Ashia, Albina and Asthma- an individual story and a neighborhood history

Today I am joined by Ashia Allen, whom I first met when she was critically-ill at Emanuel Hospital with severe asthma. She shares her story growing up in Albina near freeways and construction and what it was like to live with asthma. Ben Duncan joins me as well to discuss the history of working on air pollution concerns in Albina, a formerly red-lined district and the historic heart of the black community. Their stories are powerful reminders of why working to clean up air pollution is so important, and why the cost of inaction is high.

Things you can do- 

- Listen to other podcast episodes to learn more about the impact of air pollution and redlining on health, and share with your friends and family.

- Find out what you can do in your community to decrease air pollution. Reach out to your local county commissioner, city council, and state and national legislators to tell them that cleaning up the air not only saves lives it saves money. For more on that, learn about the ROI on the Clean Air Act here.

- Consider a donation to organizations like Neighbors for Clean Air or OPAL Environmental Justice or a group in your community working to clean up the air. Consider it an investment with high returns in terms of lower future healthcare expenditures and higher productivity!

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