President Joe Biden campaigned on a promise to reverse Trump-era immigration policies, but the changes he is making could land the country back in the same chaotic situation as when his predecessor took office.

Dr. Omari Hodge practices family medicine in Gainesville, Ga. These days, he spends a lot of time sharing information and answering patients’ questions about the COVID-19 vaccines. Hodge said many of his older African American patients “don’t necessarily trust the vaccine, because they were alive during some of the times when science wasn’t as kind … to them.”

States and cities are working to get the vaccine to minority communities hardest hit by COVID-19. But a lack of trust and barriers to access are slowing those efforts.

U.S. District Judge David Carter, 76, sat at a folding table under a white tent in front of the Downtown Women’s Center on Los Angeles’ Skid Row. From there, he led the latest hearing in a lawsuit between business owners and the Los Angeles city and county governments over the homelessness crisis.

For the past half-century, Peter Kushkowski’s words have appeared in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Time magazine, as well as in local papers. He keeps binders filled with his writing, covering topics from World War II to local laws. 

Yet Kushkowski is no journalist, and his compositions aren’t featured on the front page or opinion section. Instead, he’s a mainstay on the letters-to-the-editor page. Since the mechanical engineer began his hobby in 1969, he’s seen more than 2,000 of his letters published.

The U.S. healthcare establishment’s plan for curbing the pandemic requires pushing the COVID-19 vaccine out to vulnerable populations as quickly as possible. Homeless people meet many states’ criteria for priority immunization but pose unique challenges for health workers who want to help them.

Some states specifically list the homeless in their vaccination plans, while others prioritize people of a certain age or with specific pre-existing conditions, which include many homeless people.

On an average Saturday morning twice a month, 30 to 50 families used to show up at the food pantry at Eternal Faith Baptist Church in Manor, Texas. They browsed the fellowship hall or picked up prepacked bags filled with beans, rice, pasta, cereal, and cans of meats, fruits, and vegetables. In the spring of 2020, that number jumped to 80 or 100, said Sheila Matthews, who leads the church’s food pantry ministry. It switched to a drive-thru format, and Matthews said that at first Eternal Faith was the only area church with a food pantry.

19TH IN A SERIES ON LONG MARRIAGES