Browsing: National News

     The fundraising effort was part of Alpha Kappa Alpha’s annual HBCU Impact Day; a philanthropic-filled day where the sorority encourages private donors, corporations and local chapters to financially support accredited HBCUs across the nation. Alpha Kappa Alpha set out on a four-year mission to raise $10 million for historically Black institutions as part of the HBCU for Life: A Call to Action initiative. This year—which marks the fourth year of the effort—the sorority hit a milestone, bringing in millions on September 20.

     Recently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded $39,731,817 in American Rescue Plan funding to 45 health centers in Florida to expand their primary health care infrastructure in medically underserved communities. Additionally, to bolster their efforts combatting COVID-19 locally, health center recipients in Florida may also use this funding to secure freezers to store COVID-19 vaccines, purchase mobile vans to better reach and vaccinate marginalized communities, or construct, renovate or expand their facilities so they are better equipped for future pandemics or public health challenges. In total, this funding will support 74 health center projects in Florida.

     Expanding rural telehealth & Joint Center research: The New York Times reports the Biden Administration will spend nearly $20 million to “strengthen telehealth services in rural and underserved communities” where “roughly 15 percent of the population” live, which is aligned with key recommendations put forth in a July 2021 brief on expanding broadband in the Black Rural South by Joint Center Technology Policy Director Dr. Dominique Harrison. The Joint Center will release Dr. Harrison’s full 45-page report on the topic very soon.

     Many of you have probably heard about the story of 22-year-old Gabrielle Petito, the woman who left New York on July 2 for a months-long cross-country trip full of sightseeing and camping with her fiancée, 23-year-old Brian Laundrie. If you’re not familiar with Petito, you can simply Google her name and see her name, face and story pop up on the New York Times, the New York the spread of the Delta variant and the substantial threat it poses to children,” Bourla continued.