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Insight News

December 28, 2020 - January 3, 2021

Vol. 47 No. 52• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

HOW LAWS GET MADE What Obama saw during his time in the Illinois state legislature was revealing.

AP Photo/Seth Perlman STORY ON PAGE

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Page 2 • December 28, 2020 - January 3, 2021 • Insight News

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Insight News • December 28, 2020 - January 3, 2021 • Page 3 WINNER: 2020 T YPOGRAPHY & DESIGN, 1ST PLACE, PHOTOGRAPHY (PORTRAIT & PERSONALIT Y), 1ST PLACE, WEBSITE, 3RD PLACE

Insight News December 28, 2020 - January 3, 2021

Vol. 47 No. 52• The Journal For Community News, Business & The Arts • insightnews.com

$908 billion relief bill passed

Trent Bowman, Stella Whitney-West and Jonathan Sage-Martinson

Whitney-West, Bowman lead LISC Advisory Committee Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Twin Cities announced a new chair and vice chair to its Local Advisory Committee. The newly selected members, Chair Stella WhitneyWest and Vice Chair Trent Bowman, were chosen to lead the Local Advisory Committee: Advisors who develop strategic actions, make policy recommendations, and oversee programs.

Outgoing chair of LISC Twin Cities Local Advisory Committee, Jonathan Sage-Martinson said, “Stella and Trent will lead the committee during an important time as we continue to provide capital and new opportunities to the Twin Cities community.”

Jonathan-SageMartinson was crucial to LISC’s success at the time of the Green Line’s construction through his roles

at the Central Corridor Funders Collaborative and as director of Saint Paul PED under Mayor Coleman.

Stella Whitney-West is CEO of NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center, a multispecialty medical, dental and mental health center that serves over 35,000 residents in North Minneapolis and Hennepin County.

Trent Bowman is VP/

CRA Business Development Officer at MidWestOne Bank.

Bowman has an extensive history supporting affordable housing initiatives by engaging community organizations to assess community needs and building collaborative partnerships to make a positive impact.

Obama book offers key insight about how laws really get made

Monday night Congress passed a $908-billion COVID-19 relief bill that extended unemployment benefits through the early spring, and provides support for small businesses, schools, healthcare, nutrition, rental assistance, child care, broadband, the Postal Service, as well as funding to help distribute vaccines.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said “During the last several weeks, I have been working very hard, along with Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, to provide direct payments to working families throughout the country.

Our goal was to replicate what was in the CARES bill of March, which was $1200 for every working-class adult and $500 for each child. While we did not get as much as we wanted, because of opposition from the Republican leadership and too many Democrats, the bill does include a $600 direct payment for every workingclass American earning less than $75,000 a year, and a $1,200 direct payment for couples making less than $150,000 a year, plus $600 for each child.

That means that the average family of four will receive a direct payment of $2400.

“While including these direct payments ultimately improved this bill, given the enormous economic desperation that so many working families across this country are now experiencing, there is no question but that this legislation did not go anywhere near far enough.

“When PresidentElect Biden assumes office next month and when the Senate comes back into session in January, I will immediately

Bernie Sanders

Wikipedia

begin fighting for another relief bill to help America’s working families—including another round of direct payments and more relief for the unemployed, the hungry, the uninsured and those who owe back rent and are behind on their mortgage payments. In this unprecedented crisis, it is imperative that we do everything we can to protect the working families of our country, the elderly, the children and the poor,” Sanders said in a statement to the press.

Relief could be available as soon as next week and after January 1 on the condition that Donald Trump signs the “rescue package” before Christmas.

What should citizens expect?

Each U.S. adult and child will get up to $600 $300 a week in supplemental unemployment benefits for 10 weeks A new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses Money for schools, health care providers and renters facing eviction Over $280 billion in Paycheck Protection loans $82 billion for schools

COVID RELIEF 4

David Webber Associate Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Missouri-Columbia Amid all the attention on former President Barack Obama’s new book, what may not have shown up in the reviews is mention of a two-page summary that, for legislative scholars like me, includes what may be the shortest and perhaps best description of how legislatures really work, even for political scientists.

