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How Neighborhoods Make Us Sick: Restoring Health and Wellness to Our Communities
Our neighborhoods are literally making us sick.
Buildings with mold trigger asthma and other respiratory conditions. Geographic lack of access to food and health care increases childhood mortality. Community violence traumatizes residents. Poverty, unemployment, inadequate housing, food insecurity, racial injustice, and oppression cause physical changes in the body, resulting in disease and death.
But there is hope. Loving our neighbor includes creating social environments in which people can be healthy. While working in community redevelopment and treating uninsured families, Veronica Squires and Breanna Lathrop discovered that creating healthier neighborhoods requires a commitment to health equity. Jesus' ministry brought healing through dismantling systems of oppression and overturning social norms that prevented people from living healthy lives. We can do the same in our communities through addressing social determinants that facilitate healing in under-resourced neighborhoods.
Everyone deserves the opportunity for good health. The decisions we make and actions we take can promote the health of our neighbors.
Buildings with mold trigger asthma and other respiratory conditions. Geographic lack of access to food and health care increases childhood mortality. Community violence traumatizes residents. Poverty, unemployment, inadequate housing, food insecurity, racial injustice, and oppression cause physical changes in the body, resulting in disease and death.
But there is hope. Loving our neighbor includes creating social environments in which people can be healthy. While working in community redevelopment and treating uninsured families, Veronica Squires and Breanna Lathrop discovered that creating healthier neighborhoods requires a commitment to health equity. Jesus' ministry brought healing through dismantling systems of oppression and overturning social norms that prevented people from living healthy lives. We can do the same in our communities through addressing social determinants that facilitate healing in under-resourced neighborhoods.
Everyone deserves the opportunity for good health. The decisions we make and actions we take can promote the health of our neighbors.
- GenresNonfiction
224 pages, Paperback
Published January 15, 2019
16 people are currently reading
180 people want to read
About the author
Veronica Squires
1 book2 followersVeronica Squires is chief administrative officer for Good Samaritan Health Center in Atlanta. She previously served as director of corporate development for Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta and as the Georgia director of ministry partnerships for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. She is a certified CCDA practitioner and serves on the advisory board for the Georgia Charitable Care Network.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 21, 2018
The authors talk about living in a poor neighborhood in Atlanta and how it negatively impacts the residents there and makes it hard if not impossible for them to better their situation. They also talk about the organizations specifically the health clinic one of the authors works for that are trying to help the people who live there.
Co-written by a upper middle class white woman who moves with her husband into the inner city of Atlanta as part of mission I feel like this book is one that might actually reach the white Christian suburbanites who don't understand why "these people" don't just pull themselves up by the boot straps and who think if you're poor it's obviously your fault and has nothing to do with systemic issues. Having someone who is like them share her personal experiences of living under the conditions that most poor inner city people live in and sharing about how it affected her life and her health might actually speak to some of them. Here's hoping because most of the books I read on topics like this make me think that no one who doesn't already agree with this is going to pick this up and actually believe what it says. This one I think has a chance of reaching some people who might not already recognize the systemic issues that keep poor people down in our country.
Co-written by a upper middle class white woman who moves with her husband into the inner city of Atlanta as part of mission I feel like this book is one that might actually reach the white Christian suburbanites who don't understand why "these people" don't just pull themselves up by the boot straps and who think if you're poor it's obviously your fault and has nothing to do with systemic issues. Having someone who is like them share her personal experiences of living under the conditions that most poor inner city people live in and sharing about how it affected her life and her health might actually speak to some of them. Here's hoping because most of the books I read on topics like this make me think that no one who doesn't already agree with this is going to pick this up and actually believe what it says. This one I think has a chance of reaching some people who might not already recognize the systemic issues that keep poor people down in our country.
January 9, 2019
Squires and Lathrop take a thoughtful look at health equality, the impacts of poverty and what it means to be a good neighbor. Blending their personal and professional experience with real world data, Squires and Lathrop have written a book that is readable, convicting and full of hope.
February 5, 2019
Summary: A case study showing how social determinants impacting health outcomes work in different zip codes and how these manifest in an urban neighborhood in southwest Atlanta.
Perhaps the single most sobering insight to arise from How Neighborhoods Make Us Sick is that life expectancy within different zip codes in the same city and metro area can widely vary--by a decade or more in some cases. There are a complex of factors in which these areas vary--social determinants--that profoundly affect the wellness and longevity of the residents in those neighborhoods.
