The water in Flint, Michigan is
still poisonous.
With all that's happening in the U.S. (and the world) right now, how is this still a thing? (**makes not so subtle eye roll in the direction of Donald Trump's Twitter feed and imparts my obvious political bias with regards to what on Earth is happening to America**)
This article recounts the development of twin 5-year old boys.
The family notes that not only are there now physical differences between the
identical twins, but they now struggle cognitively. Other families in this
community report similar struggles. The Community Foundation of Greater Flint has
created a fund to aid children and families who are suffering from lead
poisoning. They've raised $10.9 to help those affected. According to their
website, the funds go toward, "Crisis
response, Optimal child health & development, Early childhood
education, Continuous access to a pediatric medical home, Access to
infant and child behavioral health services, Nutrition
education, Healthy food access, Safe & healthy home
environments, Integrated social services and Research." However, there
are no further details regarding how the funds are dispersed. It's essential that this organization is targeting a broad spectrum of resources for families as this issue will affect children well into their education and throughout their development.
It's frustrating because with
everything that's happening in our world, these families continue to suffer. As
social workers, what are the best ways we can continue to advocate for this community? While there
continues to be more and more to advocate for, it's still important that we
don't forget everyone we serve. (Looking at you, Donny.)
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/31/health/iyw-flint-water-crisis-two-years-later/index.html
https://www.cfgf.org/cfgf/GoodWork/FlintArea/FlintKids/tabid/855/Default.aspx
I'm glad to see that there are grassroots efforts to spread awareness of the continuing problems in Flint caused by lead in water. It is unfortunate that there isn't more information about how funds are dispersed and that there aren't more formal organizations jumping on board yet. I think formal support would increase the funds raised as accountability for fund dispersion and more organized advocacy could be facilitated. I've seen ads on TV where people are offered water samples with "legal amounts of lead" from various towns, including an elementary school drinking fountain, and while it's one ad, it is encouraging that people are seeking to improve awareness and gain support for these issues.
ReplyDeleteI think that in encouraging ongoing advocacy, we need to work to fight against our "next big thing" soundbite culture. The herd gets easily distracted by the sensational and the outrageous. When those fires die down, we pat ourselves on the back for donating money or participating in a protest and then we move on, not thinking about the issues that still linger. Things get lost in transition from hot news item to hot news item. As an example, the immigration executive order was terrible but the response might have also played right into the hands of the administration by focusing so much public furor and outrage on one thing so that other important issues got lost (the terrible Cabinet nominees, the selling off of federal lands, the appointment of Bannon to the National Security Council, etc.). I think that as social workers and community organizers, we need to not let up when it comes to the issues that need continued advocacy and outrage. The crisis in Flint is going to impact the city for generations and has left the current generation of children with lifelong health issues that we still cannot know the true impact of. The Flint crisis also began to spur other cities to action, but those efforts, too, seem to have let up. We need to not give up. We need to just keep going (as Dory might say). Sometimes we might need to furiously swim against stream in order to make real and continued waves.
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