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.
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May 21, 2020.Reading time 6 minutes.
When staff and leadership at Public Health—Seattle & King County learned about the horrific shipment of body bags to our partners at Seattle Indian Health Board (SIHB), we were shocked and dismayed. The news generated a private apology and inquiry from Public Health to the CEO of SIHB. And it generated a rapid search of […]
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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 […]
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September 25, 2018.Reading time 6 minutes.
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 […]
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September 5, 2017.Reading time 8 minutes.
Today, on the heels of a Lancet Public Health study that found an 18 year difference in life expectancy for men, and 14 year difference for women, we caught up with our Health Officer, Dr. Jeff Duchin, to talk about neighborhood-level data and how it informs our work. The study is a joint project by Institute […]
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August 11, 2017.Reading time 4 minutes.
How do you inspire youth to make a difference in their community through public service? Ngozi Oleru, Director of the Environmental Health Services Division (EHS), and Greg Wilson, an EHS Project Manager, addressed this question by exposing diverse students within target communities to new possible career paths and helping to empower new leaders in public […]
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