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The financial instability many people face as a result of the pandemic has put more people at risk of losing their housing. A national eviction moratorium established by the CDC is set to expire on December 31 and local governments have until then to use federal CARES Act relief funds designated to help people with past due rent and utilities. We talk with Janet Bartos, Executive Director of the Lee County Homeless Coalition, and the City of Fort Myers’ new mayor Kevin Anderson, about efforts being made to help people experiencing homelessness and those at risk.

We talk with a political scientist who has been collaborating on a project to explore how minority parties are able to accomplish their goals. Dr. Andrew Ballard is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Florida State University. His forthcoming book distills research that he, and his co-author have been doing that looks at U.S. Congressional power dynamics in history to see just how minority parties approach getting their goals into legislation, or in some cases obstruct the majority party’s efforts.

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration recently issued an Emergency Use Authorization for convalescent plasma in part based on studies like one that Lee Health has been participating in. This local trial has been part of Mayo Clinic’s national COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Study. The FDA approval means the use of convalescent plasma is now on hold at Lee Health.

We continue our year-long celebration of the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act through our “Move to Include” initiative by learning about a nonprofit called Residential Options of Florida, or ROOF. Its mission is to empower individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to successfully obtain and maintain affordable and inclusive housing of their choice.

According to Florida's COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard there have been a total of 1,943 cases of COVID-19 in Lee County as of this morning’s update. Many of those patients were treated at a Lee Health hospital.

The 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season is well-underway, with southwest Florida’s recent brush with Tropical Storm Alex, which was the first named storm of the season. Alex caused significant flooding in parts of Florida and killed three people in Cuba. The storm serves as a reminder that even though the peak of hurricane season typically doesn’t arrive until September, severe weather can come at any time throughout the six month hurricane season and that now is the time to prepare. We talk with the director of Lee County Emergency Management's Department of Public Safety to get some tips on what residents should do to be ready.

During the 1918 influenza pandemic, which was happening at the same time as World War I, Americans were for the most part unified in their willingness to sacrifice for the common good. And this willingness to respond collectively continued during World War II. But, while public health officials have urged Americans to do their part to stem the spread of the coronavirus by doing things like avoiding large gatherings and wearing masks millions of people have refused. We explore what’s changed, and why, with the co-authors of a recent Washington Post op-ed called “Americans used to sacrifice for the public good. What happened?”

A group of FGCU students is working on a project focused on addressing the loneliness epidemic amongst our senior citizen and Gen Z populations, while promoting more kindness and compassion through storytelling. The ROCK of Ages initiative seeks to address social isolation amongst older people, and diminished in-person social skills amongst younger people, by pairing students with older people to share stories, on camera, to build bridges between generations and create transformative experiences that hopefully create ripple effects of social change.

Technological advances have brought much good to the world. But as ways to communicate have diversified and led to anyone being able to get their message out to the entire world, it seems undeniable that society has taken a turn toward hyper-polarization and partisanship – and the number of people – especially young people who are experiencing mental health issues has increased and the trendline is heading in the wrong direction. Our guests are part of a cross-partisan political reform group comprised a wide range of people, from elected officials and national security experts to mental health professionals and technologists who are trying to encourage change and find ways to address the negative effects of our online world.

Technological advances have brought much good to the world. But as ways to communicate have diversified and led to anyone being able to get their message out to the entire world, it seems undeniable that society has taken a turn toward hyper-polarization and partisanship – and the number of people – especially young people who are experiencing mental health issues has increased and the trendline is heading in the wrong direction. Our guests are part of a cross-partisan political reform group comprised a wide range of people, from elected officials and national security experts to mental health professionals and technologists who are trying to encourage change and find ways to address the negative effects of our online world.