The co-authors of this book, Veronica Squires and Breanna Lathrop, take academic discussion in the public health community and narrate how they personally experienced the realities of the factors that shape health outcomes. Their argument is that these social determinants go far beyond personal choices and "bootstrap" solutions. Much of this came through their personal realization that the presence and community involvement advocated in community development circles just weren't enough. The first half of this book describes the journey of each of them in coming to this realization. Each chapter contains a sections describing the journey of each author around the impacts on health of poverty, employment (mostly in low wage jobs), food insecurity and nutrition, education and child development, housing availability, environmental issues (mold, lead), and homelessness, and health care access.
Breanna, a health care provider at the Good Samaritan Health Center in urban southwest Atlanta, came face to face with the reality that all her efforts at appropriate health interventions and care plans were being undone by these social determinants. Her patients were not getting better. Veronica and her husband moved into the neighborhood, lived out the commitments they had learned in community development, but little changed and both saw their own health deteriorate, despite having good educations and jobs. After nine years, they had to move out. Veronica writes:
"I left with severe anxiety, major depression, and recurrent panic attack episodes. Eric left with panic attacks too, along with high blood pressure and heart palpitations. We both left with psoriasis. Yet, even though I knew we were doing the right thing for the health of our family, I was grieving the loss of a vision and hope that community development alone could repair communities in a holistic, lasting, and scalable manner. As we pulled onto the highway, I turned around to look at the exit I had taken thousands of times to get home and thought, There has to be a better way to restore our communities." (p. 89)
Part Two of the book begins with the co-authors writing about how they leaned into their faith in addressing these challenges. Their study of Jesus opened their eyes to his commitment to healing and overturning oppressive systems and structures that undermined the health and lives of the poor. They saw that to pursue this work was kingdom work.
Both describe the transformative practices they've had a part in implementing at the Good Samaritan Health Center, a donor-funded effort. Veronica is the chief administrative officer, and Breanna, the chief operating officer. They make some challenging statements about some of the mantras surrounding charitable giving in church circles, including volunteering as a substitute for giving, and "diversifying." The health center itself offers a "full circle" of health care including medical and dental care, behavioral health care, health education, and healthy living practices.
Most strategic though are the partnerships they have developed to address housing issues, employment, health care for the homeless, nutrition (through neighborhood food initiatives and gardens), and a focus on early child development and education. They stress the importance of partnering with the community, listening to the community for its advice about what will be most helpful. They also address the issue of health access and insurance in the U.S. and the current decisions that exclude many from access to good health care, particularly preventive care. They argue that many of the interventions they have pursued save money, or even return money to communities, compared to the current alternatives that often result in repeat incarceration, emergency room usage, and hospitalizations.
It struck me that these women, and those they work with did not stop with the many reasons why things weren't changing in southwest Atlanta, but looked for smart and biblical ways to pursue health equity, addressing the other factors that often undermined their patients' health. They hit bottom, were honest about what that looked like for them, and then persisted.
The book also raises questions about whether we will recognize that equality is not enough when the playing field is not level. They advocate for health equity, recognizing that those at the bottom of the hill face a much harder task than those at the top to achieve the same outcome. Will a nation graced with so many resources rise to this kind of greatness? And to come back to the sobering insight with which I began, how will we respond to the fact that some of our near neighbors in the same city have a shorter life expectancy than we do? How is this not a pro-life issue? These were the questions I'm pondering after reading this book.
_____________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
Perhaps the single most sobering insight to arise from How Neighborhoods Make Us Sick is that life expectancy within different zip codes in the same city and metro area can widely vary--by a decade or more in some cases. There are a complex of factors in which these areas vary--social determinants--that profoundly affect the wellness and longevity of the residents in those neighborhoods.
The co-authors of this book, Veronica Squires and Breanna Lathrop, take academic discussion in the public health community and narrate how they personally experienced the realities of the factors that shape health outcomes. Their argument is that these social determinants go far beyond personal choices and "bootstrap" solutions. Much of this came through their personal realization that the presence and community involvement advocated in community development circles just weren't enough. The first half of this book describes the journey of each of them in coming to this realization. Each chapter contains a sections describing the journey of each author around the impacts on health of poverty, employment (mostly in low wage jobs), food insecurity and nutrition, education and child development, housing availability, environmental issues (mold, lead), and homelessness, and health care access.
