Vulnerable neighborhoods

THE CEDAR CREST NEIGHBORHOOD, ZIP code 75216, consistently has a slightly higher number of COVID-19 cases than most others in Dallas. Besides that, it’s part of a swath of Oak Cliff and South Dallas where poverty is higher and people are more likely to have risk factors for hospitalization and critical care, including heart disease, history of stroke, obesity, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, diabetes and kidney disease, according to research from UT Health.

Nurses and medical staff at Methodist Dallas Medical Center turned a conference room into a sewing workshop to make personal protective equipment. Safety wear like masks, gowns and gloves, called PPE, are in high demand, and hospitals across the nation are experiencing shortages.

Photo courtesy of Shurekkia Hudgen.

Teachers and staff from The Kessler School visited their students from a distance one day in April, parading past their students’ homes to say “hello” and “we miss you.” The school sent out a map of their 3-mile parade route, which passed many students’ homes, and they asked those who live elsewhere to hang out along the route for waving and cheers.