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Join us for the Linden Connected Vehicle Environment Informational and Sign-up Virtual Event on Zoom. Learn how you can join this pilot program and how these technologies can serve the Linden community and other urban settings. As part of this program, a special device called “on-board units” will be installed on public and private vehicles to allow vehicles driving along Linden streets to talk to each other and receive in-car alerts.

The connected vehicle environment is launching along High St. and Cleveland Ave., north of 5th Ave. and from Morse Rd., east of High St. to Steltzer Rd., including intersections with the highest collision rates in the city.

During this pilot program, devices called “on-board units” will be installed on public and private vehicles to allow vehicles to talk to each other and receive in-car alerts like blind-spot detection or rear-end collision warning. The on-board units also allow vehicles to talk to traffic signals and other roadway infrastructure to provide in-car alerts like red light violation warning. The alerts will give drivers advanced warning of potential hazards or safety concerns so they can slow down or take other precautionary measures. Traffic managers will be able to adjust traffic light timing and mobilize other responses like snow and salt trucks based on real-time information on road conditions relayed by the units. Traffic lights will give priority to connected COTA buses, which will help keep them running on time. Emergency vehicles will also get the green light, allowing them to get through intersections more safely and quickly.

Sign up to learn how you can join this study to help us learn how technology can serve our community and other urban settings.

To Register for the Sept. 29 Virtual Event, click here: https://newsalemcares.zoom.us/…/tJIodu…
To Register for the Oct. 1 Virtual Event, click here: https://newsalemcares.zoom.us/…/tJAkd-GvrzMuH9H6NmKHbr…

New Salem’s Saints on Streets (SOS) Volunteers Distribute Care Packages to Church’s Closest Neighbors

New Salem Baptist Church and the Community of Caring Development Foundation, through the “Health & Hope” initiative and SOS (Saints on Streets) outreach ministry, follow the commandment to “love our neighbors” by distributing CARE packages to more than 100 households in the “adopted” blocks surrounding New Salem Baptist Church.  Volunteer “connectors” began distributing CARE packages on Saturday, May 9, 2020 from 10 a.m. at the New Salem Baptist Church, 2956 Cleveland Ave. Columbus, Ohio 43224 (main parking lot).  Once a highly desired neighborhood of choice, the Linden community now struggles with both physical deterioration and economic challenges. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic only exasperated these challenges, leaving many families and individuals out of work and trying to make ends meet. The CARE packages will include canned and dry goods, pasta, peanut butter, the 2020 Franklin County Children’s Services Resource Guide, and other items.

Community Connectors are needed to help distribute these CARE packages. This is the perfect opportunity to serve while maintaining social distancing and strong safety measures.

The Community of Caring Development Foundation (CCD Foundation)

As the Community and Economic Development Arm of New Salem Baptist Church, The Community of Caring Development Foundation (CCD Foundation) has planted seeds of hope and health in Linden and witnessed what can be accomplished when neighbors join together to create a connected community. Over the last three years, we have continued our commitment to investing in the lives of individuals and families by providing access to affordable housing for more than 1,000 families, over 300,000 meals, $20,000 in community grants and more than $70,000 in academic scholarship awards. We are proud to call the Linden community HOME! Visit us at https://callingallconnectors.org/tourdelinden/.

 

Columbus Dispatch Guest Opinion 

Two months ago, New Salem Church’s 30-year-old food pantry was a place where the community was welcomed inside the doors. The environment was full of conversation, music and laughter. You could find a pat on the back, a hug and a word of inspiration.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed all of that. Now, for the safety of our volunteers and clients, cars line up in the church’s parking lot, people phone in their orders, our volunteers bring boxes of food and other necessary household items out to the car, load them and then watch clients drive away to make room for the next car.

From February to March, we saw a steady increase in new clients, up 32%, and senior citizens, up 28%. The line grows longer each week with people who’ve never needed help putting a meal on the table. In the U.S., the black community is taking the biggest hit. People are hurting and dying disproportionately as we struggle to control the COVID-19 world pandemic. And in Columbus’ Linden community, we are feeling the full wake of the curve.

Linden residents felt the COVID-19 pandemic free fall before most Ohioans as Linden-based restaurant and hospitality workers began losing income on March 5, 2020, when Gov. Mike DeWine, for safety reasons, prohibited spectators and exhibitors from attending a major sporting event in Columbus.

Nearly 60% of employed Linden residents work low-wage service industry jobs, and 58% of neighborhood residents are housing cost-burdened. Additionally, more than 38% of all households in Linden include children, who are typically fed at school. The loss of income for many residents has exacerbated tenuous housing situations.

The area’s food insecurity and housing instability are sure to intensify during the COVID-19 crisis and its aftermath. The gap of inequity in health outcomes and social determinants of health that existed before the world pandemic is now wider than ever before and deadlier.

The two largest food pantries in Linden, Bread of Life Food Pantry run by New Salem’s Community of Caring Development Foundation and St. Stephen’s Community House, are among the few still open. In addition to requests for food, more people are calling daily for rent and utilities assistance.

In the ongoing months, as the impact on our economy and our communities is unveiled, we must think through what public policy changes are needed in a post-COVID-19 world to improve our quality of life and eradicate the inequities that arrest our full potential, keeping many citizens struggling behind the rest of society.

In the meantime, we are all aware of the need for more testing and tracking in Columbus’ communities of color and throughout the city. And there is an urgent need for data collection, specifically in the African American and Hispanic communities so we can better understand how the virus spreads and find ways to mitigate it.

A slow, gradual reopening of the economy is the best approach and will bring relief, hopefully, for our area’s workers who are ready to go back to earning a living. However, we must remember the disproportionate number of people of color, many working in essential jobs around the city, who are vulnerable citizens with high blood pressure, chronic lung disease, diabetes, obesity, asthma, heart disease and undergoing cancer therapy. They need our ongoing protection during these times of uncertainty. We all have a role to play. Let’s be responsible.

And let’s remain faithful and be a resource people can depend on, even if it’s just your next-door neighbor or an elderly family member. During these challenging times, we must be there for our neighbors and then make it our new normal.

The future is uncertain; it is going to be a long, hard road for us all. But if we remain committed to helping others, donating and volunteering when we can, staying at home and wearing a mask in public, we can successfully practice social distancing without becoming socially disconnected.

#Lindenstrong

Adam K. Troy is director of missions, New Salem Baptist Church and chief engagement officer of the Community of Caring Development Foundation, the economic and development arm of New Salem Baptist Church.