Based on his time as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004, the brief passage crystallizes the inner workings of the legislative process. As a scholar who has observed and studied state legislatures and Congress for almost 50 years, I know there are hundreds of autobiographies by former members of Congress, former U.S. senators and former state legislators – all of whom offer lessons about what goes on in their respective chambers.

But none is so succinct as Obama’s.

Legions of accounts One of the first legislative memoirs I read, in about 1972, was “Congress: The Sapless Branch,” written a decade earlier by Joseph Clark, who then represented my home state, Pennsylvania, in the U.S. Senate. I became fascinated with the idea of legislators evaluating their own institutions – and even proposing reforms to make them work better.

Most legislator autobiographies are heavy on personal journeys, describing why and how they ran for office,

Marcus Owens AP photo/Randy Squires

In a photo from 2004, Illinois state Sen. Barack Obama, right, speaks with Emil Jones Jr., president of Illinois State Senate. what happened during the campaign and their legislative successes once elected. These sorts of books include former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri’s 2015 “Plenty Ladylike” and Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky’s 2016 “The Long Game.”

They pay little attention to the performance of the legislature or the wider political system – though McConnell does note the contrast between politics and reality, the difference between “making a point and making a difference.”

There are exceptions to this. For instance, in Philip J. Rock’s memoir, published after his 2016 death, “Nobody Calls Just to Say Hello,” the longtime Illinois Senate president carefully explains how at least a dozen important decisions came about.

Obama’s experience In his 750-page book, Obama’s legislative insight

comes early, on pages 33 and 34. Obama recounts an early speech opposing tax breaks to corporations using facts and figures that he felt certain were convincing. When he finished, Senate President Pate Philip came over to his desk: “That was a hell of a speech,” he said, chewing on an unlit cigar. “Made some good points.” Then he added: “Might have even changed a lot of minds,” he said. “But you didn’t change any votes.” With that he signaled to the presiding officer and watched with satisfaction as the green lights signifying “aye” lit up the board.

Obama went on to describe his view of politics in Springfield as “a series of transactions mostly hidden from view, legislators weighing the competing pressures of various interests with the dispassion of bazaar merchants, all the while keeping a careful eye on the handful of ideological hot

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Trusted messengers may help disenfranchised communities overcome vaccine hesitancy

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buttons – guns, abortion, taxes – that might generate heat from their base.”

Obama explained that it wasn’t that legislators “didn’t know the difference between good and bad policy. It just didn’t matter. What everyone in Springfield understood was that 90 percent of the time voters back home weren’t paying attention. A complicated but worthy compromise, bucking party orthodoxy to support an innovative idea – that could cost you a key endorsement, a big financial backer, a leadership post, or even an election.”

In that passage, Obama describes the central weakness of representative democracy: Nicelooking political institutions don’t work the way they seem, partly because organized special interests keep them that way, and more importantly, because “90 percent of the time voters back home weren’t paying

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Community Coordinators initiative strives to overcome disparities in COVID-19 impacts The African American Leadership Forum (AALF) and Phyllis Wheatley Community Center are working together to support Minnesota’s African American community by developing a Minnesota Black Community COVID-19 Hotline where callers are connected to health, financial, childcare, and housing resources, as well as other supportive services, to assist them throughout the pandemic.

The hotline is a valuable resource for the Black community, as it addresses the impacts of both the pandemic and systemic racism,” said Marcus Owens, Executive Director of the African American Leadership Forum.

The initiative is part of Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) health department plans to continue supporting

its COVID-19 Community Coordinators program as needs arise, designating personnel and resources to make sure the coordinators have the support they need to effectively serve their communities.

Begun in early November, the COVID-19 Community Coordinators program taps into the knowledge, expertise and networks of community-based organizations to help share information on COVID-19 safety precautions, available resources like food, medicine, and transportation, and where to be tested for the virus.

“The data clearly shows that communities of color and American Indians are disproportionately affected by COVID-19,” said Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm. “This disparity stems

AALF AND PWCC 4

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Governor Walz announces next steps in combating COVID spread

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Suzanne Fuller Burks: Legacy + Leadership at Phillis Wheatley Community Center

By Al McFarlane Editor Excerpts from Conversation with Al McFarlane interview.