Breanna, a health care provider at the Good Samaritan Health Center in urban southwest Atlanta, came face to face with the reality that all her efforts at appropriate health interventions and care plans were being undone by these social determinants. Her patients were not getting better. Veronica and her husband moved into the neighborhood, lived out the commitments they had learned in community development, but little changed and both saw their own health deteriorate, despite having good educations and jobs. After nine years, they had to move out. Veronica writes:
"I left with severe anxiety, major depression, and recurrent panic attack episodes. Eric left with panic attacks too, along with high blood pressure and heart palpitations. We both left with psoriasis. Yet, even though I knew we were doing the right thing for the health of our family, I was grieving the loss of a vision and hope that community development alone could repair communities in a holistic, lasting, and scalable manner. As we pulled onto the highway, I turned around to look at the exit I had taken thousands of times to get home and thought, There has to be a better way to restore our communities." (p. 89)
Part Two of the book begins with the co-authors writing about how they leaned into their faith in addressing these challenges. Their study of Jesus opened their eyes to his commitment to healing and overturning oppressive systems and structures that undermined the health and lives of the poor. They saw that to pursue this work was kingdom work.
Both describe the transformative practices they've had a part in implementing at the Good Samaritan Health Center, a donor-funded effort. Veronica is the chief administrative officer, and Breanna, the chief operating officer. They make some challenging statements about some of the mantras surrounding charitable giving in church circles, including volunteering as a substitute for giving, and "diversifying." The health center itself offers a "full circle" of health care including medical and dental care, behavioral health care, health education, and healthy living practices.
Most strategic though are the partnerships they have developed to address housing issues, employment, health care for the homeless, nutrition (through neighborhood food initiatives and gardens), and a focus on early child development and education. They stress the importance of partnering with the community, listening to the community for its advice about what will be most helpful. They also address the issue of health access and insurance in the U.S. and the current decisions that exclude many from access to good health care, particularly preventive care. They argue that many of the interventions they have pursued save money, or even return money to communities, compared to the current alternatives that often result in repeat incarceration, emergency room usage, and hospitalizations.
It struck me that these women, and those they work with did not stop with the many reasons why things weren't changing in southwest Atlanta, but looked for smart and biblical ways to pursue health equity, addressing the other factors that often undermined their patients' health. They hit bottom, were honest about what that looked like for them, and then persisted.
The book also raises questions about whether we will recognize that equality is not enough when the playing field is not level. They advocate for health equity, recognizing that those at the bottom of the hill face a much harder task than those at the top to achieve the same outcome. Will a nation graced with so many resources rise to this kind of greatness? And to come back to the sobering insight with which I began, how will we respond to the fact that some of our near neighbors in the same city have a shorter life expectancy than we do? How is this not a pro-life issue? These were the questions I'm pondering after reading this book.
_____________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
June 13, 2020
What a book! It's a quick read, but lots of unsettling stats and stories about the health inequalities of our fellow citizens. This book was written by providers in Atlanta, so I find the discuss particularly relevant.
January 20, 2019
Data and real-world experience from Good Samaritan Health Center support the need for health care equity in all communities. Important perspective when advocating for health care for all.
January 17, 2019
Good overview of social determinants of health and some ways to address them. Focuses on Atlanta but draws examples from other cities
January 13, 2021
Very eye-opening to what life is like being stuck in the vicious cycle of poverty, and how healthcare workers/advocates can most effectively provide holistic help to these communities by getting to the root of their health issues.
September 6, 2020
Very basic public health text of two women living and working in southeast Atlanta, GA. Using this for class - did not realize how religious it would get.
Read
July 17, 2020Jose retells his story as an undocumented citizen who was brought from the Philippines to the US as a child. He lived with his grandparents and didn’t know he was undocumented until he was sixteen. He recounts how he used media to understand American culture and the ways that race politics were perplexing to him as a kid. He also came out as gay when he was young and reflects on how it was easier to embrace this part of himself than to embrace his legal status. He follows a career in journalism and filmmaking after getting support from strangers and people who had become like family here in the US. He became an activist and wrote for several prominent newspapers. Ultimately the story is about Jose’s radical transparency about his legal status and his very public questioning of the US immigration system. He writes, “home is not something I should have to earn”.
Practically all of my students are immigrants and when they come to the US they are confronted by the rules of race that perpetuate every part of life. What language to use around the topic of race, when to talk about race frankly, and more. Race has been a topic in some of the classes at Neighborhood House as students navigate race and ask questions.
Specific to events in the past week – we have held a meeting time where students can ask us questions about what’s going on, and we plan to discuss it more in classes. The students have asked the hard question of why all of this is happening. Racism in law enforcement is part of their reality, and in these moments, we only have short-term solutions for their safety. We have resources about how to respond to the police and what their rights are in those moments – but of course this is just a flimsy bandaid on a larger problem.
