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girlactionfigure · 7 months ago

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THURSDAY HERO: Rabbi Abraham Joshua Twerski

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Twerski was a Hasidic rabbi and psychiatrist who authored dozens of books, helped tens of thousands recover from addiction, and was a blessing to everyone he met.

Born in Milwaukee in 1930, Rabbi Twerski was the scion of two illustrious Hasidic dynasties: Bobov and Chernobyl. His father Rabbi Jacob Israel Twerski was a Russian immigrant and leading rabbi who was beloved by the Milwaukee Jewish community. Abraham was one of five brothers and the first to be born in America. He was raised in a traditional Orthodox home but attended public school.

After being ordained as a young man, Abraham served as his father’s assistant rabbi, and was in awe of his father’s ability to connect with people and counsel them. He later said, “I didn’t see my life as a performer of rituals, and I felt that if what psychiatry is doing is what my father used to be doing, well, then that’s where I’ll go. So I went to medical school to become a psychiatrist to do what I wanted to do as a rabbi.” He graduated from the medical school of Marquette University in 1960 and served as clinical director of the psychiatry department at St. Francis Hospital in Pittsburgh for many years.

In 1972, Rabbi Twerski founded Gateway Rehabilitation Center in Pittsburgh, a program so successful that there are now 22 Gateway centers in Pennsylvania and Ohio, serving both Jewish and non-Jewish patients. The current CEO of Gateway, James Troup, said “Dr. Twerski is our founder, inspiration leader and the person we think of every day as we execute our mission and vision.”

His granddaughter Chaya Ruchie Twerski remembered growing up with her beloved zaydie. “My grandfather used to pray on Saturday mornings in Chabad and when we would walk home from synagogue, every single Shabbos was the same thing. Cars would honk, people would roll down their windows and shout, ’Sending our love,’ or ‘Five years clean, Dr. T!’”

At that time it was rare for an Orthodox rabbi to be an expert in secular subjects such as medicine. It was also a common belief in the Jewish community that alcoholism and addiction were gentile problems. Rabbi Twerski challenged both assumptions by becoming a prominent psychiatrist who wrote over 80 books and helped thousands of Jews and non-Jews recover from substance abuse – all while maintaining his identity as a pious and visible Hasidic Jew. He tackled subjects nobody else in the Jewish world was addressing, such as domestic abuse and drug addiction.

Those who knew Rabbi Twerski remembered that his favorite word was “gem” because he believed that every human being is a precious gem. Rabbi Moishe Mayir Vogel, executive director of the Aleph Institute in Pittsburgh, said of his beloved rabbi, “He would never throw anyone away. He would say, ‘We just have to polish them off and wipe away the dust.’”

Rabbi Twerski was the first Jewish leader to embrace the 12-step program created by Alcoholics Anonymous, despite the program’s association with Christian teachings. A renowned expert in spiritual and secular subjects, Rabbi Twerski wrote dozens of best-selling books, all with the same theme – self-esteem. A fan of the Peanuts cartoon, Rabbi Twerski co-wrote two books with Peanuts creator Charles Schultz. Noted psychologist Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb said of his mentor, “He was a great believer that there was no contradiction. A person could be a person of great faith and a rigorous scientist.”

In his long life, Rabbi Twerski made use of every moment. Besides treating patients, authoring books, and traveling the world to lecture and advise, Rabbi Twersky founded multiple organizations including Nefesh, an organization for mental health workers, the Kollel Learning Center, and Transitions, for boys from Orthodox homes battling substance addiction. Pittsburgh resident Mike Pasternak, co-founder of Transitions, described Rabbi Twerski as “an amazing person who cared about everyone. Every day I spent with him was an experience seeing someone be the ultimate mensch, caring for everybody.”

Besides his work as psychiatrist and spiritual leader, he was a gifted singer and composer. Rabbi Yisroel Rosenfeld of the Lubavitch Center of Pittsburgh said that Rabbi Twerski “had a beautiful voice and was a great composer of songs… He was an unusual kind of person. A person that was down to earth, but at the same time very spiritual. He had a foot in and was able to reach out and be effective in the entire world.”

Rabbi Twerski died in Israel on January 31, 2021 at age 90 and was survived by his wife Dr. Gail Bessler-Twerski, four children, and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. His first wife Golda died in 1995. Rabbi Twerski’s will specified that there should be no eulogies at his funeral, instead mourners should sing a melody he composed for the words of Psalms 28:9, “Deliver and bless Your very own people; tend them and sustain them forever.”