Part 2 of 2 We also provide adult services and we provide trauma services to young boys. We’re going to also build more things on the other side of the ledger around youth development and bringing community together.

What I’m trying to do is reimagine community.

The community I left and the community that came back to are very different. I need to figure out what would our role be in collaboration with others to build back a vibrant and wonderful community like it

used to be.

“Well, how we all got up to Minnesota is my grandfather was a porter on the railroad. He stayed at Phyllis Wheatley, the settlement house. and then he ended up getting a chicken farm. He had restaurants and then he had the Cozy Bar, the highway took his bar. He worked with the then vice president Humphrey to help get his liquor license transferred and five acres of land right on the Mississippi for $1, which he obviously took.

He built the Riverview Supper Club. So Jimmy Fuller Sr. was my grandfather, and my father Jimmy Fuller, Jr. still lives right here in North Minneapolis.

So they’re one of the reasons why I came back. I have

Suzanne Burks two adult children. They have both moved back now and one works for the Department of Health Minnesota Department of Health, and my son Philip works for Microsoft... and is with me, I’m sorry. And the

other’s My Mother, Lou Fuller.

She passed away in 2000. She was the first director of Minority Health for the state of Minnesota What do we need in our community? How do we bring everybody together to do

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that? Because right now, we’re having the same conversation that folks had when this Itasca group was started. There was another group that just was started, I got pulled into it literally my second day here.

I went to this meeting, over 10 corporate CEOs, say they want to do something because of George Floyd. Where are they now? You know why? Because we haven’t come together, we haven’t done our work to put together a plan of what’s needed. We all know housing, I have so many clients come here, they’re homeless. And so I said, “Well, what are we going to do about the housing?

Should we go out and then get an apartment building?” I mean I don’t know. I’m not saying I have the answers but what I am saying is that I think it’s healthy to have these kind of dialogues, but I think at the end of the day if we keep having these dialogues, nothing’s going to change.

Ben & Jerry’s and Colin Kaepernick unite to Change the Whirled with new vegan flavor Ben & Jerry’s is honoring Colin Kaepernick, one of the most prominent social activists today, with his very own flavor: “Change the Whirled.”

This flavor celebrates Kaepernick’s courageous work to confront systemic oppression and to stop police violence against Black and Brown people. As an aspiring social justice company, Ben & Jerry’s believes Kaepernick represents the very best of us, willing to use his power and platform in the pursuit of equity and justice rooted in a commitment to love and resistance. The ice cream maker aims to honor Kaepernick, sweetening the

Obama From 3 attention.”

Legislators respond to people and interests they see

COVID Relief From 3

AALF and PWCC From 3

long struggle for justice, and making his vision a reality to Change the Whirled.

Kaepernick’s portion of the proceeds from sales of Change the Whirled will support the work of Know Your Rights Camp. Kaepernick founded Know Your Rights Camp in Oakland, CA in 2016 to advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities.

The Camp’s curriculum is designed around 10 points including that Black and Brown people have the rights to be free, healthy, brilliant, safe, loved, courageous, alive, trusted, educated and to know their rights.

Change the Whirled is a Non-Dairy offering, which is important to the vegan Kaepernick. Ben & Jerry’s currently offers more than a dozen Non-Dairy, vegan fan favorites. Kaepernick’s flavor features a caramel Non-Dairy sunflower butter base with fudge chips, graham cracker swirls and chocolate cookie swirls.

“I’m honored to partner with Ben & Jerry’s on Change the Whirled,” said Kaepernick. “Their commitment to challenging the anti-Black roots of policing in the United States demonstrates a material concern for the wellbeing of

Black and Brown communities.

My hope is that this partnership will amplify calls to defund and abolish the police and to invest in futures that can make us safer, healthier, and truly free.”

Change the Whirled will be available as a fulltime flavor at Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops and on store shelves nationwide in the United States beginning in 2021. Change the Whirled will also be available to fans in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

and hear. Usually that means other politicians, lobbyists and their staffs. Without an attentive public, the public interest loses out.

what we should be doing here.