Practically all of my students are immigrants and when they come to the US they are confronted by the rules of race that perpetuate every part of life. What language to use around the topic of race, when to talk about race frankly, and more. Race has been a topic in some of the classes at Neighborhood House as students navigate race and ask questions.
Specific to events in the past week – we have held a meeting time where students can ask us questions about what’s going on, and we plan to discuss it more in classes. The students have asked the hard question of why all of this is happening. Racism in law enforcement is part of their reality, and in these moments, we only have short-term solutions for their safety. We have resources about how to respond to the police and what their rights are in those moments – but of course this is just a flimsy bandaid on a larger problem.
December 18, 2020
I liked this book! It was a really solid explanation of the social determinants of health and all the factors that can make people sick. It does a great job showing how systemic factors contribute to the cycle of poverty, and how you can't blame poverty on individuals.
The book was a bit more religious than I would have liked for a nonfiction book about health equity. I'm still cringing about one of the authors saying she threw baby showers for every teen mom "to encourage them to keep the baby." The many quotes from the Bible didn't add anything for me. I was nervous there would be a strong thread of white saviorism running through the book, but thankfully the two writers seemed pretty self aware.
Overall, this is a useful book that has the potential to educate many folks!
The book was a bit more religious than I would have liked for a nonfiction book about health equity. I'm still cringing about one of the authors saying she threw baby showers for every teen mom "to encourage them to keep the baby." The many quotes from the Bible didn't add anything for me. I was nervous there would be a strong thread of white saviorism running through the book, but thankfully the two writers seemed pretty self aware.
Overall, this is a useful book that has the potential to educate many folks!
May 24, 2023
Drawing on their experiences living and working in urban Atlanta, co-authors Veronica Squires and Breanna Lathrop discuss the social determinants that negatively impact the health of low income communities and explore potential paths to achieving health equity in America.
❤️ What I Loved
- Equal parts case study, memoir, and manifesto. 📖
- Clear and compelling writing. ✍️
- Seeing how Veronica and her husband learned the limitations of the community development model firsthand. 💥
- Personal anecdotes were supported with relevant statistics and studies. 📊
- The link between true Christianity and radical social justice.❕
- How the authors methodically demonstrated the trauma that poverty inflicts on the mind and body. ❤️🩹
- All of the suggestions and strategies for brand new activists. 👍
💔 What Didn’t Work For Me
- The authors were somewhat limited by their own experiences and backgrounds, despite their efforts to be self aware. 👈
- The writing felt repetitive at times and could have been more succinct. 💬
How Neighborhoods Make Us Sick does an excellent job of illuminating the unrelenting and vicious nature of generational poverty — particularly for readers from a middle or upper class background. If you’ve ever 1) wondered why the cycle of poverty exists, 2) sought to understand the limitations of community development, or 3) wanted to study the links between poverty and health, then this is the book for you.
❤️ What I Loved
- Equal parts case study, memoir, and manifesto. 📖
- Clear and compelling writing. ✍️
- Seeing how Veronica and her husband learned the limitations of the community development model firsthand. 💥
- Personal anecdotes were supported with relevant statistics and studies. 📊
- The link between true Christianity and radical social justice.❕
- How the authors methodically demonstrated the trauma that poverty inflicts on the mind and body. ❤️🩹
- All of the suggestions and strategies for brand new activists. 👍
💔 What Didn’t Work For Me
- The authors were somewhat limited by their own experiences and backgrounds, despite their efforts to be self aware. 👈
- The writing felt repetitive at times and could have been more succinct. 💬
How Neighborhoods Make Us Sick does an excellent job of illuminating the unrelenting and vicious nature of generational poverty — particularly for readers from a middle or upper class background. If you’ve ever 1) wondered why the cycle of poverty exists, 2) sought to understand the limitations of community development, or 3) wanted to study the links between poverty and health, then this is the book for you.
November 13, 2025
Fine enough book. Touches well on the broader poison of poverty, but there’s not much (correct) Biblical perspective. Not 100% sure if I’d recommend this, but I also wouldn’t not recommend.
July 31, 2019
Fantastic read! I read this to help educate myself for my new role/responsibilities as work (Hospital Community Benefit). This book is all about the social determinants of health (SDOH) and the impacts of such, particularly on poorer neighborhoods and communities of color. This was also written from the perspective of a two different people's experiences and from a faith point-of-view, which is particularly helpful to me, as our town is pretty religious and conservative, so it was nice to have that POV mixed with the information about SDOH. The work Kaiser Permanente has done is amazing. I especially appreciated the honesty shared by the author who lived in an underprivileged neighborhood for a period of time. This was such a fast and easy read and I thought it was great all the way around.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews