The Center for Health Journalism has teamed with ethnic media organizations in California to report together on health equity, immigrant health, community well-being and gaps in health care in a unique collaborative learning effort. Learn more about the initiative here.
Sevety-four-year-old Cha Seung-pyo volunteers at the LA Korean Community Center everyday from 9a.m. to 3 p.m. On average, he assists 20 individuals daily with their various needs. Volunteering has given Cha a sense of purpose and helps stave off loneliness and isolation.
Research indicates that women tend to become dependent on substances, including fentanyl, more quickly, and take longer to seek help due to gender roles. Fentanyl use has skyrocketed in recent years, even among pregnant women. In the Tenderloin district of the San Francisco, Bay Area, reporter Dayanna Monroy talks to pregnant women who struggle with addiction.
Young adults 18 to 24 years old who are aging out of the foster care system face the risk of housing instability and homelessness. One in five foster youth become unhoused upon turning 18. Young Asians are further hampered because they are not seen as needing support. This is the story of a twenty-one year old Korean American woman who faced innumerable challenges in finding a stable home after leaving foster care.
Cathay Manor, a senior housing project with 270 housing units in LA's Chinatown, is home to low-income elderly residents. The two elevators in the building have never functioned smoothly, leaving residents trapped and isolated and, in some cases, causing injury and great harm.
The “food as medicine” movement is growing in popularity as more people look to plant-based solutions for ills that continue to plague the Black community at disproportionate rates.
Financial and structural inequities and challenges, including lack of affordable homes, discrimination in the mortgage lending process and limited access to credit, restrict Latinos’ housing options to less affluent neighborhoods.
The Inland Empire region of Southern California is experiencing record-breaking heat, which is particularly dangerous for the homeless population. The heat can exacerbate pre-existing health conditions and increase the risk of heat-related illnesses, which can lead to hospitalization or even death.
Low income seniors struggle with unaffordable rents in densely populated Koreatown, in Los Angeles. Amid the high concentration of residents, there is a severe shortage of low-income and senior apartments with long waiting lists for government-assisted public housing.
A one-bed-one-bath "hotel" room in Monterey Park is home to 12 Chinese immigrants who live in overcrowded, unsanitary and potentially deadly conditions. There are dozens of such "hotels" or "boarding houses" that help newly arrived immigrants who don't have a work permit and savings. Without this room-sharing option, they would have to sleep on the streets.
Finding housing for loved ones who suffer from chronic mental illness is a big challenge. State and federal housing resources are typically geared towards t experiencing homelessness. It doesn't help that living in an unstable environment can greatly undermine maintaining stability or recovery.