It’s just like in farming, I already know how to farm better than I farm.”

People already know the facts of how to live healthier, work more effectively and save more money. And politicians largely know how to address

what the public actually needs.

It is motivation and discipline that are often the obstacles, not a lack of knowledge.

Academic books and articles are useful for understanding pieces of the legislative process. But they, and lawmakers’ own reflections,

seldom so clearly reveal – as Obama captures – how legislators understand it.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

We all know better than we live His account reinforces

a truth I first struggled with in 1981 while interviewing an Indiana legislator for my dissertation. I asked him if he looked for information to better understand legislative proposals.

He told me, “I can’t help but think that you think that our problem is that we don’t know

and colleges $15 billion in “dedicated” funding for live venues and cultural institutions $20 billion for vaccines and to make them available at no charge

$7 billion to continue and expand broadband access $13 billion in nutrition benefits A tax credit for employers offering paid sick leave $45 billion in support

to the transportation industries Payments will come direct deposit, debit card and check According to The Post-Standard, “Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.,

said Sunday on the Senate floor the deal was “far from perfect” but will deliver “emergency relief” to Americans. He said he would push for another relief bill once President-elect Joe Biden takes office; aid for

state and local governments has been a sticking point in previous negotiations.”

So there is hope for another relief package.

from a number of systemic factors, such as structural racism.

We have less information on the impacts of COVID-19 on LGBTQ communities and

people with disabilities, but plenty of other data tells us that our LGBTQ and disability communities experience health disparities and barriers to care.

The COVID-19 Community Coordinators program is one step forward in addressing these disparities.”

The program helps guide resources and response activities to better meet the needs of people and communities. It will provide capacity to communitybased organizations to serve populations disproportionately affected by or at-risk for COVID-19, such as communities of color (African American, African immigrant, Asian American, Pacific Islander and Latinx communities), American Indians, disability communities, LGBTQ communities, and people with limited English proficiency.

Community coordinators will help people

access testing and available support services for those who test positive, in partnership with local public health departments.

“Not everyone has the resources or the living situation to be able to isolate or quarantine themselves, and many face barriers to getting tested. The community coordinators will bridge gaps within systems that are not working for many of our communities,” said Kou Thao, director of the Center for Health Equity at MDH. “Working closely with community partners ensures that information is disseminated in the ways that people are used to receiving it and from the messengers they trust. Taking a culturally-focused and traumainformed approach means more people will be able to effectively protect themselves and their loved ones and slow the spread of the virus,” Thao said.

COVID-19 Community Coordinators are located across the state and are staffing helplines that the public can call to ask questions related to testing or resource needs to stay safe and healthy during the pandemic. Helpline staff speak 20 different languages. In addition, engaging community partners will help provide public health information earlier on in the process, so that when and where people are tested, they will receive culturally appropriate information and resources for themselves and their families, regardless of what language they speak.

“We created this program after conversations with multiple community partners and stakeholders from across Minnesota. It was clear that while the pandemic has caused many community-based organizations to struggle to keep

their doors open, the demand for supportive services was only increasing. The COVID-19 Community Coordinators initiative is equipping agencies with the resources to help communities navigate this pandemic,” said Thao.

One example of such a partnership is the Minnesota Department of Human Services’ Resettlement Network COVID-19 care hotline for refugees and immigrants, which launched Friday. Available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, the new hotline, 651318-0989, will ensure refugees and immigrants can get accurate, timely information about the COVID-19 pandemic and other services offered through the Resettlement Network.

Hotline staff speak Amharic, Anuak, Arabic, French, Hindi, Karen, Lingala, Luganda, Mashi, Oromo, Somali, Spanish and Swahili.

Language line help is available for callers needing any other language.

“This hotline will provide a wealth of information in multiple languages so refugees and other immigrants can quickly get the help they need on COVID-19 as well as other important services,” said Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead.

A number of community organizations offer similar services. “Briva Health is working to ensure communities facing COVID-19 disparities navigate to critical resources needed during this pandemic; our collective efforts are having a significant impact on people’s lives and we are grateful to be part of this important response effort,” said Hodan Guled of Briva Health.

