ReOpen DC Committee | Equity and Vulnerable Populations

Mission

COVID-19 has put a spotlight on significant inequities in America.  African-Americans comprise over 80 percent of the COVID-19 related deaths in DC, while making up 48 percent of the population. Disparity in health outcomes and life expectancy did not emerge in this pandemic, but the deadliness of this virus and health conditions over-represented in the African American community highlight the need to focus on the building blocks of health, from a local and national perspective.  These blocks of health have long evaded urban and low-income communities, including equal access to high quality food, housing, education, and jobs.  The pandemic also highlights the fact that people of color are over represented in front-line jobs and likely not in jobs where paid telework is an option, thus less able to stay-at-home and avoid exposure.  Further, thus far the District's experience with COVID-19 demonstrates that those living in congregant settings and with complicated medical histories heavily drive the number of COVID-19 related fatalities in the District.  A focus on preparedness of vulnerable populations in senior living facilities, group homes, detention centers, and homeless shelters will make DC more resilient to a COVID-19-like outbreak.

Focus

The committee will focus on how the District's recovery efforts will right-size investments in communities hardest hit by the virus and find strategies to make our systems that have supported these inequities more fair and more resilient.

Including, but not limited to:

• Expanding Opportunity for All
• Housing Equity
• Digital Equity
• LGBTQ
• Aging Population
• Residents with Disabilities
• Returning Citizens