It’s about women’s health care
Newark Mayor Cory Booker at the Yes We Plan rally. I’m right behind him with the plaid cap and the big sign, and the woman with the pink hair is my friend Sarah Skinner.
I went to Charlotte yesterday with my friend, Sarah Skinner, to attend the Planned Parenthood Yes We Can rally just across the way from the DNC site.
I didn’t go because of abortion; I went because millions of women get their health care through Planned Parenthood, and I don’t want to see health care access for low-income women go away.
When my children were young and I didn’t have health insurance, it was Planned Parenthood that provided my care and my birth control. It was Planned Parenthood that ensured I wouldn’t have to worry about an unwanted pregnancy.
Cynthia Wilson of Dallas, Texas, went to Planned Parenthood when she found a lump in her breast and another in her abdomen. She had no insurance, so had Planned Parenthood not been there, she likely would have died of cancer because it was found too late to cure, just the way my son did.
But Planned Parenthood was there, and the tumor in her abdomen, which was cancerous, was removed before it spread and she is alive today to tell the story.
Unfortunately, if she had gotten sick this year, that Planned Parenthood clinic couldn’t help her — Gov. Rick Perry de-funded Planned Parenthood and other low-cost women’s health clinics, and the clinic that saved Wilson’s life is closed, along with dozens of others across the state.
I got the chance to thank her for her words and hug her. I’m so glad she was able to find the care she needed. I’m so glad her family didn’t lose her the way we lost Mike. I’m so grateful for her willingness to stand up and tell her story to illustrate the necessity of keeping Planned Parenthood and other low-cost women’s clinics open.
This is not about abortion. This is about women’s health. This is about women’s lives.
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.