For more information on resources available to Minnesotans and to find helpline numbers, visit COVID-19 Community Coordinators on the MDH website.

INSIGHT NEWS www.insightnews.com

Insight News is published weekly, every Monday by McFarlane Media Interests.

Editor-In-Chief Al McFarlane Publisher Batala-Ra McFarlane Associate Editor & Associate Publisher B.P. Ford Associate Editor Culture & Education Dr. Irma McClaurin Associate Editor Afrodescendientes Carmen Robles Associate Editor Nigeria & West Africa Chief Folarin Ero-Phillips Columnist Brenda Lyle-Gray Director of Content & Production Patricia Weaver Content & Production Coordinator Sunny Thongthi Yang Distribution/Facilities Manager Jamal Mohamed Receptionist Lue B. Lampley Intern Kelvin Kuria

Contributing Writers Maya Beecham Nadvia Davis Fred Easter Abeni Hill Inell Rosario Latisha Townsend Artika Tyner Toki Wright Photography V. Rivera Garcia Uchechukwu Iroegbu Rebecca Rabb Artist Donald Walker Contact Us: Insight News, Inc. Marcus Garvey House 1815 Bryant Ave. N. Minneapolis., MN 55411 Ph.: (612) 588-1313 Fax: (612) 588-2031 Member: Minnesota Multicultural Media Consortium (MMMC), Midwest Black Publishers Coalition, Inc. (MBPCI), National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Postmaster: Send address changes to McFarlane Media Interests, Marcus Garvey House 1815 Bryant Avenue North, Minneapolis,

Change the Whirled will be available as a full-time flavor at Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops and on store shelves nationwide in the United States beginning in 2021.

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Insight News • December 28, 2020 - January 3, 2021 • Page 5

Trusted messengers may help disenfranchised communities overcome vaccine hesitancy

By Sheila Mulrooney Eldred Kaiser Health News MINNEAPOLIS — Gloria Torres-Herbeck gets the flu vaccine every year, but the 53-year-old teacher in Rochester, Minnesota, isn’t yet convinced she wants to be first in line for a potential COVID-19 vaccine.

“I’m not super old, but I’m not as strong as other people,” she said. “So, I need to be realistic on my own situation.

Do I want to participate in something that might be a big risk for me?”

This month, the Food and Drug Administration gave emergency use authorization for one vaccine and is weighing approval of another. So, public health officials around the country are gearing up for what might be as challenging as figuring out how to store a vaccine at 70 degrees below zero Celsius. They need to persuade people who are part of communities that have been hit hard by the virus — those in low-income families and some minority populations, especially Black and Latino residents — to take a vaccine developed in less than a year and approved under emergency use authorization.

Yet there are a few places where officials think they have a head start. Rochester, Minnesota, home of the Mayo Clinic, is one of them. The Rochester Healthy Community Partnership has been working to reduce health disparities in the area’s immigrant communities, including Somali, Hispanic, Cambodian, South Sudanese and Ethiopian residents, for 15 years.

The partnership is composed of Mayo health providers and researchers, county public health officials and community volunteers like Torres-Herbeck, who immigrated to the U.S. 27 years ago from Mexico. One of the

first of its kind, other similar efforts have sprung up around the country, but no one officially tracks such partnerships.

“What we realized when the pandemic hit in spades in March was that with longestablished partnerships we were uniquely positioned to leverage” trust built up over the years between Mayo experts and their community partners, said Dr. Mark Wieland, who helps direct the group and studies the impact of such partnerships.

“We realized we were obligated to jump in with two feet.”

Although only preliminary evidence has been gathered so far, there are indications that since the efforts began, Rochester has increased COVID-19 testing, improved contact tracing and boosted preventive behaviors such as mask-wearing, hand-washing and physical distancing in these vulnerable communities, he said. The group is hoping those early successes portend well for vaccine acceptance.

Learning From a Measles Outbreak The Rochester partnership is banking on a commonsense approach that focuses on shared values, transparency and clear communication.

It’s a strategy that has succeeded in the past.

