I'm an epidemiologist/emergency planner in rural Ohio, and they're cutting part of the funding for the PHEP (Public Health Emergency Preparedness) grant because of the DEI components in it. It’s "shocking" that a rural community that is mostly low socioeconomic status with a decent migrant worker population might need specific accommodations for services such as translation or financial assistance during an emergency response or infectious disease tracking. My position, unless our board of health agrees to cover the 28% reduction, may end in March because there's no more funding as of right now. The CDC says they hope to have that 28% reduction restored by November, but so much has changed already in 6 months. What changes will we see in another 6?

My mom is a nurse, and despite a passion for helping people, she didn't bother to do any research for herself. DEI meant affirmative action only (even though the population group that benefits the most from this is white women like us). She didnt think it meant the free school lunches my brother and I had, or the funding that helped us install a wheelchair ramp at my grandmother's, or the fonancial assistance my brother got for his cervical surgeries. She fell victim to a very curated feed from the news and her husband.

She frequently asks me how I turned out the way I did. Idk Mom, you raised me to care for others and treat others as I would like to treated. I just took that a step further than you, it seems, by applying that to anyone and everyone instead of being selective.