For saving lives and blessing the entire world with his saintly presence, we honor Rabbi Abraham Joshua Twerski as this week’s Thursday Hero. May his memory be a blessing.

#Thursday Hero

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moonchildreads · 2 years ago

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small town

Chapter 4 - Manic Monday

IN THIS CHAPTER: The worst counselling session ever, a talk about hair products, and Eddie explains what's in a (nick)name [4.1k]

WARNINGS: brief mention of a deceased parent (more nostalgic than angsty, i promise)

masterlist - prev - next | playlist

And if I had an aeroplane, I still couldn't make it on time 'Cause it takes me so long to figure out what I'm gonna wear

Monday, April 7th - 1986

“You look pretty today,” James said, looking over the top of his newspaper at his daughter who was currently rummaging around the fridge, his mug of coffee halfway to his mouth.

“Thank you!” she beamed. “I have a presentation today.”

“About?”

“Former presidents. I got Benjamin Harrison.”

“I don’t remember that one.”

“Don’t think anyone does.”

“Ouch.”

Dottie sat at the kitchen with her dad, poured milk over her cereal and read her notes while she ate. Occasionally she scribbled on the margins with a pencil and practiced a sentence in her head while gesticulating to no one with her spoon. The radio was turned on in the background, the morning news blending into the kitchen’s comfortable silence. James and Dorothy Burke had no one else in the world but each other, and because of that they had developed a simple but effective routine that included being in each other’s space consistently. Dottie’s mother had passed away before she’d even had her first birthday and Dorothy had been raised by a young single father that had to actively refuse to be consumed by grief whenever his little girl looked at him like the sun shone out of his ass. It certainly helped that all his college friends inserted themselves into their lives, acting as aunts and uncles, babysitters and bad influences, mentors and teachers.

There was Auntie Rachel, who had taken her to the mall to buy her first bra, and Uncle Johnny, who signed her up for free swimming lessons at the community center when she was eight. Uncles Robert and Joseph who let her do her homework on their desks when they had just opened their law firm, her feet never reaching the floor; Aunt Mary Elizabeth - not Mary, not Elizabeth, Mary Elizabeth - who chose her as her flower girl for her wedding day, Uncky Paul who had moved down to Texas for work but still called every Christmas morning at exactly 10:30 am. Dottie had not had a mother, but she had had a loving and dedicated father, a gaggle of extremely cool aunts and uncles that provided her with a myriad of younger cousins to babysit, kind Grandparents in Florida and Pennsylvania that she loved to visit during the summer, and the knowledge that she had been deeply, truly loved her entire life.

Growing up surrounded by young adults who considered her part of their families was, perhaps, the reason Dottie had had so much trouble fitting in at school as a kid. It wasn’t that she had been a complete loner in New York, but it seemed that it was easier to be relegated to the background when your modest birthday parties were always full of then 30 year olds that insisted on wearing colorful party hats and most of your free time on the weekends was spent being a babysitter for your nephews and nieces.

“Aunt Barbara called while you were getting dressed,” James mentioned.

“What did she want?”

“She says that you should call her back when you get home from school and that she is very proud you want to follow in her footsteps and shape the minds of the future.”

“Did you tell her what I really want is to finger paint all day?”

“I thought it’d be better if she heard it from you,” he said, standing up and putting his mug in the sink. “Come on, get your stuff, gotta go to the post office before work today.”

Dottie hurried to brush her teeth and grab her bag from where it was resting at the foot of her bed. She patted the outer pocket to make sure Donny’s borrowed mixtape was there and briefly glanced at her college acceptance letter pinned to her cork board above her desk. Congratulations, said UMich. Thank you, said Dottie, and ran down the stairs.

James was enjoying this new part of their morning routine where he could drive his daughter to the same high school he had graduated from so many years ago. Moving back to Hawkins had been, perhaps, a sudden decision that was born from a call from a desperate ex classmate who knew James had experience working in urban development, but he couldn’t deny that it hadn’t been a favorable experience for both of them. He got extra time with his baby before she spread her wings and left for college, and she seemed to finally be finding her place in the quiet, small town. As they pulled away from their driveway, he put on the tape Dottie had spent almost all Sunday working on and listened to her recite her presentation to him, almost amazed that this young woman in front of him had once been the little kid that had cried so hard she vomited on his shoes after a particularly scary roller coaster ride.

Shit I’m late I’m late I’m late I’m late I’m late was the only thing going through Dottie’s mind as she hurried through the hallways heading to the school counselor’s office. Ms. Kelly was always very understanding when students’ classes ran a little bit late and Dottie had been so anxious while giving her presentation that when the bell rang, she had taken a few extra minutes to unwind and get her breathing back to normal in the privacy of a bathroom stall. She was in such a hurry that she didn’t even register that she had run through the basketball team’s huddle until she heard someone calling out to her.

“Hey, look where you’re going!” one of them had said, a tall brown haired boy standing next to the guy she recognized as their captain.

“Sorry!” she said, head turned towards them as she sprinted before she felt herself collide with a solid but soft mass in front of her.

“You okay there?” she quickly registered the new voice as Gareth’s as she had sat with him during her Political Science class, and realized she had bumped into Jeff’s back in her manic dash.

“Hey!” she beamed at them, frankly happy to see friendly faces. “Sorry, I’m super late, can’t stay to talk, but this is yours,” she stammered at a hundred miles per second, reaching into her bag pocket and pulling Donny’s cassette tape out. “I rewinded it for you and everything so it’s ready to go.”

“Wow, thanks. Did you like it?” he asked nervously. There was such a vulnerable feeling whenever he showed someone his mixtapes, like they were gonna judge him for listening to Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath but also side-eye him because his mixtapes weren’t only comprised of metal songs.

“It was great, we played it in the car all weekend. I hope you don’t mind but I kinda stole some of your songs for a tape I made for my Dad.”

“What songs?”

“Uh, Ace of Spades was one, we both loved that one. The Helter Skelter cover and the Bruce Springsteen song that’s at the end.”

“My Dad loves that one too,” Donny affirmed, knowingly. “Glory Days.”

“That’s the one. Again, thank you, it was a lot of fun.”

“Any time!”

“See you guys around, ‘kay?” she started to power walk away from them when Gareth called out to her, making her turn around again.

“Hey, you’re sitting with us for lunch, right?” a few people turned to see who he was yelling at.

“Uh, sure! Save me a sea-” Dottie managed to get out before she bumped into someone else.

“Woah, where are you running to, princess?”

“Eddie!” she grinned up at him. Now that they were standing practically inches away from each other, he noticed how much shorter she was than him and quickly stored that information in the part of his brain that had been replaying her laughter like elevator music for the past two days. “Gotta go, I’m so late! See you at lunch? Gareth just invited me so you can’t kick me out!”

And with those final words, Eddie Munson stood in the hallway watching her go, feeling as dazed as he had been since he’d formally met her. That girl is gonna be the death of me someday, he thought dramatically before joining his friends, noticing that at the end of the row of lockers, a certain Lucas Sinclair was staring at them with confusion written all over his face.

Ms. Kelly’s office was cozy and inviting, but for the first time since she’d met her, Dottie wasn’t entirely too interested in spending her lunch period hiding away in it. The counselor began the meeting by reviewing her grades as she often did, praising her for her GPA and her glowing reports from her teachers. Dorothy Burke was not exactly a teacher’s pet, but she was a quiet student that kept to herself and worked hard in every class, and the faculty at Hawkins High School was all too happy to provide her with the resources she needed to succeed in her very near future. Not all of them knew she had already been accepted into a great college, but those who did were infinitely proud that someone that had gone through their class was on course for a great career regardless of her future choices.

“You look happier today. Any updates about Michigan?” Ms. Kelly took a guess.

“No, not really. Although my Aunt Barbara wants to talk to me about my major.”

“Have you decided already?”

“I think I’m down to only a couple of options. I like their Elementary Teacher Education program, and my aunt teaches Economics in Vegas so I thought she could answer some of my questions to help me decide.”

“That’s very sensible of you,” Ms. Kelly smiled. “What happened to the English program you mentioned last week?”

“I still like it! I just don’t see myself, I don’t know, being an author?”

“Well, that’s not the only thing an English degree is for. You could be an English teacher if you really like working with children, or you could be an editor for a newspaper. You could even be a reporter if you wanted to.”

