can expect to see the biggest change in where and with whom the elderly live. With 40% of all fatalities, the viruss impact on residents of nursing homes has been earth-shaking, fueling peoples desire to age in place or live in settings where mutual aid is the norm. Stunned by the isolation of the pandemic, most of the new recruits to our co-housing community have been people over 60. Local programs supporting in-home care are on the rise, and state and federal programs paying family caregivers are also likely to expand.

Technological advances will also pave the way for aging in place. Telehealth is more widely accepted, and devices like smart speakers will soon notify loved ones if you call out for help. Indeed, the pandemic has highlighted our intergenerational interdependence. With schools and daycares closed, working parents have moved in with their parents so that they can help mind the kids, and many adult children, having been deprived of the ability to see their quarantined loved ones, are determined to pre-empt that scenario in the future.

Dont take your family and friends for granted. Protect your health. Accept that youre going to die and live accordingly.

Will market volatility make it less likely that people will retire? Or will the COVID-induced knowledge of our own vulnerability fuel our urgency to pursue what we value versus what were paid for? I dont know. But I do know that COVID has deepened the lessons that aging inevitably bestows: Dont take your family and friends for granted. Protect your health. Accept that youre going to die and live accordingly. --Julie Wittes Schlack, Writer

I never harbored any illusions about living in a culture that values mothers. From day one, my experience as a mom has been peppered with moments of rage and periods of existential crisis. I love the love of motherhood, but the work of mothering is mostly unsupported and un-respected. The nonstop parenting, teaching, cooking, cleaning that mothering has entailed during the pandemic has confirmed that this type of labor is also, for me, largely a drag.

Although the beauty of motherhood is widely celebrated on Instagram and elsewhere, our primary value lies in our ability to raise the next generation of workers and consumers. As the pandemic has shown, mothers needs dont really seem to matter. Our needs dont impact the bottom line.

The pandemic calcified my fury that mothers are expected to hold up the whole of a very broken system, while being given nothing in return.

The pandemic calcified my fury that mothers are expected to hold up the whole of a very broken system, while being given nothing in return. In the past year, weve seen a flurry of essays and reporting showing that women and mothers have been disproportionately burdened with the impossible task of keeping society afloat (the latest New York Times series is appropriately titled, The Primal Scream.) The coverage is affirming and necessary, but not a single mother I know has been surprised about any of the awful statistics or heartbreaking personal stories.

When this is over, Im looking forward to no longer being the sole provider of all things to my kids. But I also wonder if the tidal wave of momentum inspired by the pandemic will carry us through to something better than think-pieces.

We need equal and fair pay for mothers. We need humane prenatal and postnatal care, and paid parental leave legislation. We need to reform our racist health care system that has led to countless Black mothers deaths. We need to end the debate on whether womens reproductive rights are actual rights. And we need to radically rethink our capitalist system, which uses mothers and other care workers to uphold the primary concerns of buying and selling, while denying them adequate compensation or even cultural respect for their indispensable work.

I wonder if womens rage will coalesce into action. I hope so. --Sara Petersen, Writer

I spent many nights in the last year contemplating Gods wisdom and purpose, while fielding the despair and weariness of many Muslims who sought my counsel. They wanted to know, was COVID a pandemic or the plague, and what was the difference? Was it Gods wrath or Gods cleansing? Was there a collective spiritual remedy to make it all go away?

As we begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel, I wonder if and how our faith as Americans has changed.

It was no coincidence that the height of the pandemic in Massachusetts last spring struck during the Holy days of all three Abrahamic faiths. Easter, Passover and Ramadan came and went in our homes. We had to learn to celebrate without the pomp of public worship. People who attended church, temple and mosque but never took it upon themselves to utter their own personal prayers were forced to petition God themselves.

God forced us to stop our schedules to give us a moment to take faith into our own hands...

I watched my own teenage children reluctantly read the Quran aloud at home for the Eid Holidays (without the help of the entire mosque). As life returns to normal, I suspect well have a deeper appreciation for our respective worship-communities and the spaces of comfort they provide us.

