Big Picture

Google Maps and I have become pretty tight this year. With the VSC house set as my base, online maps have been indispensable for figuring out directions and just generally getting my bearings in a new place. For the first time, I actually understand compass directions and can figure out detours. Every now and then it's good to zoom out and see the entire street grid of St. Louis. It gives me a sense of what surrounds my house and office.

In grant writing it also helps to "zoom out" your focus sometimes. The other day I printed out some recent minority health statistics and was reminded all over again why we do what we do.

Of the African-American women who get pregnant in St. Louis, 25% don't get sufficient prenatal care, compared to 6% of white women. 14.8% percent of those women will deliver underweight babies. For every 1000 African-American babies born, about 16 will not see their first birthdays (three times more than white infants.)
Compared to white people in Missouri, the number of African-Americans with STDs or gunshot wounds is astronomical. So are statistics for homicide, HIV/AIDS deaths, and ER visits related to mental illness.

My Lifetime movie starring "Eve the single mom" is coming along nicely. I am actually enjoying the creative/editing process on this one, seeing how other people relate it to the big picture. One meeting with the Nicest Boss in the World turned into a deep discussion on poverty, violence, sexual abuse, the objectification of women in rap music, all the problems in the world, etc etc. Maybe I think too much about things sometimes!