Tag: DEI

Message from our President and CEO

“The 2021 legislative session was historic and extraordinary for many reasons. Thank you to Washington legislators and Governor Inslee for your leadership and efforts to address advance health equity. More than 2 million children, working adults and seniors throughout Washington state rely on Apple Health (Medicaid) for their dental care coverage.

“We are grateful that lawmakers passed an operating budget that supports access to dental care for so many in our communities by investing in the Apple Health adult dental program, the Access to Baby Child and Dentistry program and DentistLink. Good oral health and access to oral health care is essential to healthy living, economic opportunity and general wellbeing.

“These significant investments in dental care build on the progress made in our state and are another step toward ensuring that everyone can enjoy the benefits of good oral health.”

Vanetta Abdellatif
President and CEO, Arcora Foundation

 

Yesterday afternoon, my colleagues and I took time to reflect on the conviction of Derek Chauvin in the brutal murder of George Floyd. We are relieved with the accountability this court decision brings, and hope that this is a measure of justice for the Floyd family, bystanders who witnessed his murder, Minnesotans, and all who have been traumatized by this tragedy. But we are clear eyed and recognize that this is not a moment of rest from our work towards racial equity. Even as this verdict was reached, a Black teenage girl was shot and killed by police officers in Ohio. A single act of accountability is not the same as justice. Justice would be George Floyd, Duarte Wright, Adam Toledo, Ma’Khia Bryant, Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, and so many more still alive today.

Arcora Foundation is committed to health equity. We know racial and ethnic disparities will continue to persist as long as structural racism does. Achieving health equity will not come independent of dismantling harmful, racist systems in all areas of our nation – from health care to criminal justice. The CDC recently declared racism a serious public health threat. We remain steadfast in continuing our journey to equity, inclusion and diversity within our own organization and communities we work with. The Foundation continues its commitment to good oral and overall health for all, with no one left behind, and in that, a commitment to work alongside partners to dismantle systemic health inequities.

We pause to remember the life of George Floyd, and to show deep appreciation to the thousands of activists who’ve led this call for justice for far too long. But the work is ongoing. And we must all do our part to build an equitable future for everyone. A future where Black and Brown people enjoy full rights to equitable treatment, opportunity, safety, and joy.

Vanetta Abdellatif
President and CEO, Arcora Foundation

By Fred Kiga | December 31, 2020

We all hope that our communities, state, and nation will enjoy a resurgence of health, optimism, and healing in 2021.

One thing that was true before and has continued through the pandemic is that health problems tend to hit communities of color harder than the overall population. The coronavirus has affected us all, whether we contracted it or are dealing with economic, societal, and other impacts. But communities of color have seen higher infection, hospitalization, and death rates from COVID-19.

In part, these communities tend to live in multigenerational households, which fosters close family ties, but also make social distancing difficult. Many in these communities are also hardworking, essential workers and often do not have access to adequate health care.

Asian Americans may not be receiving culturally appropriate information to understand how to protect against the virus and there has been a backlash against the community that is hurting businesses and increasing unemployment, further contributing to inequities.

Oral health is another area of significant health disparity. Surveys of Washington residents confirm that oral health problems are more common among people of color and those with lower incomes.

Oral health is essential for overall health, and is linked to heart disease, diabetes, and respiratory illnesses—all major risk factors for COVID-19. Oral disease is also linked to stroke and pregnancy complications.

Oral health can affect our overall health and lives at every age. For kids, a healthy mouth is key for communication, education, a good night’s sleep, and being able to eat healthy foods. For adults, it’s important for employment and success. And for the elderly, it is essential for good nutrition, and being able to stay active, independent, and healthy.

A key part of ensuring access to oral health care for communities of color and low-income adults in this state is the Apple Health (Medicaid) Dental program. But in response to the coronavirus economic downturn, state agencies had to identify potential places to make cuts, including the dental program for adults. Fortunately, Gov. Inslee preserves funding for Apple Health adult dental in his budget, and now it is up to the Legislature to do the same. More than one million low-income adults, including a disproportionately high percentage in communities of color, rely on Apple Health dental health coverage.