I also think the goals of the American faithful have shifted slightly. We want a little less of the world now, and more authentic connections with real people. God forced us to stop our schedules to give us a moment to take faith into our own hands and for the most part we did.

Now I believe God will allow us to embrace one another again, both literally and figuratively. --Taymullah Abdul-Rahman, Imam, Massachusetts Department of Correction

My greatest fear is that K-12 education in a post-COVID world will not change enough. As an 8th grade teacher, the past 12 months have completely changed how I approach my work.

In-person, Ms. Avashia was all about urgency and rigor and content, content, content. Pandemic-teaching Ms. Avashia moves much more slowly with her students.

Now, I focus my efforts on deep learning, instead of coverage of pages of standards. Each day, we work through one meaningful task, instead of trying to speed through three or four. We play more in class using riddles or visual puzzles, telling jokes in the chat, changing our Zoom profile pictures, to make each other laugh. Ive even dressed up in costumes multiple times this year just to bring kids some moments of humor.

Teaching during the pandemic has pushed me to be so much more human with my students, and to teach into their humanity. And that, at its core, is completely different from how education has traditionally been structured in our society.

I believe deeply in the democratic cornerstone of public education. But we have never succeeded in fulfilling its promise for all of our students, particularly those students most impacted by racial and economic injustice in our country.

Our school buildings have been sites of over-policing of students bodies, of adultifying and criminalizing adolescent behavior, of reducing student learning down to what can be demonstrated on standardized tests.

We have an opportunity to walk away from those practices forever. To build educational settings that are grounded in students humanity, and designed with their voices, needs and interests at the center. To ensure that our schools are structured and staffed to prioritize relationship-building, robust mental health services and targeted academic supports. We can affirm the notion that schools are cornerstones of both our democracy and our communities, by fully funding the work that we as a society are asking them to do.

We can affirm the notion that schools are cornerstones of both our democracy and our communities...

We can do all of this. We should do all of this. The question is: Will we? --Neema Avashia, Teacher, McCormack Middle School

The culture of time at many companies wasnt healthy before the pandemic. Some organizations were trying to address bad habits (no time to think, everything-gets-done-by-meetings culture), before new problems like Zoom fatigue and FOLO (Fear Of Logging Off) took hold.

The pandemic accelerated a comeuppance about how the workplace can and should evolve. I think the lessons we learned this year will almost certainly lead to greater flexibility in the long term.

This year proved that a lot of work can be done remotely. It also made clear the handful of things better done in person bonding, mentoring and new relationship building. Companies will need to bring people together regularly to ensure the kismet that happens in 3D.

The pandemic accelerated a comeuppance about how the workplace can and should evolve.

Every worker needs time and space for quiet work, time and space for meetings, and time and space for informal and more casual communication. This was true pre-pandemic, and its still true. Future workspaces are likely to reflect these needs: large library-like areas where people can go to do their thinking (like the quiet car on a train); lots of formal and informal meeting areas; and administrative spaces to deal with email and chat with coworkers.

Back-to-back meetings 7 to 10 Zooms a day is not an effective way to work. It leaves no time to think, or to actually do the work generated in those meetings.

Companies seem to have finally learned that their employees are whole people. Work is part of their lives, and their lives beyond work are essential and valuable to their well-being. In our post-COVID world, I suspect the role of chief people officer and chief wellness officer will evolve, and be seen as a critical role for a healthy organization.

COVID forced organizations to change. It forced them to be more flexible, and that experience highlighted what went missing in a 100% remote environment. The job of leaders is now to stop, reflect and embrace what we discovered in the last year, and consciously build workplaces and workspaces that harness those lessons, to enable companies to achieve their goals and workers to feel fulfilled. --Julie Morgenstern, Productivity Expert, Author

Ive lived in Chelsea my whole life, but I dont remember my community ever being in the news as much as it was during the first peak of the pandemic. With the highest infection rate in Massachusetts and blocks long lines of people waiting for food Chelsea was on display for the world to see. Even my family in Argentina saw news reports of our city being slammed by the raging pandemic.

