As a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting homeless or precariously housed students, we at the HIGH program feel it is a necessity to promote other non-profits with the aim of assisting the under privileged. Weekly, we will put a spotlight on organizations that are providing resources to those in need across the state.     Across the nation there are a good deal of crises that plague the lower class, and a multitude of organizations are scrambling to remedy these issues.     For instance, h ealthcare in the United States can be astronomically expensive for the uninsured. It can be difficult to even get a doctor to see you if you aren’t insured or if you don’t have good insurance. This is a problem that clinic directors from Michigan and Illinois recognized in 1996 when they came together to form the Free Clinics of the Great Lake Region (FCGLR).  The FCGLR was a seven state network of about 250 free clinics. Four years later in 2000, Michiga...

  In the last year, thousands nation-wide have lost their jobs and been evicted from their homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of this, homelessness is on the rise and many states do not have adequate resources to assist those who have been displaced. However, most states did not have the resources to assist their pre-COVID homeless population and have neglected the issue for decades. The leading causes of homelessness in the United States are a lack of affordable housing; unemployment; poverty; mental illness and the lack of needed services; and substance abuse and the lack of needed services. Rather than addressing the issues that cause homelessness directly, many US states have opted to circumvent them and prioritize the aesthetic of cities over the wellbeing of homeless citizens. Hostile architecture, or more specifically anti-homeless architecture, was born from this circumvention. While cities funnel money away from social programs to assist the homeless, they pou...

     On April 28, 2021, I received the first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. By this time there was already a great deal of misinformation and speculation surrounding the vaccine. Conspiracy theories and criticisms about the vaccine have taken on a life of their own, and many have adopted unfounded beliefs to do with the shot. Still, despite the controversy, I still elected to receive both doses of the Moderna vaccine. The process was very simple for both shots -- I walked onto the test site, filled out a few forms, received my shot, and waited 15 minutes. I didn’t have any adverse side effects, so I was free to go after the 15 minutes had passed. Overall, the entire process was maybe 25 minutes. Some of the potential side effects of the vaccine include redness, swelling, and soreness at the site of the vaccine. Throughout the body there is the potential for tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, fever, and nausea. These side effects can be worse after the se...