Center for Achieving Equity

By Dan Moulthrop

Speaking at The City Club last month, Dr. Gail Christopher of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, challenged all of us to address what she called the "unfinished business of the absurd mythology of racial hierarchy." It's a big job, and we want to invite as much of the community to join us in this conversation about how, exactly we do that, and how we address the health inequities that lie at the heart of the work of Place Matters. (Click through for Dr. Christopher's address, as well as more info on Place Matters, including sponsors)

By The Plain Dealer Editorial Board 

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Northeast Ohio can't afford to have places where ZIP codes determine a person's fate, where one can expect to live to 64 in the Hough neighborhood of Cleveland but to 88 in suburban Lyndhurst.

Our region can't afford to have neighborhoods without grocery stores, forcing poor residents without cars to buy fatty fast food. We can't afford to perpetuate poor lifestyle choices and eating habits. And most of all, we can't afford to be part of a nation that spends $147 billion annually on obesity-related diseases such as heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer.

By Margaret Bernstein

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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Saint Luke's Foundation recently awarded $1.8 million in quarterly grants to Cleveland nonprofits, including $37,063 to the City Club of Cleveland for a "Why Place Matters" lecture series that will shine the light on local health disparities. 
Created in partnership with the City Club and the Cuyahoga County Place Matters research team, the series features viewpoints from nationally known speakers on improving health and life expectancy rates through community-based strategies. The speakers will respond to a 2010 "Place Matters" analysis of Cuyahoga County vital statistics that indicates that Lyndhurst residents live an average of 24 years longer than persons living in Cleveland's Hough neighborhood.

By Harlan Spector

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CLEVELAND, Ohio — LaJean Ray, who runs a community center across the street from a barren plot of land that was League Park, cringes at the public health spotlight that depicts the Hough neighborhood as the place where people die earlier than anywhere else in Cuyahoga County. 

She's heard the statistic repeated the last few years, after Cuyahoga County undertook a groundbreaking analysis that shows where you live has a large impact on health and longevity. The study found Hough residents have a life expectancy of 64 years. On the opposite end of the spectrum is suburban Lyndhurst, 8 1/2 miles away, where the research showed life expectancy was 88.5 years