During those difficult days, people opened up their hearts for the residents of our community. Those of us involved in addressing the coronavirus pandemic in Chelsea, received an outpouring of support through donations, volunteering, well wishes and prayers for recovery and hope.

Other low-income, ethnically and racially diverse communities like Chelsea faced the same wrath. Years of structural oppression and racism leading to health, environmental and economic disparities, have made the effects of COVID-19 so much more pronounced.

My post-pandemic hope is that the hearts and minds of those outside of these cities remember how much communities like Chelsea have sacrificed. Will you remember us in six months? Six years? Sixteen years from now?

Will the people of Massachusetts continue to have communities like Chelsea in their hearts and minds?

Will the people of Massachusetts continue to have communities like Chelsea in their hearts and minds? Will you reflect on our disproportionate environmental and industrial burdens, poor public transportation, food insecurity, housing instability and low wages for essential workers? Will others say, We can shoulder a little bit of the burden, so its not all on the backs of low-income communities of color?

We must learn from the past year, and from the reasons for Chelseas soaring infection rates. We must pass laws to protect environmental justice communities. We must say no to new toxic facilities. We must prioritize the health and well-being of all people, but particularly those who have faced oppression, discrimination and racism, which caused these health disparities. --Roseann Bongiovanni, Executive Director, GreenRoots

Im sitting behind my screen, fractured from the world.

I dont feel the need to see other people as much as I did earlier in the pandemic. Has something happened to me on a molecular level? Is the isolation hitting other writers and artists the way its hitting me?

We already live in a world of separate platforms. News broadcasts spin the same events in different ways for different people. The platforms dictate what we see based on what the platforms think we want to see. They strut the arrogance of knowing us better than we do. And now the pandemic has further alienated all of us.

I hope the isolation weve endured this year wont stunt our ability to connect to each other.

This worries me, because I love when artists create the specific thats felt universally. I wrote a book about a boy and his family in rural Jamaica. So far it has resonated in other parts of the world. But if we continue to be so isolated will we be too separated to partake in varied experiences?

It was only a short while ago when some Hollywood execs deemed a movie like Black Panther was too ethnic to have widespread appeal. They doubted that the specific had universality. The film proved them wrong, but what if we continue to grow apart, divided? Will some art be discarded as irrelevant because large swaths of people cant relate, cant see the universality?

I believe in art as a unifying force, as a medium that reveals our commonalities and reasons to strive together. I hope the isolation weve endured this year wont stunt our ability to connect to each other. --Desmond Hall, Author, Visual Artist

With more than half a million lives lost in the U.S., the COVID crisis has yielded a sobering lesson about human resistance to change, even in the face of devastating consequences.

Wearing masks in public? A no-brainer. Avoiding large indoor gatherings? Ditto. Yet when official directives and common sense have impinged on individual choice, too often they have collided with indifference, indignation and defiance.

Some wonder if there are lessons to be learned from the pandemic as we seek to avert the worst ravages of climate change. With many working remotely rather than traveling daily to their offices, reduced commuting has doubtless contributed to the past years drop of more than 10% in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Its a pretty sure bet, though, that commuters will refill our highways, with more people than ever traveling by car for fear of infection on public transit.

Air travel, too, is likely to rebound as business trips come back into vogue and leisure travelers take to the skies.

The COVID crisis has yielded a sobering lesson about human resistance to change, even in the face of devastating consequences

Rather than placing our bets on behavioral change, we need to demand of government and industry what we cannot expect of ourselves. All levels of government must require a true gearing-up of renewable energy as our primary electricity source.

In addition, the federal government must mandate a shift to cleaner, leaner motor vehicles a challenge bigger than simply electrifying the behemoths that now roll off our production lines. And governing bodies at all levels must embrace an unprecedented commitment to energy justice, making it possible for low-income people to make their homes more efficient, buy energy-efficient appliances, and install solar power on their rooftops and in their communities.

