VANCOUVER – Leaders from throughout Southwest Washington will participate in a forum focused on the health impacts of the economic crisis on low-income people and people of color. Initiated and sponsored by Washington State University Vancouver’s Center for Social and Environmental Justice (CSEJ), the forum will be held Saturday, June 27 from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Vancouver Community Library located at 1007 E. Mill Plain Boulevard. This event is free and open to the public.
The forum aims to spur further research into the impacts of the crisis by educating the community about policy initiatives and organize strategies for addressing the crisis.
“The health care crisis has deepened in the wake of severe cuts in federal, state and county funding for health services and other services that have a direct impact on public health,” said Desiree Hellegers, co-director of the CSEJ at WSU Vancouver. “This forum will raise public awareness since clearly cuts in funding will exacerbate existing health disparities and inequalities.”
The forum will include open mike time to ensure the people most affected by the economic crisis have an opportunity to speak about its impacts.
Community leaders participating in the forum include:
Scott Bailey, Regional Economist, Washington State Employment Security Department
Earl W. Ford, Immediate Past President, NAACP Vancouver
Vanessa R. Gaston, Director, Clark County Community Services
Paul Hochfeld, M.D., Physicians for National Health Program
Kathy Kniep, Executive Director, YWCA Clark County
Steve Kutz, R.N., MPH, Manager, Cowlitz Indian Tribal Health Clinic
Craig Lyons, Executive Director, Council for the Homeless
Alan Melnick, M.D., MPH, CPH, Clark, Cowlitz, Skamania, and Wahkiakum Counties
Prof. Laurie Mercier, Department of History, WSU Vancouver
Prof. Clay Mosher, Department of Sociology, WSU Vancouver
Alex Perez, Chief of Police, City of Longview
George Raiter, Chairman, Cowlitz County Commissioner
Maria Rodriguez-Salazar, President, Washington LULAC
