Social Justice
Christina Bordenet, Gracie Torres, Austin Wu, Christian Zvokel
So·cial jus·tice: Justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society.
Louisville Metro Demographics and Health Inequity
"In Louisville, health equity means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be healthy and reach their full human potential. A person’s identities, whatever they may be, should not predict how long or how well one will live."
Around the United States, and worldwide, great disparities exist among groups with different identities, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, age, disability, etc. The Louisville Metro is not exempt from this sad truth. This section, which takes data from the Louisville Metro Health Equity Report 2017, briefly highlights some of the patterns of health inequity in Louisville. For a more in-depth look into the Louisville Metro's state of health equity, feel free to read the full report linked below.
- 2.1% Homosexual
- 1.9% Bisexual
- 14.5% Have a Disability
- 54.8% Follow a Religion
- 6.7% Foreign Born
Life Expectancy
- Males have lower life expectancy than females
- Whites have lower life expectancy than blacks
- Hispanics have highest life expectancy
Tobacco and Drug Use
- Roughly a quarter of adults over 18 are current smokers
- The number of students (Grades 6-12) who smoke is declining
HIV Rates
- "Those aged 13-24 accounted for 25.73% of new HIV cases in Jefferson County from 2011-2015."
Drug and Alcohol Education
Our Place
Mission Statement: "Our Place is a non-profit organization, whose mission is to provide education, prevention, and intervention services, for individuals of all ages, families, organizations, and communities who are presently or potentially impacted by alcohol, tobacco, or other drugs of abuse."
Jefferson County, KY:
- Top county for heroin-related overdose deaths (122 deaths)
- Top county for fentanyl-related overdose deaths (182 deaths)
- Top county for deaths related to fentanyl and heroin in combination (59 deaths
Floyd County, IN:
- Number of drug poisoning deaths (per 100,000 population): 44
- Note: the population of Floyd County is currently 76,778 as of 2015.
Our Place provides services ranging from substance abuse assessments and urine drug screens to community based eduation and training,employee assistance services, and tobacco prevention and cessation services. They also provide various programs for youth, individuals, and families. These programs include The Journey, Families in Transition, and New Beginnigns. For schol-aged children, Our Place conducts Footprints for Life, Afterschool ROCKS, and LifeSkills.
Our first day volunteering at Our Place, we worked on a variety of projects with the facility. These things included painting offices, cleaning the building, digitizing records and documents, sorting shirts, among other things.
Our second time volunteering at Our Place, we had the opportunity to go out into the New Albany community and survey gas stations, convenience stores, pharmacies, and grocery stores regarding their tobacco sales. We researched criteria such as prices, placement, and location of tobacco.
Each day, we helped do important work with the staff at Our Place. While some things may seem less important - organizing piles of shirts, for example, everything we did made an impact. By cleaning and organizing, we take care of things that are less critical so the amazing staff can focus on doing their jobs.
While the amount of people who die from overdose related deaths has risen in recent years, many actions are being taken to combat it. Our Place is an incredible community asset, and the work they are doing is making an impact - the research they are doing on tobacco placement will be used to lobby policymakers into changing laws surrounding tobacco. By working with children who may be at risk early in their lives and constantly returning from elementary to high school, there is the possibility that children who may have been affected by drug usage will not after the program.
https://odcp.ky.gov/Documents/2016%20ODCP%20Overdose%20Fatality%20Report%20Final.pdf
http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/app/#!/indiana/2016/measure/factors/138/data
Painting offices at Our Place!
Support for people to live positively
House of Ruth
Mission Statement: "House of Ruth provides housing and support services for people with HIV/AIDS and their families who are homeless, at risk of losing their homes, or need financial help. We do this through a continuum of services: emergency shelter, short and long-term housing, mental health counseling, substance abuse treatment, advocacy for clients, and basic needs assistance to provide food, clothes, rent, utilities, public transportation, and back-to-school support."
Founded in 1992, House of Ruth owns 17 housing units, a shelter, and the former site of St. Matthews United Church of Christ to support people affected by HIV/AIDs.
What we did: Food packaging for clients, sorting items in their clothes bank, and grounds maintenance outside, raking leaves and laying down new mulch
How it made an impact: The work we provided freed up time and energy for House of Ruth's staff to focus on other tasks that we might not have the qualifications for. The outside landscaping in particular improved the outside appearance of House of Ruth's grounds (ranging from ~80-110 years old now) as well as enhancing neighborhood character
Housing
- Single-room occupancy: House of Ruth provides rooms for HIV/AIDS positive people facing homelessness. This is both less expensive than providing conventional full-sized housing units and healthier than traditional shelters
- Sense of place and dignity: A room also provides privacy, an address, and a sense of place and permanence when someone is in a precarious situation
- Providing a healthy environment: Traditional shelters can be not conducive for people with compromised immune systems, such as those with HIV/AIDS. Single-occupancy rooms limit the transmission of disease and provide a cleaner environment
Emergency services
- Food, consumables, and other daily necessities
- Case management: Planning to help meet mental, social, and economic goals
- Financial support: Rent support, moving expenses, furniture and utility costs
- Provides 'capital' for people in need - upfront expenses people might not have and limiting factors to breaking out of poverty
In it to end hunger. In it to end addiction. In it to end homelessness.
The Lord's Kitchen Ministries
Mission Statement: "Bringing hope. Sharing love. Changing lives. The Lord's Kitchen exists to bring hope, share love and change lives by providing critical support services and spiritual encouragement to those bound by food insecurity, displacement and addiction. We envision an environment in which marginalized peoples are able to break free from the chains that bind them and inspire change in our community through the help , love and service of others."
Every day the people of The Lord's Kitchen Ministries serve lunch to those bound by food insecurity. They also have food distribution every day during the week. The foods given out include canned vegetables, meat, noodles, bread, and some fresh produce.
Those currently food insecure:
- Rate of Insecurity: 16.1%
- This is not the worst of the counties, but it is not great.
- Rate of Child Food Insecurity: 17%
- This is very good in comparison to other counties.
- Above other nutrition program threshold of 185%: 31%
- Between 130%-185% poverty: 18%
- Below SNAP threshold 130% poverty: 51%
- Additional money needed to meet food needs: $63,400,000
Our experience at The Lord's Kitchen was truly amazing. We began our journey with them at one of their two locations in Louisville. We were upset to hear that, upon arrival, they had too many volunteers so we could not be of help. As we were trying to figure out what to do, Katie pointed out that this is a good thing! Though we are unable to help them, they have others that consistently come to give back to their community. This was a great perspective and it resonated with all of us.
Luckily, they sent us to their other location a mile or so away. Once we arrived, we were welcomed and sent right away to help because dinner was to start soon. Their pastor then began preaching from the Bible. He received a great response from his audience. Everyone really understood what he was saying because he connected with them. He did not talk about things that would be unrelated to their situation.
Once everyone finished their dinner, it was food distribution time. There were boxes full of items from pasta to canned vegetables. There also were rows of bread and tables topped with fresh fruit. The line to get in was so long and it felt like it never became shorter. This was very hard to see because so many people needed this food, but watching the joy come on their faces as their bags grew full made us all happy.
Even though it seems like all we did was hand out food, we provided a need to a community. They have so many great volunteers and it was a pleasure being able to work alongside them.
