Explanation
This ordinance authorizes the Director of the Department of Neighborhoods to enter into a grant agreement with The Ohio State University in support of the Boys and Young Men of Color (BYMOC) Collective.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Columbus has had a profound impact, and perhaps one of the most startling is the differential health outcomes in communities that are majority white versus those that are majority non-white. While non-Hispanic whites make up about 54% of Columbus residents, they comprise only 26% of the positive COVID-19 tests. Columbus non-Hispanic black populations account for 29% of infections and 32% of hospitalizations. Columbus Public Health confirmed that rates are higher in parts of the city that struggle with other health problems.
Columbus residents having an ethnicity other than non-Hispanic white are far more to be impacted by COVID-19, and this is a trend that has remained consistent around the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed that both hospitalization and death rates for black and Hispanic residents were far higher based on population than that of white residents.
The BYMOC Collective will utilize funding the city has received through the CARES Act to closely examine the epidemiological data associated with the aforementioned ethnic disparity, determine the critical factors that contribute to said disparity, and craft programming and policies that ultimately seeks to reduce the negative differential health outcomes experienced within the city’s non-white communities.
Fiscal Impact: Funding to support this expense is in the CARES Act fund.
Emergency action is requested in order to avoid any delay in initiating this critical work to determine impacts and remediation around health disparities in minority communities.
Title
To authorize the Director of the Department of Neighborhoods to enter into a grant agreement with The Ohio State University in support of the Boys and Young Men of Col...
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