It would be folly to rely on new patterns of human behavior emerging from the COVID catastrophe to address climate change. We need to make an all-out investment in retooling the engines of our society. --Philip Warburg, Senior Fellow, Boston University Institute Of Sustainable Energy

Amy Gorel, Lisa Creamer and Kathleen Burge helped with the production of this piece. The audio essay was was produced by Cloe Axelson, with help from David Greene; it was mixed by Michael Garth.

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We Asked 10 People To Imagine Life After The Pandemic. Here's What They Said - WBUR

By Jenny Englerth

In early February the Biden administration announced an important Community Health Center Vaccination Program to guarantee greater access to vaccines for underserved communities through Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC).

This plan affirms the importance of FQHCs, also known as Community Health Centers, often located in underserved regions of our state providing accessible care to populations most affected by COVID-19. A recognized leader in comprehensive primary and preventive care to patients of all ages in urban and rural areas, we accept every patient, regardless of their ability to pay.

As the President and CEO of Family First Health, serving 25,000 patients every year, I believe the federal governments decision to focus vaccine distribution though the FQHC network recognizes the important role our health centers play in helping to solve the massive divide in access to quality care, even beyond the vaccine.

Bridging the expansive levels of disparity in care in our country requires intentional focus on how healthcare should be reflective of our changing communities in order to provide care through the lens of the unique needs of our growing diverse populations. We must meet our patients where they are in their health journey in order to build trust to motivate patients to put themselves first with routine care.

Now is the time to have serious conversations about how access to quality care affects every corner of every community. According to a Columbia University study, the number of Americans living in poverty grew by eight million in a six-month span in 2020 amid the pandemic. That means the care FQHCs deliver is in even greater demand than just 12 months ago.

Throughout COVID, national headlines have continued to draw our attention to the disparities in health outcomes within communities of color. National data shows that Black and Hispanic populations represent the highest at-risk individuals with the greatest challenges to accessing health care services.

Im proud to say that Family First Health, like many FQHCs, has assumed an essential frontline role in establishing care models designed around the realities of our communities. And were making a felt difference at a time when the need is growing at rapid pace. Our goal is to build trust as a fundamental aspect of our relationship.

We understand that for decades minority communities have struggled to build relationships with health care organizations who fail to understand their needs. FQHCs are the exception to this history of mistrust.

We are truly a health center that looks and sounds like the community we serve. From Spanish-speaking providers, to accessible and diverse health care professionals and health care facilities actually located in their local neighborhoods, we are the quality health care home of the community.

Our team has taken on the necessity to be innovative in how we deliver care most recently expanding the reach of our health center at Hannah Penn K-8 School in York City.

Through a $2 million multi-year grant from the United Health Foundation, we are taking care into the school to reach students while deploying community health workers into the school community and surrounding neighborhoods to build trusting relationships with the families living in the Hannah Penn area.

By establishing a true school-based health care model, were tearing down barriers and building healthier futures for our children. Our organization was not willing to accept the declining health of our communitys youth and we rose to the occasion.

The Hannah Penn Center is now the countys only school-based health center with medical services also available to community residents. This facility which already provides access to health care, preventative care and mental health services, will now help those living within that community to seek out and receive more accessible care, including COVID vaccinations, from a trusted facility, where patients and local residents feel most at ease.

This level of familiarity is important to how we care, and we must absolutely continue to evaluate how we continue to innovate with a constant lens of our changing patient. This will be especially important as we take on the post COVID care environment. Patients, of very diverse backgrounds, are able to manage their health due to constant fear of infection and numerous other pressures. How we develop care models in the midst of this massive shift in consistent care will require a level of understanding like weve never faced before.

Community Health Centers will meet this need and play a more vital role than ever before. Our knowledge of our community will be a key factor in how we foster community health.

Family First Health and the other FQHCs throughout Pennsylvania will be the difference in supporting the advancement of the health of our broader community through our established roots within the most vulnerable communities. Our ability to provide primary and integrated healthcare services is essential to our communities and our economies recovering from this pandemic.

We look forward to caring for you and your community.

Jenny Englerth is President/CEO for Family First Health.

Originally posted here:

Community health centers are helping to get vaccines to people who need it most | Opinion - pennlive.com