People need preventive care and treatment to maintain their oral health and keep dental problems from becoming much more painful, debilitating, and costly to treat. Apple Health enables many people to access these services.

Yes, taking personal responsibility for one’s oral health is also important. But consider the fact that major purveyors of sugar-laden products, such as sports drinks and soda pop, target heavy advertising toward communities of color, which are more vulnerable to COVID and more likely to have oral health problems.

According to studies nationally, more than $1 billion is spent annually advertising sugary beverages, much of it directed at Black and brown people. This marketing blitz has a major impact on oral and overall health. This is why cities across the country are taxing sugary drinks, as Seattle has done, and using the money to reduce health and social inequities.

Yes, many of us need to be smarter about our food and beverage choices. We all need to do better with healthy habits, including brushing and flossing. But, there also must be policies and programs in place to address systemic inequities. We need policies that reduce consumption of sugary beverages. Plus, we must ensure that everyone has access to dental care.

We should not eliminate essential safety net programs such as dental care that people need to stay healthy, especially during a pandemic. We all need to encourage policymakers to continue to support vital public health programs such as Apple Health dental. Visit OralHealthWatch.com for help contacting your legislators.

With compassion, common sense, humanity, and a commitment to fairness and equal opportunity, we must strive toward health equity for all.

Fred Kiga is board chair of Arcora Foundation and was previously chief of staff for former Gov. Gary Locke.

Read article on Northwest Asian Weekly: http://nwasianweekly.com/2020/12/commentary-support-health-equity-by-supporting-apple-health/

Last June, we issued a statement against racism, inequity and injustice and called for change to ensure that justice and compassion are reflected in our institutions, and that the health and safety of all people are valued equally. Our commitment to these values is deeply ingrained in our organization. Health equity drives our work.

Our DEI journey

For the last few years, Arcora Foundation staff and board have been deepening our understanding of and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Board and staff have engaged in numerous learning opportunities and facilitated conversations to reflect on our own individual stories. We are engaging with communities to align our approaches with community needs and aspirations and integrating DEI into our programs, sponsorships and grants. We aim to be an equitable organization and an authentic partner.

Here is some of what we have done in 2020 to bend the arc of oral health toward equity.

Protecting dental care for lower-income adults

Grants and donations with an equity focus

This year we provided $4.5 million in grants to Community Health Centers, nonprofit and tribal dental clinics. The funds helped these organizations manage their response to the pandemic and provide dental access to lower-income populations and communities of color. We are actively involved in supporting fluoridation in Spokane and across the state. Water fluoridation is a cost-effective and equitable approach to prevent cavities for everyone without regard to age, income, race or ethnicity. The Spokane City Council recently accepted a $4 million grant ($3 million from Arcora Foundation and $1 million raised locally) to study how to best implement water fluoridation. We also initiated a statewide education campaign focused on the health benefits of fluoride. Special thanks to Arcora Foundation’s Board of Trustees for their leadership and to our funder, Delta Dental of Washington, for providing additional resources this year to help support these efforts.

Programs focused on under-resourced communities

Many of our programs including  SmileMobile, DentistLink and The Mighty Mouth provide assistance and information to communities that have been systemically under-resourced. This month we are delivering more than 17,000 oral health kits to lower-income communities across the state. Early in the pandemic, we donated more than $180,000 for food security. We will provide another food security donation before the end of the year. Using an equity lens, we awarded nearly $200,000 in small grants to a variety of organizations to fund dental clinics that serve tribal members in Washington, purchase PPE for providers, fund a care coordinator for schoolchildren and develop an oral health screening tool for people who are immigrants or refugees.

Spotlight on health equity and racial justice

It’s been a very challenging year but with the expectation of a vaccine, 2021 holds promise for future progress. COVID-19 has laid bare the inequities in our society and the structural racism that prevents too many people of color from accessing care. The increased spotlight on health equity and racial justice will provide unique opportunities to continue progress toward our vision to improve oral health for all, with no one left behind. We are eager to continue working with partners across the state to ensure that race, ethnicity, age, disability or income does not determine one’s health status.