“I’ll… I’ll think about it. I don’t think I have to choose the first year I’m there so… I’ll keep thinking about it and take a bunch of classes I like and see where that goes.”

“Okay,” the counselor said, writing down something in her file. “So if it isn’t college news, then what’s going on in your life?”

Dottie wondered how much she should be sharing with Ms. Kelly right now; not because she was worried about being in trouble, but because she was well aware of the optics of her Friday outing. There was a reason Dustin had mentioned the presence of “other girls” when he had invited her to join their club, even if that had turned out to only mean Erica and her relentless sass. She chewed on her lower lip to stop the smile that threatened to break out when she thought of her lunch plans. Ms. Kelly waited patiently for an answer.

“Um. I-I think I made new friends?” she settled on saying.

“Really? That’s wonderful news, Dorothy. Would you like to share more?”

“Do you know Dustin Henderson?”

“He’s a freshman, isn’t he?” Ms. Kelly’s brow raised as she wondered where this story was going.

“Yes, I think so. He… he was really nice and invited me to join his board game club last Friday. It was cool.”

“He invited you to that hell club?” she seemed concerned.

“Hellfire. Hellfire Club,” Dottie sat on her hands and leaned back a little bit. “It’s just the name of the group, it’s not… dangerous or anything. I think they took the name from a comic book? We use dice to battle against monsters and solve mysteries that Eddie writes for us, it’s a lot of fun.”

“Eddie,” she muttered, searching for a face to attach the name to. “Edward Munson?”

“I think he’d be upset if he heard you calling him Edward,” she chuckled.

“Dorothy, I don’t think you shou-”

“I know. I know how this sounds like. But honestly, all the boys were really nice. They didn’t make me feel uncomfortable or anything like that. Eddie is a good leader, he takes care of everyone. And I’m not the only girl there. I promise you it’s really safe. It’s just board games. My Dad knows and he’s okay with it, I told him everything.”

She didn’t understand why she was getting so defensive over a group of people she had only known for a few days but if she was being honest, they weren’t the worst kind of people she had encountered in her life. She used to go to a big city school in New York filled with all kinds of students from all walks of life, and she was certain that a few lockers down her own, there had been a kid that kept a knife hidden behind his balled up gym sweatshirt. Yeah, maybe The Hellfire Club had a reputation. She had heard the news about what the country thought Dungeons and Dragons was, and her dad had laughed and laughed so hard he had choked on his own spit when he heard the words “Satanic cult” attached to what he knew were a bunch of nerds pretending to have magic powers. They were just a group of misfits making up fantasy worlds. Who gave a shit about dumb, ignorant rumors?

“I understand that making new friends is very important to you right now,” Ms. Kelly began, noticing that a door that had been wide open for months had been closed in front of her in a matter of seconds.

“I’m not going to tell you what you should do with your life, you are going to turn 18 soon, and if your father trusts your choices, then what I say really holds no weight for you.”

“They really aren’t bad people,” Dottie said, her voice just loud enough to not be considered a whisper. “They invited me to join them for lunch. No one has done that since my first week here.”

“And that sounds really lovely. All I’m saying is that you shouldn’t be so trusting of people you’ve only just met. You’re headed to a great college with a scholarship that a lot of Hawkins kids would love to have. I would just hate to see you get lost right at the finish line.”

She doesn’t know what the fuck she’s talking about, Dottie ground her teeth as she walked down the hallway to the cafeteria. They are good people. Who cares if they smoke a little weed sometimes? Dad did it in college and still graduated with honors. I’m like 95% sure Uncky Paul was high when he walked up the stage to get his diploma. She hadn’t noticed she was sulking until she walked into the cafeteria and spotted Dustin and Gareth waving at her enthusiastically. The corners of her mouth lifted and she hurried to them, the paper bag containing her lunch (a cheese and tomato sandwich with mayo on white bread, perfectly boring and made with a lot of love by her dad) swinging wildly from her hand.

Dottie sat down between them, instantly tuning into the discussion Mike and Donny were having about a comic book she hadn’t read and knew nothing about. She picked up the tab from Dustin’s soda can that was discarded on the table and fiddled with it while she listened to them. At some point, Jeff burped and the entire group erupted in protests. She felt… cozy. Included. She felt less lonely, less awkward, less invisible. Like she finally belonged somewhere.

“You read comic books?” asked Gareth, who was sitting to her right.