When a measles epidemic hit the large Somali population in Minneapolis-St. Paul in 2017, the Mayo Clinic reached out to community leaders among the 25,000 Somali immigrants in the Rochester area. Many had been frightened of the measles vaccine by baseless claims that it could cause autism, and vaccination rates were low in the community.

Medical experts held town hall meetings in mosques and community centers, answering questions about vaccine safety and reassuring people that there was no scientific evidence of a link to autism. Somali actors

photo/Mongkolchon Akesin_iStock

Only 40% of older Black adults and 51% of older Hispanics said they are somewhat or very likely to get the COVID-19 vaccination — compared with 63% of older white people, a University of Michigan poll shows. Their concerns mirror Torres-Herbeck’s: how well will the vaccine work or how safe it will be. created YouTube videos to help address common concerns. In the end, there were no recorded cases of measles in Olmsted County, home to Rochester.

About a year ago, Dr. Robert Jacobson, medical director for the Population Health Science Program at Mayo Clinic, at the request of a rabbi visited an Orthodox Jewish community in New York in which vaccine refusal was fueling another measles outbreak. He helped health care leaders there allay concerns.

“The Orthodox Jews in that community were refusing that vaccine for the same reason we were recommending it,” Jacobson said. “They were trying to protect their children.”

Efforts by Jewish leaders, public health experts such as Jacobson and lawmakers who tightened up laws on vaccine exemptions helped quell the outbreak.

Since March, the Rochester partnership has broadcast similar messages about COVID-19 to diverse audiences.

Fear or misunderstanding was an issue at the beginning of the pandemic. Health leaders found that members of the immigrant communities were hanging up when the public health department called. So, the partnership developed

messaging in several languages to explain the importance of the phone calls. They worked around problems, including that other languages don’t always have terms that mesh with English words for illnesses. For example, the word for “cold” and “flu” is the same in Somali.

Now fewer people hang up.

At the same time, these public health teams report back to the medical experts on what the community needs.

“They’re the experts on the subtleties of their communities,” Wieland said.

So when the group learned that many immigrants were intimidated

by COVID-19 testing and unsure of the logistics, the group recommended simplifying the process: Now, videos featuring community leaders on social media direct people to testing sites. Once there, anyone who doesn’t speak English automatically gets tested — no identification or insurance card necessary.

“We think that’s part of the reason that, as a county, we have overtested minority populations in relation to white populations,” Wieland said.

The ‘Why’ Was Missing Only 40% of older Black adults and 51% of

older Hispanics said they are somewhat or very likely to get the COVID-19 vaccination — compared with 63% of older white people, a University of Michigan poll shows.

Their concerns mirror TorresHerbeck’s: how well will the vaccine work or how safe it will be.

An even more recent survey of people of all ages for the COVID Collaborative, an advocacy group of national and state health and economic leaders, the NAACP and other groups shows trust in vaccine safety is as low as 14% in Black Americans and 34% in Latinos.

Older adults said they would like recommendations from doctors, health officials, or family and friends — people they trust, according to the Michigan poll. And Black Americans are twice as likely to trust Black messengers versus white messengers, the other survey showed.

“Even if people don’t trust doctors in general, they trust their own doctor,” said Dr. Preeti Malani, one of the authors of the Michigan survey and chief health officer of the university.

The advantage of groups like the Rochester partnership is that its members are also trusted messengers.

Several weeks ago, Torres-Herbeck said, she talked to a landscaper who didn’t wear a mask while working with his business partner. She told him that COVID-19 is a virus and explained how it spreads.

He was surprised, and TorresHerbeck understood. “When I came here 27 years ago, we were not as educated on that,” she said. “When I grew up, it was believed that if you walk barefoot you will catch a cold.”

Often, she said, public health officials provide directions on how to act and what to do, such as use a mask and clean your hands, but don’t explain why.

“That ‘why’ was missing for him,” she said.

Now when she talks to him, he puts a mask on.

In mid-November, Jacobson visited with members of the Rochester partnership via Zoom, part of the group’s initial effort to disseminate vaccine information.

Approving a vaccine under emergency use authorization is no less stringent than the normal procedure, he explained. The process has been dramatically sped up and condensed, he said, by the amount of money poured in and newer technology — and by increased FDA resources.

