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At the headquarters of Covenant House Washington in Southeast D.C., a nonprofit serving youth experiencing homelessness, ten twin-sized black canvas cots fill a white-tiled alcove on the main floor. The space serves as an emergency shelter for homeless young people, which Covenant House calls “The Sanctuary.” In keeping with its name, the walls are a deep, soothing blue. Five of the cots are for women and five for men, which is far short of the demand. The room is empty now, in...

NPR's Rachel Martin talks Dr. Sandro Galea, dean of Boston University School of Public Health, about how people can be affected by constant exposure to mass tragedy. DAVID GREENE, HOST: You know, we talk a lot about how communities are reshaped by tragedies, how people's lives are changed when they experience violence firsthand. But how about those who watch these tragedies and disasters unfold live through phone and television screens? How are those lives affected by a constant exposure to...

Sometimes it’s hard for me to talk to you right now. Even though I know you’re okay, I also can’t help but feel that you are intimately intertwined with my oppressors.” There was a pause over the phone line as my best friend of over 25 years digested my words. I mean, really, where does a conversation go from there? Michelle and I were college roommates at Stanford. For two years we shared a dorm room, and the late night confessions that frequently accompany that type of proximity. We shared...

My son is big for his age. At only 16, he’s already 6 feet 4 inches and 225 pounds. As he grew, I began to have a lot of anxiety because I knew he could get mistaken as an adult. And being an adult black male in St. Louis — like anywhere in America — can be uniquely dangerous, especially when the police are involved. So recently my son and I began having The Conversation: What to do if he gets stopped by a police officer. No matter what’s going on, I tell him, stay quiet. Keep your eyes...

Using the recently released opioid response plan from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources as a centerpiece, the new Office of Drug Control Policy director aims to build upon the plan with areas of his own expertise. Dr. Michael Brumage, appointed as director earlier this month, hopes to focus on the role ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) play in the opioid epidemic, as well as how providers can approach pain management with and without medication. "ACEs is a major...

As a parent, I understand the desire for practical responses to school shootings. I also absolutely believe the government should do more to prevent such incidents. But the gun control debate has proven so divisive and ineffective that I am weary of waiting for politicians to act. I study the kind of aggressive childhood behavior that often predates school shootings. That research suggests what communities and families can start doing today to better protect children. Here are 10 actions we...

She was 3 years old when her father died in a car crash and 17 when her mother committed suicide. In between those bookends of loss, she lived with the man she refers to as “my evil stepfather. ” He demeaned her, her two older sisters and her younger brother, and punished them with a belt when they didn’t meet his exacting standards. To read the full story - click the blue link at the bottom of the post - As the sun fades and her office on the fourth floor of the state Capitol darkens –...

By Rachel Macy Stafford My fifth-grade daughter started a new extracurricular activity a few weeks ago. We’re still learning the ropes and aren’t quite sure how things run. On the first day, we walked up to two women who were waiting with their children for the activity to start. I politely asked them a question about protocol and explained we were new. I was met with annoyed facial expressions and curt answers. READ STORY

This conference is designed to bring educators, students, parents, pastors, community members, health departments, corrections and any other professions that deal with human capital, to the table of solutions and collaboration. Jim Sporleder is leading this national conference. Jim is the author of Implementing a Trauma-Informed School and the Principal of Lincoln High School in the award winning documentary Paper Tigers. He continues to guide many districts and communities across the United...

It is important to understand that decolonization is a physical action and that since the creation of the United Nations, more than 80 countries have decolonized; which is to say, in over 80 nations, oppressive domination has been dismantled—colonial rule has left the building. I try to imagine that kind of dismantling happening here in our homeland. I imagine a Handmaid’s Tale scenario where power is drastically overturned by Indigenous brethren. I see fire and destruction. I see the worst...

In December 2017, the #MeToo movement finally reached Japan after three women decided to speak out against their abusers. The experiences of these three women provide insights into the challenges Japanese women face when speaking out about their experiences of sexual assault. While the #MeToo movement is generally regarded to have started in October 2017, when multiple women spoke out about their experiences of being allegedly sexually assaulted by Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, the...

This episode features an interactive text-messaging tool that allows you to learn more about who gets conventional home loans where you live. To get started, text HOME to 202-873-8325. Forty years ago, Congress passed the Community Reinvestment Act, which required banks to lend to qualified borrowers in blighted neighborhoods. The act aimed to eliminate government-sponsored housing discrimination, known as redlining. But it is full of loopholes: It doesn’t apply to mortgage brokers or cover...