Lee Reed spent his first night after getting out of prison sleeping in the stairwell of a parking garage in downtown San Francisco. Just a few days shy of his 62nd birthday, Reed had nowhere else to go. During his two decades in prison, his mom and wife had died, and he’d lost touch with
MEXICO, Mo. — A half-dozen Gouldian finches greet patients with their chirps from a cage in the waiting room of the Boone Health Primary Care clinic in Mexico, Missouri. The birds belong to Dr. Peggy Barjenbruch who, alongside Dr. Michael Quinlan, has served the Mexico community for decades. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s4780019/audio/2022/12/ruralhospitalaccess-feature-se-web.mp3 Listen to this story here. That
DES MOINES, Ia. — Last spring, two pregnant women who had recently arrived from Myanmar showed up at Abigail Sui’s home in Des Moines, Iowa. They needed help finding prenatal care. Sui, a program director for EMBARC, an Iowa-based nonprofit that supports immigrants, figured she could help these women navigate the health care system. “Because
LOUISVILLE, Kent. — At the Kentucky Health Justice Network, calls have doubled over the past several months – up to 50 a week. The organization advocates for abortion access and provides financial support and guidance to people seeking care. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s4780019/audio/2022/10/abortionaccess-feature-web.mp3 Listen to this story here. Director Erin Smith said lately, the organization has been focused
The rate of uninsured Americans has been declining, thanks to the Affordable Care Act and expansion of Medicaid in many states. But a recent report from the Kaiser Family Foundation suggests that having health insurance doesn’t always mean the care you need will be covered, even if that care is provided in-network. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s4780019/audio/2022/08/insurancedenials-2way-web.mp3 Listen to
CONNERSVILLE, Ind. — Charmin Gabbard cares deeply about people struggling with addiction because it’s a struggle she can relate to. In her 20s, Gabbard had three DUIs in five years. Two of those violations resulted in prison sentences. She was eager to turn her life around. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s4780019/audio/2022/08/transportationsud-web.mp3 Listen to this story here. But when she
Kim Floren has spent the last several weeks trying to comfort people panicking about the end of Roe v. Wade. “Everybody has been on the spectrum from just being in tears to total panic about what they’re going to do,” said Floren, who runs South Dakota’s Justice Through Empowerment Network, one of more than 100
People who are pregnant in rural areas generally have a harder time reaching a doctor. Dr. Anne Banfield saw this firsthand when she worked as an OB-GYN in rural West Virginia. “We have a lot of mothers in our country who are suffering, because potentially in many cases, there are breakdowns in the prenatal care
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (En Español: 1-888-628-9454; Deaf and Hard of Hearing: 1-800-799-4889) or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. Beginning July 16, the Lifeline can be reached by dialing 988. CHICAGO — After a bad breakup, 19-year-old
Years before starting a landmark research project on abortion access, Diana Greene Foster saw firsthand the impact that banning abortion can have, through her grandmother Dorothy. Dorothy became pregnant at 19. It was not planned, and Foster thinks if her grandmother had access to a legal abortion, she would’ve gotten one. But in 1940, that
COLUMBIA – Mo. — One of the first stops for people leaving prison in central Missouri is the Reentry Opportunity Center in Columbia. The center sees about 80 people a month who are in the process of putting their lives together after being incarcerated. According to the center’s program director, D’Markus Thomas-Brown, leaving prison often
INDIANAPOLIS — When Lutherwood Residential Treatment Center is fully staffed, it treats about 80 children and teens with severe emotional and behavioral health needs. But the Indianapolis facility is suffering such a major staffing shortage, and it can only help half that many people. https://cpa.ds.npr.org/s4780019/audio/2022/01/youth-residential-treatment-seweb.mp3 Listen to this story here. Lutherwood is just one example