PRST STD U.S.POSTAGE PAID TWIN CITIES MN PERMIT NO. 6391
THE VOICE OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY SINCE 1934 December 31, 2020—January 6, 2021 Vol. 87 No. 22
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Why the U.S. needs Blacks to take the COVID vaccine
Caregiving during a pandemic Black nurses on the COVID front line share their stories
Whites alone cannot bring about herd immunity
News Analysis By Debra Furr Holden Contributing writer
sonal protective equipment (PPE), such as N95 respirators, surgical masks, gowns and gloves surfaced as early as March, Black health care workers compounding the difficulty of have taken their place on the containing the spread of the virus front lines along with thousands in the early days of the pandemic. of others who, since the corona- Masks and N95 respirators help virus outbreak, have come to be minimize the spread of the virus known as “essential workers.” among health care workers. Both nurses said that even afAccording to the nonprofit Black Nurses Rock, the nation’s largest ter several months PPE still isn’t Black nursing association since in adequate supply, which adds By Charles Hallman Contributing writer
D
r. Anthony Fauci and other national health leaders have said that African Americans need to take the COVID-19 vaccine to protect their health. What Fauci and others have not stated is that if African Americans do not take the vaccine, the nation as whole will likely never get to herd immunity. The concept of herd immunity, also referred to as community immunity, is fairly simple. When a significant proportion of the population, or the herd, becomes immune from the virus, the entire population will have some acceptable degree of protection. Immunity can occur through Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, was the first person in the U.S. to receive a COVID (Pfizer) vaccination. Courtesy of Northwell Health ■See Vaccine on page 5
Attacking racism from the inside out
How Children’s Minnesota is addressing workplace inequities
As part of our ongoing series “A View from the Top, CEO’s and DEI” this week we sat down with Dr. Marc Gorelick of Children’s Minnesota. The series seeks to follow up with Twin Cities metro area CEOs who signed onto pledges to step up their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. The idea is to give our readers better insight into the companies, understand their struggles, and get updated on
Dr. Marc Gorelick
their progress in efforts to make their workplaces inclusive, diverse and equitable. MSR: Tell us about yourself and how you got to the Twin Cities. Gorelick: I grew up in New York City in Queens and then Long Island. Moved to Milwaukee in 2000 and was there for 17 years before coming to the Twin Cities in 2017. Pediatric emergency medicine was my specialty for a long time. MSR: How did you come to lead this large organization? Gorelick: My goal was always to see how I could have a bigger impact. As a physician I help people one at a time, very intense but satisfying. But it’s slow work and takes a long time to impact a lot of people. If I can get a system of care, I can impact a whole lot of people at the same time. MSR: How did you decide you wanted to be a doctor? Gorelick: I grew up in and
Courtesy of MGN 2014, 90% of its Twin Cities chapter members work in nursing homes and assisted care facilities, two places where the virus has done the most damage. The MSR recently interviewed two local Black nurses who agreed to speak on their daily work experiences on the condition that their identities or their place of work are not identified; they are referred to here as “Sam” and “Diane.” “Sometimes I feel overwhelmed,” admitted Sam, who has worked in assisted care fa-
champion the health needs of kids. We do that by providing outstanding clinical care as well as education, research and advocacy. We are the largest pediatric provider in the state. MSR: You signed on to a document with other health care providers to promote more diversity, equity and inclusion, which is now popularly referred to as DEI. Tell us why you signed on. Gorelick: Shortly after I
to stress among the medical staff. “We have to use [N95s] until they are soiled “as opposed to getting fresh ones when needed,” reported Diane. Sam said that he’s been ordered by his supervisors to use his mask for at least a week before getting a new one. “You were told this mask must last five days.... It was scary. There’s a chance the virus will get inside the mask.” “We just [recently] found a bunch of N95s,” said Diane. Sam revealed that the PPE
“I believe things happen for a reason and I accept things as they are.”
Courtesy of MGN around health care. My mother was a nurse. As far back as I can remember I wanted to be a doctor. It was a way of combining my interest in science and my desire to help people. MSR: What is Children’s Minnesota? Gorelick: Children’s is a pediatric health system. It’s one of only 35 health systems in the country that are 100% pediatric. We are not a part of an adult system. Our mission is to
“AS IT WAS SPOKEN ... LET US RECORD.”
cilities for four years. “When the virus started, so many staff took a leave of absence and quit.” “It was frightening in the beginning, something totally different than anyone has dealt with,” added Diane, who has been in nursing for nearly 20 years. Reports of shortages in per-
situation was worse at the previous facility where he worked. He said he felt the supervisors and others on site did not take the virus seriously enough. He still remembers a painful incident that took place in April in which two patients appeared to be very ill, prompting him to report it to ■See Nurses on page 5
■See Gorelick on page 5
Home ownership disparities a Minnesota blight MN Housing Finance wants to cure it In 2020 the national gap between Black and White homeownership was 26%. In Minnesota according to Minnesota has ranked among the worst states in terms of racial 2019 American Community disparities in homeownership. Survey (ACS) data, White/nonThe Minnesota Housing Finance Latinx individuals own homes Agency (MHFA) has made it a at a rate of 76.9% compared to priority to mitigate those inequi- Blacks who own at a rate of ties and close the gap. “Minnesota’s homeownership disparities between White households and Households of Color has been persistent and continues to be one of the worst in the nation,” stated Kasey Kier, the 25.3%, a homeownership gap of assistant commissioner at MHFA. more than 50%. “When we look at Minnesota “Currently, I believe that we are having one of the highest homethe fourth-worst in the nation.” The 2020 State of Housing ownership rates in the nation but in Black America report, com- one of the largest homeownermissioned by the National As- ship disparity gaps, we need sociation of Real Estate Brokers, to think about how to tackle it,” revealed that in 2019, 73.4% of Kier said. “The industry itself is White households owned their not doing a good job of getting own home. In contrast, the report there and closing that gap, so stated that only 42.1% of Black Minnesota Housing is really stephouseholds owned their homes. ping in.” By Amadulat Ajasa Contributing writer
“In Minnesota the mortgage industry is serving the BIPOC communities at about 15%,” said Kier. “Minnesota Housing is serving the BIPOC communities at about 35%, so more than the industry average.” One of MHFA’s goals for 2021 is to increase their percentage of
“Our programs are available statewide and we never run out of money.” mortgage loans from about 35% to 40%, which is almost three times the state average. MHFA has been helping people like Alexis Bolton achieve homeownership for over 45 years. “[MHFA] helped me in more ways than one,” she said. “For the most part, I didn’t know about [first-time homebuyer programs], and then somebody introduced it to me and then made it possible,” said
Alexis Bolton (center) with her daughter (left) and employees of MN Housing Finance after signing closing documents on her home. Bolton, a first-time homebuyer in 2017 using MHFA programs. Bolton, who is African American, was initially overwhelmed by the journey to homeowner-
ship because no one in her family had gone down that path before. “Without [the first-time homebuyers program], to be honest, I wouldn’t be in my house,” said
Bolton. “I would feel like I had to make a whole lot more money. I would feel like I had to put $20,000 down. No one has that type of money off the top.” “One of the things that we do at Minnesota Housing is, we have programs that are specifically tailored to households of color to help them enter the market,” explained Christina Akinola, the business development representative at MHFA. “There’s a lot of people who have the income to support homeownership but either have student loans or just don’t have the savings for the upfront down payment,” explained Kier. “Down payment and closing costs are the number-one reason why people don't get into homeownership,”Akinola said. “It would take [a typical family] an average of 17 years if they are saving 5% of their household income to save the typical down ■See Housing on page 2