Healthy and financially stable individuals who have equitable access to opportunity are the foundation of a thriving community. This year—2020—was a year of worldwide turmoil, uncertainty, and reckoning. A novel airborne disease, COVID-19, took nations by surprise and froze their economies, claimed the lives of their citizens, and transformed the way people work, study, meet, and live. According to John Hopkins University, the United States was among the hardest hit nations both in terms of mortality and infection rates by the end of the year.ⁱ In the U.S., Nebraska ranked number 5 in total cases per capita as of mid-December 2020.ⁱⁱ COVID-19 had infected more than 165,000 Nebraskans, hospitalized nearly 5,000, and taken the lives of over 1,500 residents, including some children.ⁱⁱⁱ By the year’s end, the number of cases and deaths continued to rise (See Figure 1 and 2).^{iv, v} The economic impact has also been devastating. Since the pandemic began, 11% of Nebraskans with children have reported sometimes or often not having enough to eat, 41% have reported loss of income, and 19% have reported having slight or no confidence in affording next month’s home payment.^vi Children and families have also experienced an increase in stress that can impact mental health. Two thirds (66%) of parents have reported feeling down or anxious, up from 41% in 2019.^{vi, vii} School systems increased their reliance on remote learning highlighting inequities in access to technology. Around 1 in 20 Nebraskans with children reported rarely or never having a computer or internet available for educational purposes, making remote learning virtually impossible for thousands of kids.^vi As staggering as they may be, these statistics do not and cannot capture the depth of the pain and struggle of Nebraskan families, nor can they predict the road ahead.

COVID-19 has been most damaging to older populations. As of mid-December, COVID-19 had accounted for 11.3% of all deaths in the U.S. among people over the age of 65, compared to 3.9% of all deaths among people under the age of 45.^viii The risk of severe illness from COVID-19 is increased for adults with certain underlying medical conditions, including cancer, obesity, sickle cell disease, and pregnancy.^ix During the early stages of the pandemic, the rate of infection was highest among people living in concentrated urban areas, but it has now spread across rural communities.^x COVID-19 has also taken a devastating and disproportionate toll on communities of color throughout the nation and across Nebraska. Although White people accounted for the majority (84%) of all COVID-19 deaths in Nebraska by the end of the year, the share of deaths, once adjusted for age, was overrepresented by Hispanics and African Americans (See Figure 3).^xi While Hispanics and African Americans only make up 17% of the Nebraska population, they accounted for more than half of the age-adjusted COVID-19 deaths by mid-December 2020.^xi When haphazard diseases discriminate between populations across insubstantial differences, such as race and ethnicity, then the driving underlying condition is not medical but social and systemic. This is the experience of communities of color living in a country where the predominant culture reinforces white supremacy—the social, economic, and political systems that stem from the belief that white people constitute a superior race and that enable white people to maintain power over others.^xii While 2020 brought once-in-a-century health and economic crises throughout the globe, people and families of color across Nebraska have experienced constant pandemic-like crises that have been exacerbated by COVID-19.