Inequality in the Heat: Recognizing, Changing, and Supporting Our Communities
From the President’s Desk
With the temperatures into the 100s, it’s important for all of us to recognize the inequalities all around us so that we know they are there, work to change them, and help people in our communities to live better, healthier lives.
Air conditioning is a privilege that only some of us have. Those in older buildings, those renting in low-income areas, those unable to afford repairing their A/C, or those unhoused, so many around us are suffering in the heat.
Local governments open cooling stations in certain areas when temps are above certain degrees, but they are few and far between and close by 8 pm. Libraries and community centers are limited in their hours and days open. Let us be aware of people in our neighborhoods and communities who are suffering in the heat.
Volunteering briefly at a food closet in the south area, I was shocked at the number of people right down the street from me who were visiting the food closet week after week after week.
We never know what people right next door to us are going through. Let us pray for grace, love, and kindness for everyone we come into contact with and pray continually for the world to be a better place than yesterday.
Serene Erby
President