Denise Webb, 20, is a CoGenerate Senior Fellow. She’s a student at Berry College and a seasoned activist, working with organizations including United Way, Partnership for Southern Equity and The Sunrise Movement. She is the co-author of Why Aren’t We Doing This!...
Purpose Prize
The Latest from CoGenerate
What Young Leaders Want — And Don’t Want — From Older Allies
We know from our nationally representative study with NORC at the University of Chicago in 2022 that 76% of Gen Z and 70% of Millennial respondents wish they had more opportunities to work across generations for change. In a new report, What Young Leaders Want — And...
Two Oscar-winning Films Shine a Light on Intergenerational Connection
Despite the ongoing drumbeat of generational conflict (a hate story), right in front of us is evidence of a new narrative of cross-generational connection and collaboration (a love story). That love story was on full display at the Grammys, most visibly in the Tracy...
*
Edwina Taylor
Purpose Prize Fellow 2009
Taylor arranges access to health services — including vision and dental care — for underserved, uninsured people, chiefly Hispanics, in Alabama.
Taylor worked as a hematology/oncology nurse for nearly 30 years and saw firsthand the difficulties uninsured people faced in accessing health care. In the late 1990s, Taylor noticed an increase in Hispanic immigrants in the area and asked herself: “If getting health care is this hard for people who were born here, speak the language, and have access to the system, how hard is it if you aren’t from here, don’t speak the language, and may not even have all your papers?” Taylor, 61, understood that the hardships faced by the uninsured were compounded in the Hispanic community due to culture and trust barriers. With the help of friends and donated space from her church, Taylor founded Cahaba Valley Health Care, or CVHC, to provide vision, dental, and blood pressure screenings and diligent case management. The services are offered 14 times a year and are held on Sundays in locations that are accessible to the Hispanic population, usually churches. To conduct the screenings, CVHC utilizes volunteers, including optometry and medical students; health care professionals; native Spanish speakers; and even local high school students. In 2008, volunteers donated more than 2,700 hours to Taylor’s organization.