Community & Public Health

Transportation barriers prevent many Detroiters from accessing vital care at John Mailey’s clinic, where weight and blood pressure management are offered. This issue contributes to higher hospitalization rates and a $150 billion annual cost to the U.S. healthcare system.

Owning a car doesn’t necessarily fix the problem either, researchers say.

Ninety-nine year old Ronghui Ye lives in a senior housing complex subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the federal Section 8 program, which provides long-term rental assistance for low-income families. Residents who live in these units pay about 30% of their income in rent. Ye moved in 2000, after winning a lucky draw — a system now replaced by decades-long waiting lists.

Rural EMTs face long shifts, long transports, limited resources, rising mental-health and chronic-disease calls, and a heavy emotional toll.

For many CalFresh recipients across Orange County with large concentrations in immigrant neighborhoods like Santa Ana, Garden Grove, and Westminster, November arrived with empty EBT balances, stalled benefits, and no clear answers.

Part Three of The Mercury’s Pulse Check series explores how reduction of Ryan White funding could mean increased spread of the disease and new challenges for those living with it.

Rural EMS services often have long response times, chronic underfunding, staff turnover, and high mental health strains, leaving communities with limited access to timely, life-saving emergency care.

Two disaster experts and an investigative journalist share reporting strategies for covering disasters and their aftermath as federal support recedes.

For Vietnamese seniors living in a mobile home park in Santa Ana, limited English proficiency make navigating leases, code enforcement, or eviction notices difficult to understand. They teeter on the edge of eviction for failure to comply with the numerous demands from the management.