National Minority Health Month
This year’s theme for the National Minority Health Month in April is “Give Your Community a Boost” and is a great time to shed more light on how the COVID 19 pandemic has greatly affected people in minority racial communities and encourage everyone to get vaccinated. It is also a time to raise awareness about the tactics like early detection and health education, that can be used to resolve the unequal access to healthcare that affects people of color, as is done annually.
As far back as 1915 when it was known as National Negro Health Week, the National Minority Health Month has been used to encourage actions that help to mitigate premature death of minority populations due to illnesses. Among the many factors that cause ill health in these communities, is the lack of good housing. Prevalent poverty among many people of color means that they are unable to afford decent houses and often settle for unsafe neighborhoods. There are also racial discrimination issues ongoing in the real estate industry, preventing people of certain races from getting the homes they desire. During the outbreak of COVID 19, the inhabitable and clustered neighborhoods contributed to its spread within these minority communities.
Focusing on the people of Milwaukee County in Wisconsin, according to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Center for Economic Development, Milwaukee black homeownership rate is 27.2% which is the second-lowest rate in the nation's Black homeownership. Racial barriers and prejudices affect homeownership for people of color living in this community. The county has a high number of Blacks and Hispanics who are victims of unstable housing.
How EvictionFreeMKE is improving housing in the Milwaukee Community
Better housing opportunities is a key factor to eliminating public health crisis, therefore the Legal Aid society, EvictionFreeMKE, is glad to be creating this awareness during this year’s National Minority Health Month. The organization supports people of the racial minority throughout the eviction process to ensure that they are not grossly affected by unstable housing situations. We educate these individuals about their rights, the entire process of eviction and the many possible outcomes of the legal process. Our key roles include appearing before judges at court, interpreting eviction legality to the individuals, and following through till a resolution is reached with the landlords within a reasonable timeline.
With the free support and legal resources that EvictionFreeMKE provides, people of the Milwaukee community now have hopes of better eviction proceeding outcomes irrespective of their race and ethnicity. If you identify as an individual currently facing eviction issues in this community, contact EvictionFreeMKE for legal and advisory assistance today. Ending the housing issues for the minority population in the Milwaukee community starts with touching individual lives through eviction support, and EvictionFreeMKE is dedicated to this.