Happy New Year! 2020, COVID-19, and stay at home orders affected mental health for many individuals. How do communities cope when their built environment does not support positive mental health outcomes from a planning perspective? This week we are joined by a special guest, Christie Holland of Gutted Fitness LLC. Gutted Fitness helps black individuals from urban areas make peace with their past, present, and future by providing and preserving safe spaces to be black. Christie uses her background in urban planning, policy, community outreach and engagement, and sales and marketing to lead thought-provoking conversations and action. Press play to hear:

• An overview of positive and negative influences of the built environment on mental health.
• Physical and mental health statistics for Black populations. How does data tell a story about the history of racial inequality and disinvestment in America?
• Hood Politics and how planners can engage communities and meet residents where they are while building trust and meaningful relationships.

Thank you for listening and tune in every-other Tuesday where Nimo and Jas keep it Four Degrees to the Streets.

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Resources:

CDC: Designing and Building Healthy Places

Gutted Fitness: Mental Health

Exercise for Mental Health

Housing environment and mental health outcomes: A levels of analysis perspective

Making Healthy Places: Designing and Building for Health, Well-being, and Sustainability

CDC: Race, Ethnicity, and Age Trends in Persons Who Died from COVID-19

NIH: Major Depression Statistics 

Mental Health America: Black and African American Communities and Mental Health

Key Substance Use and Mental Health Indicators in the United States: Results from the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health

Psychology Today: What Is Collective Trauma?

Association of the Built Environment With Childhood Psychosocial Stress