“No, not really. I prefer books.”

“What do you read?”

“Anything, really. Whatever I can get my hands on. I get my books from the library mostly,” she dropped her tone to resemble a stage whisper. “Sometimes, if I’m feeling adventurous, I pick a book only if the cover looks cool.”

“No way,” he gasped dramatically, matching her tone. “What happened to not judging a book by its cover?”

“What can I say, I’m a rebel,” they both giggled, knowing that out of the two of them, Gareth was the closest thing to a bad boy and yet he was still miles away from a regular Danny Zuko. “Can I ask you a weird question?”

“Sure,” the boy said, intrigued.

“Do you do something with your hair before you come to school?”

“I shower?”

“That’s it?”

“Is there something wrong with my hair?” he lifted his hand to touch his head, worried about what he could find.

“No, that’s why I ask,” she laughed, reaching to touch his hair too. “Your curls look great. I can’t get mine to be this defined in this weather.”

Gareth’s body began trembling with laughter, his head bumping into her raised hand as he rocked back and forth completely taken aback by her question. Certainly hair care was not in his list of topics to talk about during lunch, or at any point in his life, really. He just used the shampoo his mom bought and called it a day. Dottie laughed with him too, realizing that she was asking a metalhead about curl definition.

“What are we laughing about?” Dustin asked, curiously.

“Hair products. Any recommendations for curly hair?” Dottie said, sending Gareth into another fit of laughter.

“A magician never reveals his secrets,” the younger boy said mysteriously. Steve would never trust him again if he knew he had shared his sacred routine with others.

The cafeteria began clearing out soon enough as everyone got ready for class again. First Dustin and Mike, then Jeff, Donny and finally Gareth until the only ones left at the table were Eddie and Dottie. She waved goodbye to the boys as they left, noticing that her being at the specific table she was sitting at seemed to be some sort of must-see sight for other seniors. Dottie was all too aware of the way the two preppy girls that sat to her left in Psych were gossiping into each others’ ears while taking peeks at her on their way to the door. When she turned to the only other person left seated at the table, she found Eddie analyzing her with big brown eyes. He resembled a lost puppy when he tilted his head to the side.

“Everything okay?” he asked, his voice softer than she’d ever heard coming from him before.

“Yeah. Just, y’know,” she shuffled closer to him so they could chat without the whole table separating them. “The staring. I thought I’d stopped being news around the third week of January.”

“They aren’t staring because you are new,” Eddie crossed his arms. “They stare because you are sitting at the freaks’ table. And forgive me for saying this, darling, but you don’t exactly look like a freak.”

“You don’t know what I look like under the makeup,” she argued.

“You aren’t wearing any.”

“Are you a makeup expert now?”

“I’m an expert in many things,” he leaned forward. The cafeteria was almost empty. “You have English Lit now, right?”

“How’d you know?” she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Because I am pretty sure you’ve been sitting like three seats away from me since you got here.”

“Oh.”

Dottie felt her ears grow hot. She’d said a lot of stupid poetic shit in that class without knowing he was there too. She hoped he didn’t remember any of it. Actually, she hoped none of her classmates remembered anything she had said in English Lit for the past three months. All her assignments had been particularly depressing and dramatic lately; one could only be thankful that the teacher didn’t make them read their work out loud.

“Come on, we’re gonna be late and I’m really trying to graduate this time around.”

“This time?” she asked as they walked to their shared class.

“I, uh,” Eddie scratched his ear. “I got held back. Twice.”

“Oh. So you’re 20?”

“19. I turn 20 in May.”

“Well, you know what they say, third time’s a charm.”

“I really hope you’re right, princess. Hawkins High is my own personal circle of Hell at this point.”

Eddie noticed that she was chewing on the inside of her cheek as they got seated for class. He also noticed that she had sat at the table right next to his instead of the one she had been using for most of the semester. No one would bother her, the entire back row tended to remain empty, especially whatever seat was next to his. But still, it was a welcome change, if an unexpected one. Some of their classmates looked at them with mild confusion, but he was positively certain that by the time class started, they’d have forgotten about the new seating arrangement. There was loud chatter as the bell rang and everyone tried to squeeze in their last bits of gossip before the teacher arrived.

“Eddie?” she asked, pulling him out of his trance. “What’s with the nicknames?”

“Huh?”

