Photo: Lenseview Studio
Grace Clarke, ’14, MPH ’21, knows what it’s like to want for basic necessities.
Born in Liberia to a single mother of three, Clarke and her family suffered from a lack of sustainable income and household resources. This included feminine hygiene products, or what’s commonly referred to as period poverty.
“I was taught, as a young girl, to find other ways, to find alternatives,” she said. “This is an experience of mine and of so many other girls, and it’s something no one should endure.”
In May, Clarke will graduate from La Salle University’s Master of Public Health (MPH) program. Two years ago, while pursuing her MPH, she established a nonprofit organization in Liberia Positive Action Driving Safety for Girls (PADS) to provide young girls in disadvantaged communities with the resources and education they lack.
Faculty, staff, and alumni from La Salle University spoke with the media this month about the COVID-19 vaccine, inequality in health care inequality, and President Biden’s faith, among other topics.
La Salle News
La Salle in the media | February highlights
Faculty and staff from La Salle University spoke with the media recently about COVID-19 vaccines, working from home, private prisons, and more.
Here are some February highlights:
Number of people who want COVID-19 vaccine increases
The lack of clear information about how, when, and where Americans will get the COVID-19 vaccine is one reason why there’s a lack of interest in receiving it, said Kelly Madden Daily, Ph.D., associate professor of communication.
How ‘two weeks to flatten the curve’ became 365 days of frustration
What has Pennsylvania learned one year into the pandemic? “It’s definitely revealed the disparities that we have health disparities and social inequities, but also the sort of patchwork of our public health system,” said Candace Robertson-James, DrPH, assistant professor of public health and director of undergraduate and graduate programs in public health.
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A year of COVID-19: Two weeks to flatten the curve became 365 days of frustration in Pa.
Daveen Rae Kurutz, Beaver County Times
Published
10:24 am UTC Feb. 24, 2021
About this series: Over the next several weeks, reporters with USA Today s Pennsylvania network will take a look back at the impact COVID-19 has had on the commonwealth over the past year, and what the future holds.
Charlotte Randle misses dinners out with her family.
Jamie Baughman misses taking her children on trips.
Arden Vernacchio misses wearing makeup.
It s been almost a year since Pennsylvanians lives were upended by the novel coronavirus. Two weeks to flatten the curve turned into months of restrictions, which have turned into nearly 365 days of mask-wearing, hand-washing and worries about whether there will ever be a return to normal after life with COVID-19.
during the Fall 2020 semester.
The work of La Salleâs COVID-19 contact tracers in the fall semester focused on mitigating spread of the coronavirus at La Salle in order to keep the campus community as healthy as possible. Approximately 40 students, in small and physically distanced cohorts, maintained regular shifts at a phone bank that was arranged in a vacant office space at St. Benilde Tower, home of La Salleâs School of Nursing and Health Sciences. Others worked their shifts from home. They connected with La Salle students who maintained an active campus presence and alerted the University that they had tested positive. La Salleâs contact tracers asked and answered questions, offered counsel, directed them to University and city resources, and, importantly, aimed to provide peace of mind. They also called those who had tested positive in order to determine others in the La Salle community with whom they possibly inadvertently exposed to the virus.