It’s not all about disseminating facts, however.

Focusing on shared values is key to building trust. So when Adeline Abbenyi, the Mayo Clinic program manager for the Center for Healthy Equity and Community Engagement Research, said her mother, who had never feared vaccines, was hesitant to get a COVID-19 vaccine, Jacobson understood.

“A lot of us are feeling the same way,” Jacobson said in that Zoom meeting. “I go into this optimistic that we will have a vaccine that’s safe and effective, but I won’t use it until I see that evidence” of safety and efficacy the FDA is reviewing.

It’s normal for people to hesitate, he said, but that is far different from — and more widespread than — the antivaccine movement. Doctors and nurses getting the first doses will likely help many people overcome that hesitancy, he said.

Indeed, one thing that would persuade Torres-Herbeck to be inoculated? Seeing Jacobson get the vaccine, she said.

This story orignally appeared on khn.org. KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a nonprofit news service covering health issues. It is an editorially independent program of KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation), which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

Need money for a down payment to buy a home?

By Kim Smith-Moore, Senior Vice President and LIFT programs national manager, Wells Fargo

B

efore the economic fallout caused by COVID-19, homeownership among people of color in Minneapolis and St. Paul showed the highest homeownership isparity in the entire U.S. To help change this problem, the NeighborhoodLIFT program is coming to Minneapolis and St. Paul to assist hundreds of people with $15,000 in down payment assistance to buy a home.

Why homeownership is important Homeownership is a key foundation to wellness, dignity, and economic opportunity.

Yet, far too many families face uncertainty of rising rents because they struggle with overcoming the barrier of coming up with a down payment to buy a home.

Kim Smith-Moore

With a commitment to create positive change, the Wells Fargo Foundation, NeighborWorks® America, and NeighborWorks Home Partners are teaming up to provide $15,000 in down payment assistance to 425 eligible homebuyers in Minneapolis or St. Paul.

Interested homebuyers can get a home loan with any NeighborhoodLIFT-approved lender.

Who is eligible for NeighborhoodLIFT? Beginning Jan. 11, NeighborhoodLIFT will provide $15,000 in down payment assistance to eligible homebuyers.

Interested homebuyers must meet eligibility requirements including earning 80% or less of the local family median income, which is $77,840 in the Twin Cities.

Need money to buy a home?

The NeighborhoodLIFT® program for Minneapolis and St. Paul will help 425 people buy homes with $15,000 in down payment assistance.

How to prepare to apply on Jan. 11 for NeighborhoodLIFT? • Complete eight hours of HUD-approved homebuyer education • Get a mortgage pre-approval from an eligible NeighborhoodLIFT lender

FREE NeighborhoodLIFT Home Ownership Counseling also available to help people prepare for homeownership. ÄÏàâ×Ñ×ÞÏâ×ÜÕ ÂÓ×ÕÖÐÝàÖÝÝÒÀ½ºÈ ÜÝÜÞàÝùâá ÏÜÒ ÚÓÜÒÓàá ÏàÓ available at https://nwhomepartners.org/neighborhoodlift/

Minneapolis and St. Paul NeighborhoodLIFT program What is NeighborhoodLIFT? $15,000 down payment assistance to buy a home

When to apply: January 11

Local NeighborhoodLIFT homeowners assisted to date: 875

LIFT program homeowners assisted in U.S.:24,500+ since 2012

Learn more at: www.wellsfargo.com/lift or 866-858-2151

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Page 6 • December 28, 2020 - January 3, 2021 • Insight News

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Governor Walz announces next steps in combating COVID spread As hospitals remain concerned about capacity, Governor Tim Walz t announced a plan to continue combating community spread of COVID-19 while getting students back in the classroom and supporting Minnesotans’ quality of life.

Following the announcement, the Governor signed into law a $216 million economic relief package to support small businesses and workers impacted by the pandemic.

“The sun is rising across Minnesota. Vaccines have arrived and the light at the end of the tunnel is much brighter today than it was at the beginning of this four-week dial back,” Walz said. “There is

strong evidence we are starting to turn a corner thanks to the hard work of Minnesotans over the last few weeks to keep each other safe. But we aren’t out of the woods yet. This way forward will help bridge the gap to vaccination by continuing to protect hospital capacity while prioritizing getting our kids back in the classroom and supporting Minnesotans’ quality of life.”

