Hundreds of women gathered in Atlanta to honor other women.

Lady Locavores is an annual event in Atlanta that celebrates women with diverse backgrounds.

“I always say I’m Black first. Sometimes I feel as if I have to really advocate for myself as a woman in addition to my Blackness,” said honoree Sagdrina Jalal. "It’s been, I think, a very common feeling amongst Black women that feminism really isn’t for Black women.”

Virtually every issue that women deal with affects them differently. The conversations have been messy and public. They’ve also brought diversity and equity to the forefront of many minds, through endeavors like Jalal’s latest.

She created the Anti-Racist Farmers Market Toolkit, a blueprint for markets to become intentional about being inclusive.

“Most people, Black or otherwise, had no idea that the system is designed to do exactly what it’s doing,” Jalal said, “making it hard for us to access food on a very local level.”

In just three years, the toolkit has been downloaded nearly 4,000 times, often by markets led by women.

“Women have a tendency to make space for each other,” Jalal said. “We really like to build on each other’s strengths.”

Jalal accepted her award at the event not for working on women’s causes but because she is a woman advancing causes for all.

“It’s not about a seat at a table. It’s about everyone being active and involved in the decision-making,” Jalal said.

ATLANTA — To feel underrepresented is, so often, to feel at a distance from the wider world: on the fringes of discussion, distilled into stereotypes and assumptions.

Aisha Yaqoob Mahmood is standing in the Kids Zone at an event called SouthEATS. It’s a celebration of Asian American culture in the heart of Midtown Atlanta, a city where, like in so many cities, that culture is often pushed to a distance.

“I think it's just so important for us to be able to build an identity for our communities that goes beyond just existing,” Mahmood said.

Each May brings Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. For the last three, it’s also brought the STAATUS Index, a survey from The Asian American Foundation about perceptions towards Asian Americans.

Norman Chen runs the foundation. This year they found nearly 80% of Asian Americans do not completely feel are accepted in America. More than half felt unsafe in America. And when non-Asian Americans were asked to name a famous Asian American figure, the top three responses were Bruce Lee, who died 50 years ago, Jackie Chan, who’s not American, and at the top, “I don’t know.”

“If you do research on hate and violence, a lot of times it starts with stereotypes of one group versus another and seeing them as others,” Chen said.

A separate survey from the Asian American Journalists Association found nearly a quarter of stations in the top 20 local TV markets had no AAPI individuals on the air. Nearly three quarters didn’t have enough AAPIs to represent the population of the market.

“The number one source of information about Asian Americans still remains news,” Chen said. “It’s mostly stories about trauma, about attacks. But there are more and more stories to celebrate, right? Over 50 ethnicities, over 100 cultures … that makes a wonderful kaleidoscope.”

Atlanta is an example of the kaleidoscope expanding. The foundation hosting SouthEATS is among those working to empower more AAPIs to vote. In the last decade, their voting share in Georgia has tripled.

Restaurants fill not just international corridors but the busiest neighborhoods. Jane Ewe, who spoke at the event, owns a restaurant and bakery in the heart of the city.

“Hopefully," Ewe said at the event, "my foreign cultural background won’t feel so foreign to people anymore.”

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — By all projections, a shortage of staff in social work and mental health had already loomed before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the pandemic, however, those issues haven’t changed, and the demand has exploded.

Bella Levitt is a second-year graduate student at Oakland University, just north of Detroit.

“My last internship was out of a high school," she said, "and even with the high schoolers, there were so many people on me and my supervisors’ caseload that we couldn't give everyone the adequate care that we wish we could have.”

A survey by the American Psychological Association showed 79% of those working in the field reported an increase in patients with anxiety. Sixty-six percent reported an increase in patients with depression. But just as instructive was what they said about themselves. Nearly half said, “I have not been able to meet the demand for treatment from my patients.” Almost as many said, “I feel burned out.”

Brent Wirth is the CEO of Easterseals MORC, which offers mental health services.

“Fifteen years ago, all we talked about was how we best can support individuals," he said. "Now, the same conversation is, 'How best do we support our own team members?' They don’t want to just change lives. They want to save lives. And so, when they’re seeing so many different people, and their caseloads are 30% too high, that takes a toll on their own mental health.”

