Racing backwards, just like the NC Legislature
Here I am with Chapel Hill City Councilman Lee Storrow, who used to be a Sunday school student of mine. I like to think I had some influence on the wonderful man he has become; it's more likely he did it in spite of my influence.
Life o’ Mike is part of Together NC, a coalition of groups devoted to working toward public policies that align with the needs of the public.
As we have watched the policies — and the budget — of the current state legislature shred the social safety net and harm our schools and universities, we have tried to educate the public about the harm these cuts will cause to real people.
This week, though, we had a little fun. We figured that since the legislature is taking us back to the 1950s and earlier, we would celebrate it with a “Backwards Budget 0.5K.”
It was just a loop around Halifax Mall outside the Legislative Building in Raleigh, and no one broke any bones trying to run backwards. Most of us were sensible enough to walk backwards.
There were some powerful stories there, though. Lee Storrow, once a Sunday school student of mine and now a Chapel Hill City Councilman, was there representing a tobacco-prevention group whose funding has been cut.
Kristy Andrews was there with her mother-in-law, Janice, and son, Jeffrey. Kristy’s husband died of lung cancer when he was just 30. The cause was tobacco. Janice and I have both lost sons to corporate greed, even though the death certificates both say cancer. Without prevention education, more teens will be lured into tobacco use, even though the tobacco companies say they don’t market to kids. I remember their denials of ”No sir, I don’t believe tobacco is addictive,” even as my father struggled to quit smoking after he was diagnosed with emphysema.
I’m with Kristy and Janice. I want the money for anti-tobacco education restored to the budget.
The Legislature also cut funding to Planned Parenthood, which is the only access to care for tens of thousands of women in North Carolina. I know when my kids were little I wouldn’t have had access to care without them, and the need is even more urgent today. We’re talking about breast and cervical cancer screenings and vaccinations against the HPV, which causes cervical cancer. Women go to Planned Parenthood to learn how to prevent pregnancy and to get the contraception they need to do so.
I’m tired of hearing how mental health care has been cut or services for people with disabilities have been reduced, or that we can’t afford to keep Medicaid at its current, immorally low levels.
I’m tired of hearing that we can’t fund pre-K education for children at risk of failing in school without it, or that we have to cut back on food stamps for hungry people so that the wealthy can enjoy even more money, or that our public schools, colleges and universities will have to live with less.
So, I went to Raleigh and walked backwards around the Halifax Mall to make the point that we should be moving forward as a society, not backwards. Now I’m back in Asheville working toward a day when we all will have access to quality health care.
Tags: Backwards Budget .05K, education, Planned Parenthood, schools, tobacco prevention
Comments are closed.
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a peer support program for people with one or more serious or chronic medical issues or disabilities.
We aim to reduce isolation and fear among people who have conditions, including psychiatric illness, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, mild dementia or other cognitive disorder or disability, thereby reducing depression and complications as people learn to improve self-management of their medical conditions.
Patient Pals help alleviate feelings of isolation and frustration. They can help people develop a list of questions to ask the doctor and then accompany the person to the doctor to make sure all the questions are answered, taking notes to be sure the person understands the doctor’s answers.
Our trained volunteers also accompany their “Pals” to art exhibits, movies and walks outdoors, meet for coffee, call to check in and more.
Our Pals have experienced weight loss, improvement in diabetes, HIV, psoriasis, depression and more, just because they have someone who cares about them. Some relationships develop into longer-term friendships; other Pals move on to more independent lives.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.
Life o’ Mike honors Joe Eblen
Life o' Mike presented its first Michael T. Danforth Community Service Award to Joe Eblen at a luncheon on June 8, in the Friendship Hall of First Congregational Church, 20 Oak St., Asheville.
Joe, seen here with Leslie Boyd, left, and his wife, Bobbie, has spent his life helping children and families, both as a coach and game official for more than 60 years, and as founder of Eblen Charities.
Start From Seed
Life o' Mike has a new program- Start from Seed (SFS).
SFS is a volunteer doula program aimed at providing non-medical, comprehensive support to low income, high-risk women and families of Buncombe County focusing on three areas:
1. We help new doulas with certification and training in return for their participation as a volunteer doula for SFS
2. We mentor volunteer doulas with their first few clients
3. Our volunteer doulas provide birth and postpartum doula services to low income, high risk moms, providing support and tools to empower them as a new parent.
A birth doula is a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; a postpartum doula provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period.
Start from Seed clients are referred to us from the Buncombe County Department of Health’s Nurse-Family Partnership Program, Western North Carolina Community Health Services, and Mission Hospital. The Program is intended and designed for growing clients’ inner strength and helping them gain empowerment to help them cope with the emotional, physical and mental challenges of childbirth, labor, and motherhood.
Our new moms and their infants have many needs. If you would like to help them get off to a good start, please visit our Start from Seed web site: Start from Seed, or call Program Director Chelsea Kouns at 804-814-9946.