The state has also learned more about how to reduce the potential for spread in schools from success in other settings. The Governor updated the Safe Learning Plan so that starting on January 18, 2021, every elementary school across the state may choose to operate

in an in-person learning model as long as they are able to implement additional mitigation strategies, which include providing and requiring staff to wear a face shield and mask and offering regular testing.

“This plan prioritizes the health, well-being, and education of our students, while taking precautions to protect the teachers and staff who care for them, so we can begin to help them make up for lost time,” said Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan. “The best place for our students to learn is in the classroom. For our youngest learners, in-person learning is critical for their health and development in both the short

Gov. Tim Walz and long term.”

To avoid spread during the holiday season, indoor gatherings are not recommended, but Minnesotans may gather inside with one other household up to 10 people. If outside, social gatherings may include up to two additional households (three total) with a maximum of 15 people, starting December 19. Masking and social distancing is strongly encouraged.

Gyms and fitness studios may open for individual exercise at 25 percent capacity, or 100 people maximum, with masks and 12 feet of physical distance between individuals.

Additional guidance about group classes, which can begin January 4, will be forthcoming.

“We are thankful that so many Minnesotans have taken the right steps to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in their communities,” Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm said. “We have safe and effective vaccines starting to come into the state, but it will be many months before everyone has a chance to get vaccinated.

In the meantime, we need to keep things moving in the right direction by doing those things we know help reduce COVID-19 transmission. That means masking up, keeping socially distant, washing your hands, staying home when sick and getting tested when appropriate.”

Also, Walz signed into law $216 million in direct

support for small businesses and workers affected by the pandemic. The bipartisan bill will provide direct, targeted aid to keep our small businesses afloat, extend unemployment benefits for workers struggling to get by, and help families put food on the table. The Governor said it is an important step in the right direction as the state continues to push for federal relief.

Executive Order 20103 will have the full force and effect of law upon the approval of the Executive Council, which is made up of Walz, Flanagan, Attorney General Keith Ellison, Secretary of State Steve Simon, and State Auditor Julie Blaha.

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Insight News • December 28, 2020 - January 3, 2021 • Page 7

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Serving you with over 30 locations across the Twin Cities | 877-427-7220 Rates, terms & conditions effective as of 3/19/2020 for applications received 3/19/2020 to 12/31/2020. Subject to credit approval. Property insurance required. Other restrictions may apply, see bank for details. The line of credit has a draw period of 10 years, after which you will no longer have access to borrow funds and will be required to repay the borrowed balance within a 20-year term. During the draw period there is an introductory discounted variable rate in effect for the first 12 billing cycles, based on a 1.25% discount resulting in an APR of 1.51% below prime rate as published in the Wall Street Journal. Thereafter, variable rate based on The Wall Street Journal prime rate plus or minus a margin, currently 2.99%. During the repayment period the rate will be fixed based on the rate at the end of the draw period plus a margin currently 3.00%. APRs based on highest credit tier, line amount of $100,000 with an LTV of 80% or less and includes a .25% rate reduction at origination for automatic payment from an ONB checking account. ONB associates may select the associate discount or Private Select discount, not both in addition to the promo rate. Max APR is 21%, minimum APR is 0.99%. Initial $50 annual fee waived. During the draw period the minimum monthly payment equal to the interest that accrued on the outstanding balance during the preceding billing cycle or $50, whichever is greater. During the repayment period the minimum monthly payment based on the balance at the end of the draw period amortized over 20 years or $50, whichever is greater. If you close or refinance your line within 3 years, a Recoupment fee will be assessed for the lesser of $300 or the amount paid to third parties to recover the closing costs paid on your behalf plus in MN, the Mortgage Registry Tax (MRT) paid on your behalf. Old National reserves the right to discontinue this offer at any time. 1Equity Access Cards are not available to Kentucky residents. Member FDIC. 0420-001

Page 8 • December 28, 2020 - January 3, 2021 • Insight News

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