Easterseals MORC and Oakland University recently announced a partnership. They will offer paid internships for OU students at Easterseals MORC, in addition to 10 full scholarships for OU grad students.

“Many students will kind of get that real-world exposure and experience," said Maria Beam, who runs the social work program at OU.

“We're going to get people excited and want to work in this field," Wirth added. "And if they want to commit to us, we're committing to them."

The collaboration might add a few more names to the social work roles. Similar plans in Congress aim to fund hundreds of residencies for new psychiatrists each year.

“One of my professors asked me, 'What do you really want to do?'" Levitt said. "And all I could say was that I wanted to help people. To me, people who reach out for social work services often just need somebody to listen.”

Cities like Bozeman, Montana used to be a place that folks could retire and get away from the world. Now, it's one of the many towns that is becoming overrun.

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, Americans sought out a smaller micropolitan to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Several tourist cities around the country are going through this.

Tim Crawford is an environmental activist who lives on a farm just outside the city limits of Bozeman. He has lived there for more than 30 years. Prior to Bozeman, Crawford lived in Ketchum, Idaho. He left because the city was becoming overrun with tourists.

“You know, the problem is everybody's seen the money to be made in development here, but nobody has bothered to keep up with the infrastructure,” Crawford said.

He fears more people means fewer, overtaxed resources. Montana State Sen. Pat Flowers is well aware of the problem.

“The more people we get out on the rivers and even practicing catch and release, it begins to take a toll on fish over time when you get the pressure accelerating like it has here in the last 10 or 15 years,” Flowers said.

The challenges in Montana fill pockets across America. 2020 census data shows a trend of Americans ditching big cities for scenic homesteads.

New Braunfels, Texas; Breckenridge, Colorado; St. George, Utah; Buckeye City, Arizona: all are smaller cities known for natural amenities. All are facing substantial growth.

Jesse Keenan is a real estate professor at Tulane University.

“I think particularly in the age of COVID. They're changing their preferences about where they can work, how they can work and the amenities that we think about the environment, national parks, state, even local parks begin to have greater value," Keenan said.

In the 1960s, Boulder, Colorado faced similar growth and similar environmental concerns. The city responded with the “blue line plan," refusing to provide city services beyond a certain elevation.

They’ve got similar plans in Bozeman, except they want to build up, not out.

Jeff Mihelich is Bozeman’s city manager. He says they aren’t afraid of growth. They are simply trying to be responsible in a way that is measured.

Tim Crawford is skeptical. He sees a city where mother nature must now face human nature.

On October 11, Americans celebrate Indigenous People’s Day. It’s a day to honor the cultures of Native American people.

Right now, there’s there is a push by Indigenous Americans to become self-sustaining. When you first enter the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, you see signs of poverty. But as you continue along Highway 18, you’ll come across something unexpected.

In the middle of the Badlands National Park lies Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation. Tatewin Means, who is with the Oglala Lakota tribe, says they decided to take on the project to create a self-sustaining community.

“Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation started from a prayer. It was from a group of young people that were restless for change, that were reconnecting to our Lakota lifeways, to our songs and ceremonies,” Means said.

Through crowdsourcing, they were able to build energy-efficient homes. This ultimately created homes for first-time homebuyers.

“We know that we can build the most beautiful community, the most beautiful homes that are energy-efficient, that are sustainable, that check all the boxes of what a community should have,” Means explained.

The reservation is also a food desert. According to Means, Thunder Valley has a plan in place.

“We have a two-and-a-half-acre demonstration farm with nearly 500 chickens at any given time to provide local fresh eggs, a community garden where we can provide farmer's markets to community members.”

At the end of the day, each piece of the Thunder Valley puzzle has a purpose. It’s a purpose of circling back to their roots.

“Each of the houses are in circles of seven. And as Otani Shockey, as the seven council fires, that's how we arranged ourselves when we would all come together. They open to the east to welcome the sun,” Means said.

She tells us it’s their way of healing from the past. She wants her people to move forward and break the cycle of poverty.

“It's our own living expression of liberation. It's not the only way. It's not the right way. But it's our way,” she said. “And we want as many people as possible to come along in this journey as we define what it means to be Lakota in this day and age, in the 21st Century.”