Rockledge Hospital Closure Creates Healthcare Desert
When you call 911, you expect an immediate response. In a medical emergency, someone’s life can depend on it. This week, a Central Florida community lost its emergency department. The doors of the Rockledge Hospital closed on Wednesday morning, after nearly 85 years of serving the community. Months after Orlando Health bought the facility last year, they announced plans to shut it down because of health and safety concerns with the building. Central Florida Public Media Health Reporter Joe Mario Pedersen joins Engage to share what’s next for the coastal Brevard community now living in a healthcare desert.
If your family is being impacted, let us know. Send an email to Engage@cfpublic.org or send a talkback on the Central Florida Public Media app or text 833-793-8633.
Immigrants Prep for Citizenship Tests
As immigration enforcement ramps up, the spotlight has been on people who are in the country illegally. There are thousands of immigrants in Central Florida who are here legally, standing in line waiting to become citizens. Classes begin this week at one Apopka nonprofit organization to help immigrants in the long process of becoming U.S. citizens. Central Florida Public Media’s Rick Brunson was there for the first day of class. He joins Engage to talk about the lessons plans and how those in attendance at Hope CommUnity Center are feeling in this climate with the spotlight on illegal immigration enforcement.
One Small Step Returns
Central Florida Public Media and StoryCorps are asking people to take part in One Small Step, an effort to bring communities together one conversation at a time. Abe Aboraya, a producer at Central Florida Public Media, produces these One Small Step conversations between people with differing political views. He joins Engage to share a conversation between two former members of Congress, Democrat Val Demings and Republican Ted Yoho.
Highwaymen Kids Exhibition
In the 1950’s, Black men and women in segregated Florida found career opportunities to be very limited. Most were restricted to manual labor, or the lower rungs of skilled work. Around that time, a group of 25 men and one woman formed a loosely structured group of artists who chronicled the natural landscape of Florida in paintings which they sold door-to-door or at roadside stands. Their art was well known throughout the region, as seen in many banks, doctor’s offices and municipal buildings. In 1995, they were recognized as “The Florida Highwaymen.” Bob Beatty is a historian and author of Florida’s Highwaymen: Legendary Landscapes. He joins Engage to parse out the history of the Florida Highwaymen.
In an effort to connect middle school students with the legacy of the Florida Highwaymen, the Orange County Regional History Center gave sixth through eighth graders the lesson plans and art supplies to embrace the styles of the Highwaymen landscapes. The students made their own art depicting landscapes and had their pieces judged for display at the History Center. The Highwaymen Kids exhibition runs through May 20th at the Orange County Regional history Center in downtown Orlando. Courtney Burns, Assistant Curator of Education, walks us through the exhibit and explains how the young artists are expressing their views of Florida today.
