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August/September 2003 | Volume 1, Number 11
Promoting
the Environmental Justice
& Health Union mission, Catalyst identifies training,
research, policies, events, and funding opportunities that
foster partnerships to eliminate environmental disease in
low-income communities of color within the United States. To do
that, Catalyst depends on information submitted by an advisory
board of environmental health professionals and environmental
justice activists as well as our readers.
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TOOLBOX
Strategic use of technology
The Welfare Law Center's Low-Income
Networking and Communications (LINC) Project helps low-income
grassroots groups use technology strategically to build
low-income community leadership and computer technology
skills. LINC helps groups develop and maintain websites
and e-mail lists.
Connecting to the Net
Selecting the best internet connection can be difficult
given that the choices range from dial-up modems to dsl
and cable. An article in Techsoup
recently described the pros and cons of each option.
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OTHER
REPORTS OF INTEREST
Environmental triggers for cancer
The recent Institute of
Medicine publication Cancer
and the Environment outlines the varied ways the environment
affects the expression of genes and the development of cancer.
A section on special populations discusses health disparities.
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ADVISORY
BOARD
Lynn Battle
Executive Director, Citizen's
Lead Education & Poisoning Prevention (Birmingham, AL)
Michael
Green
Executive Director, Center
for Environmental Health (Oakland, CA)
Swati
Prakash
Environmental Health Director, West
Harlem Environmental Action (New York, NY)
Alejandra
Tres
Executive Director, Association
of Environmental Health Academic Programs (Portland,
OR)
The Environmental Justice and Health Union is an independent
project of the Center for
Environmental Health
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The Next Step...
The
Race Information Ban,
Proposition 54, will be voted upon by Californians in the
October gubernatorial election. If Proposition 54 passes,
the ability of researchers to identify health disparities
in the most racially diverse state in the U.S. will be severely
compromised. State-wide information, such as that recently
developed in North
Carolina, will be impossible to collect. As trends in
disparities will remain poorly understood, potential solutions
will remain difficult to implement.
The irony is that at a time when the threat posed by Proposition
54 is great, the realization the need to address health
disparities is growing. The National Institutes of Health
has provided more than $60 million to create eight Centers
for Population Health and Health Disparities. It is
not surprising when such efforts are challenged by groups
that seek to ignore the continued presence of racial disparities
in health. However, the failure of the health profession
to develop support among people living in at-risk communities
who are suspicious or unaware of the value of collecting
racial data remains daunting. The long path public health
professionals must travel is reflected in polls
indicating people
of color are more likely to support Proposition 54 than
are white people.
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PARTNERSHIPS
Trust
The Health Disparities
Collaboratives seeks to transform healthcare by changing
how providers deliver care, patients participate in their
own care, and communities strengthen provider-patient partnerships.
Consisting primarily of federal agencies and community health
centers, the primary focus (as exemplified by the asthma model
) is on how providers can enable patients to better
manage - not eliminate - their illness.
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ENVIRONMENTAL
HEALTH
Pesticide exposure data
The CDC recently released the pesticide
exposure data for the 1982-1984 Hispanic Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES). While difficult to
compare to the 2002 data examined
in Environmental
Exposure and Racial Disparities, it appears that DDT
and DDE levels in Mexican-Americans have diminished.
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ENVIRONMENTAL
JUSTICE
 Zoning solutions
The National Academy of Public Administration report, Addressing
Community Concerns: How environmental justice relates to
land use planning and zoning, recommends that local
governments encourage public participation in environmental
justice communities and use planning and zoning authorities
to mitigate public health threats.
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SUBSCRIBE and PROVIDE
The
Catalyst
is an online newsletter sent monthly to Environmental
Justice & Health Union members.
Groups with annual budgets of less than $200,000
receive free EJHU
membership. The EJHU website (www.ejhu.org) includes
information for activists and professionals about training,
research, and policies, EJHU membership, and past issues of
Catalyst.
If you want to provide information to be considered for inclusion in Catalyst, include a contact name, website, and e-mail address. Please forward the information to ejhu@ejhu.org
or the following address:
Max Weintraub - Director
Environmental Justice and Health Union
528 61st Street, Suite
A
Oakland, CA 94609
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CLOSING DATES
August 1
The
Community Foundation - Riverside and San Bernardino, CA
Community impact;
Up to $10,000
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
August 4
The
Health Net - Santa Clara, CA
Health partnership;
Up to $25,000
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
August 21
The
Wellmark Foundation - Iowa and South Dakota
Chronic disease prevention partnership;
Up to $50,000
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
August 29
Progressive
Technology Project
Organizing and technology support;
Up to $10,000
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
September 15
Kansas
Health Foundation - Kansas
Recognition grants;
Up to $25,000
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
September 15
The
California Endowment
Local opportunities;
Up to $50,000
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
September 17
NIH
- Partnerships for communication
Up to $900,000
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
September 30
EPA
- Partnerships for communication
Up to $100,000
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EVENTS CALENDAR
August 5
Testing
pesticides on humans
Close of comment period
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August 23 - 26, Atlanta GA
National
association of community health centers
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August 27 - 29, Nashville TN
Minority
health summit
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sept 9-12, Phoenix AZ
ASTHO
- NACCHO
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September 11 - 13, Nashville TN
Health
disparities collaboratives national congress
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sept 15 - 16, Research Triangle Park NC
National
advisory environmental health sciences
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
September 15 - 16, Bethesda MD
National
children's study advisory committee
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September 30, Berkeley CA
Defend
Environmental Justice, Defeat Prop. 54!
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Return to EJHU or Catalyst
homepage
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