Neighborhood Environment and Social Support Received: An Examination of Race and Gender in Baltimore City

Social support in urban settings is likely shaped by the context of the neighborhood environment. Patterns of support may also differ by the type of support received as well as characteristics of the person receiving support. For example, women and Black residents may have stronger support networks compared to men and white individuals, and variation by gender and race in social support may have important implications for promoting well-being in disadvantaged neighborhoods. To investigate the presence of these potential patterns in a disadvantaged urban environment, we analyzed 2,553 Baltimore City residents (ages 30-64) from the baseline wave (2004-2009) of the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity across the Life Span (HANDLS) study. We tested associations between self-assessed neighborhood environment (disorder, cohesion, and control) and social support (from partners, children, and/or friends) and further explored variation by intersections of race and gender using multi-group structural equation modeling. Our results suggest that individuals are more likely to receive support when they perceive their neighborhood to have higher social control and cohesion, particularly in terms of support from friends. Although interactions by race and sex were not statistically significant, a descriptive pattern emerged wherein Black women are particularly likely to receive support from multiple sources when they report more social control in their neighborhood. On the other hand, there is almost no association between neighborhood environment and social support for Black men. We discuss these findings in light of potential neighborhood inequities in informal support access in Baltimore City and similar urban settings.

“Inter-District School Transfers and the Role of Educators in Black Students’ Sense of School Belonging”

Inter-district racial and socioeconomic segregation continue to affect students’ educational opportunities. Housing mobility programs provide a way for low-income families to access lower-poverty and higher-performing schools in nearby districts. However, changing schools is also disruptive for students. Through interviews with 67 low-income Black youth who moved from Baltimore city into the suburbs with a mobility program, we examine how students’ interactions with educators shaped their school transition. Educators who provided academic and interpersonal support helped mitigate disruption by promoting students’ sense of school belonging. Yet, we find significant heterogeneity in the support students received as they entered new schools.

Feasibility of using mobile point-of-sale technology in Baltimore City corner stores tracking sales: A brief report

Small food retail stores in many underserved urban settings keep no electronic records, making documentation of program impact on sales difficult to obtain. We examined the feasibility of introducing a point-of-sale tablet (POST) application to track sales of foods and beverages in Baltimore City corner stores. A sample of four geographically and ethnically diverse corner store owners were trained to use POST to track sales of 14 items for eleven days. Feasibility was documented via a structured survey and open-ended interviews. POST had high economic and cultural acceptability, operability, and perceived sustainability, regardless of language differences or familiarity with mobile technology. All store owners reported willingness to use POST again. It is feasible to train corner store owners to use a point-of-sale application for sales monitoring. An upcoming trial will help to ensure that POST provides sufficient value added for corner store owners.

Differentiation of SARS-CoV-2 naturally infected and vaccinated individuals in an inner-city emergency department

Background: Emergency Departments (EDs) can serve as surveillance sites for infectious diseases. Our purpose was to determine the burden of SARS-CoV-2 infection and prevalence of vaccination against COVID-19 among patients attending an urban ED in Baltimore City. Methods: Using 1914 samples of known exposure status, we developed an algorithm to differentiate previously infected, vaccinated, and unexposed individuals using a combination of antibody assays. We applied this testing algorithm to 4360 samples ED patients obtained in the springs of 2020 and 2021. Using multinomial logistic regression, we determined factors associated with infection and vaccination. Results: For the algorithm, sensitivity and specificity for identifying vaccinated individuals was 100% and 99%, respectively, and 84% and 100% for naturally infected individuals. Among the ED subjects, seroprevalence to SARS-CoV-2 increased from 2% to 24% between April 2020 and March 2021. Vaccination prevalence rose to 11% by mid-March 2021. Marked differences in burden of disease and vaccination coverage were seen by sex, race, and ethnicity. Hispanic patients, though 7% of the study population, had the highest relative burden of disease (16 % of total infections) but similar vaccination rates. Women and White individuals were more likely to be vaccinated than men or Black individuals (adjusted odds ratios aOR 1.35 [95% CI: 1.02, 1.80] and aOR 2.26 [95% CI: 1.67, 3.07], respectively). Conclusions: Individuals previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 can be differentiated from vaccinated individuals using a serologic testing algorithm. SARS-CoV-2 exposure and vaccination uptake frequencies reflect gender, race and ethnic health disparities in this urban context.

Slave Streets, Free Streets: Visualizing the Landscape of Early Baltimore

This article explores some of the possibilities and challenges of reconstructing the physical world of Early Republic Baltimore. Drawing on *Visualizing Early Baltimore*, a detailed visualization of Baltimore city following the war of 1812, "Slave Streets, Free Streets" asks readers to think about where the city's free blacks and enslaved workers lived and worked, and how space could be both integrated and segregated. Our research shows that blacks and whites lived in close proximity, but not necessarily in the same kinds of housing or on the same streets. Mapping also shows that the actual buying and selling of individuals, in the absence of a centralized market, took place all over the city, making it literally impossible for residents, both black and white, to avoid. This article illuminates the lives of ordinary people even as it acknowledges the limits of our ability to recreate the past.

Party at the Mailbox: Mobilizing Black Voters with Celebrations of Community

In early 2020 Black Girls Vote, Inc. (BGV) created an initiative to deliver customized locally-themed voter engagement boxes to Baltimore city residents. The pilot Party at the Mailbox (PATM) effort for the June 2020 primary was enormously successful, increasing turnout by 3.5 percentage points overall and by 12.4 percentage points among low-propensity members of households where boxes were delivered. We continued to partner with BGV for the fall general elections as they again worked to increase turnout in Baltimore and also expanded to Detroit and Philadelphia, and for the January 2021 U.S. Senate runoff election in Atlanta. We conclude that PATM works because it cultivates a spirit of celebration about voting that capitalizes on Black group consciousness and Black attitudes about the power of the vote.