“The nicknames. You kept calling me princess and darling on Friday, and that was okay, but you’re doing it now too and… you don’t call the guys anything special out of the game. I can’t tell if you’re making fun of me or not.”

“Does it bother you?”

“That you’re making fun of me?”

“I’m not making fun of you,” he said, suddenly serious.

“Oh. Okay then.”

“Do the names bother you?”

“No. Not if you’re not making fun of me.”

“I’m not.”

“Then they don’t bother me,” she was strangely quiet and detached when she said that, not even sparing a glance in his direction.

Mrs. O’Donnell walking in and greeting everyone dislodged her from her stillness and she busied herself with finding the book report the old lady was requesting would be passed to the front. Eddie noted that his looked significantly shorter than hers, at least by a full page. He lowered his voice so it would be masked by the soft chitchat and leaned towards her seat.

“I like alliteration,” he confessed. “Jeff the Just, Gareth the Great, Dottie the Darling,” she blinked at him, her report still in her hand. “I already used daring and deadly for Dustin and Donny, it was either darling or destroyer for you, so, take your pick.”

“And princess? Because Erica gets to be a Lady?”

“No, I just like seeing you get all flustered,” he admitted, a playful smile on his lips.

She rolled her eyes at him, he chuckled, and all the nervous tension between them dissipated. Neither had noticed that all the reports were being counted by the teacher while they were talking.

“I’m missing two, who didn’t do their homework? Munson?” Mrs. O’Donnell asked, not an ounce of patience in her voice.

Both misbehaving students sprang to attention, sitting very upright and avoiding each others’ eyes. The boy was about to say something to defend his honor when Dottie stood up, snatched his paper from his desk and delivered it to the teacher along with her own. The woman looked at her curiously, noticing that she wasn’t seated at her usual spot; a different boy was occupying that chair today. She directed her gaze towards Eddie who was trying very hard to look nonchalant by staring at his own crossed arms resting on the table.

“Miss Burke, do you want to sit closer to the front?” she asked, her voice low to add privacy to the conversation but the classroom was so quiet a pin falling to the floor could have been heard.

“No, ma’am, I’m okay with my seat,” Dottie smiled confidently, and walked back to her chair. As soon as the teacher had recovered and turned around to start writing on the blackboard, she leaned over to Eddie for one final time. “I like the nicknames, Eddie the Endearing,” he was suddenly thankful his wild hair was covering his red ears, but she noticed his reaction anyways. “Or maybe you’d prefer to be called Master. You seemed to enjoy that one on Friday.”

“Shut the fuck up,” he managed to get out, a mischevious grin spreading on his face. She held back a chuckle and sat back straight in her seat, picking up her pen and starting to copy the names on the blackboard onto her notebook. Eddie stared at her for a few seconds, the gears in his brain spinning at double time, before he too grabbed a pen and began taking notes to force himself to stop looking at her profile like a creep. This is gonna get very interesting, was the last thing he thought before getting distracted by threats of pop quizzes and overinterpretations of what authors had really meant in their prose.

#bunny writes #small town fic #eddie munson x female character #eddie munson x oc #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson #eddie munson fic #hellfire club #stranger things 4 #dustin henderson #gareth stranger things #eddie munson x reader #joseph quinn #baby's first fic

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boobytrapzap · 2 months ago

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When I was 19 and unexpectedly pregnant in rural Pennsylvania, I walked (because I couldn't drive) to the closest pregnancy center. I lied about being Christian so they'd help me. I filled out a form about my whole self and then had a "counseling" session with the woman there. She asked me about my religion and invited me to join her religious community. She wanted me to have a baby and I asked her what supports her center offered and if the community had daycare. She gave me a pair of knitted baby booties and explained that the center actually didn't do a single thing to help pregnant people or new mothers but she's very excited for me.

I did not go back and I did not have that baby. Other young women stand to lose that choice. Many already have. Please support pro-choice politicians. Demand these pregnancy crisis centers that exist solely to intimidate women into having children against their wishes be abolished.

And, please, don't abandon rural people under a harmful stereotype.

#personal #text post

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lboogie1906 · 4 months ago

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Judge Tuskegee Airman Flight Officer Robert Wesley Williams, Jr. (July 3, 1923).

He received the Congressional Gold Medal presented by President George W. Bush.

