Racism is a Public Health Crisis: Community Engagement

April 28, 2021.Reading time 11 minutes.

Inequity and injustice impact us all. Since declaring Racism is a Public Health Crisis (RPHC), King County Government and Public Health – Seattle & King County (PHSKC) have committed to developing stronger and better resourced partnerships with community organizations and leaders to disrupt and dismantle racism and protect the health and well-being of our all our residents, regardless of race or location.

New work from local artists depicts the impacts of COVID-19 and racism

January 11, 2021.Reading time 16 minutes.

New works by seven local artists and community creatives offer fresh ways of understanding the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic with race, bias and culture.

Bridging the Gap Between Community and Systems

August 7, 2020.Reading time 3 minutes.

Willard Jimerson, Jr. grew up in Seattle’s historically African American Central District neighborhood. Raised by a loving grandmother and grandfather, young Will could never have predicted that just six weeks after his 13th birthday he’d become a ward of the state and spend the rest of his childhood in America’s adult prison system.

One fatal and catastrophic moment on a late night in 1994 changed everything. The kid who once fancied himself a charming and mischievous prankster, who loved playing arcade games and pick-up football, was gone.

Taking a “place and race” approach to advancing community health in south Seattle & south King County

April 5, 2019.Reading time 7 minutes.

As King County’s population and housing costs have risen steeply, many people of color and lower income families in King County have migrated to south Seattle and south King County, with the most vulnerable populations at risk of being priced out of the county all together. This displacement can have negative health impacts: it disrupts […]

Why Public Health sees a community threat in proposal about immigration

September 25, 2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

Public Health Director Patty Hayes with other community leaders at a news conference held at International Community Health Services in Seattle on Sept. 25, 2018

The new proposal to amend the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s “public charge” test is a threat to the public’s health. “This is inhumane, and it would undermine efforts to improve the overall health of King County—and impact generations to come,” said Patty Hayes, director of Public Health—Seattle & King County, in a news release […]

PUBLIC HEALTH INSIDER