He was born in Providence, Rhode Island to Robert W. Williams, Sr. and Ada Coston Williams. He married Gloria Pressly (1947-76) and they have four children. He married Julia Watson (1988).

He is one of the oldest living members of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. His date of active duty was April 21, 1945, as a Navigator. He separated from military service on November 19, 1945.

He started his legal career in Philadelphia after graduating from Howard University and Boston University School of Law. As a member of the District Attorney’s Office where he was a trial attorney and the first Black Chief of the Homicide Unit. He served as Special Counsel to the Philadelphia City Council.

Named to the Common Pleas Court of Philadelphia County and he was elected in 1970, He was one of the first Black lawyers to be seated on the Court.

Elected to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania in 1980, he was the 13th Judge to serve this Court and the first African American.

He is one of the founders of the Barristers’ Association of Philadelphia. He is the third Black to serve on the Philadelphia Board of Education. He served as Director of Model Cities of Philadelphia; Board of Trustees of Temple University; Board of Governors of Philadelphia Bar Association; Committee of Censors of Philadelphia Bar Association; Fairmount Park Commission; Treasurer, of Regional Justice Commission; Board of Directors, The Center – A Place to Learn; Board of Directors, Mental Health Center; Board of Directors, Diamond Family Medical Center; Trustee, Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc; Member, State Advisory Committee; Member, Camp Hill Review Panel; Board of Trustees, United Fund; Philadelphia Bar Association; Pennsylvania Bar Association; American Bar Association; Philadelphia Booster Club; American Veterans Committee; Lawyers Club of Philadelphia; Chairman, Model Cities Economic Development Foundation; Greater Philadelphia Chapter Tuskegee Airmen, Inc; Squires Golf Club; and Freeway Golf Club. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence #alphaphialpha

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beardedmrbean · 2 years ago

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Medical licensing officials in multiple states are scrambling to stop nurses with fraudulent academic credentials from caring for patients, after three Florida schools were accused of selling thousands of bogus diplomas.

New York regulators told 903 nurses in recent weeks to either surrender their licenses or prove they were properly educated. Delaware and Washington state officials have yanked dozens of nursing licenses. Texas filed administrative charges against 23 nurses. More actions in additional states are expected.

In some cases, lawyers for the nurses contend states are questioning the credentials of caregivers who earned diplomas legitimately. But there's wide agreement in the industry that nurses with fraudulent degrees need to be rooted out.

"The public needs to know that when they’re the most fragile, when they’re sick, when they’re in a hospital bed, that the individual who is at their bedside has gone through the required training," said Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, president of the American Nurses Association union.

States are acting in the wake of Operation Nightingale, a federal investigation into what officials say was a wire fraud scheme in which several now-closed Florida nursing schools sold phony nursing diplomas and transcripts from 2016 to 2022. Twenty-five defendants, including school owners and alleged recruiters, have been charged, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe announced in late January. Those cases are pending.

About 7,600 students paid an average of $15,000 for bogus diplomas, according to prosecutors. Around 2,400 of those people then passed a licensing exam to obtain jobs as registered nurses and licensed practical nurses or vocational nurses in multiple states, prosecutors say.

FEDERAL AUTHORITIES IN FLORIDA CHARGE 25 PEOPLE IN CONNECTION WITH SCHEME TO CREATE FAKE NURSING DIPLOMAS

How did so many test takers pass without the required classroom and clinical work? In some cases, they were experienced L.P.N.s seeking to become R.N.s. Some had been health care providers in other countries.

The nurses got jobs across the country, including at a hospital in Georgia, Veterans Affairs medical centers in Maryland and New York, a skilled nursing facility in Ohio, and an assisted living facility in New Jersey, according to court filings.

Students came not only from Florida, but also New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas and Delaware. Many of the students took their licensing exam in New York, where they can sit it multiple times, according to investigators.

Investigators identified the Florida nursing schools as the Palm Beach School of Nursing; Siena College, a school in Broward County that wasn't related to the college of the same name in New York; and the Sacred Heart International Institute, which was also based in Broward County and had no relation to a university with a similar name in Connecticut.

It was not entirely clear how many of the roughly 2,400 nurses with credentials from these schools are currently employed, or where.

Federal officials shared information so states could pursue nurses with phony academic credentials. Some states have taken action.

The Washington State Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission rescinded the R.N. licenses of 17 people and denied license applications for four. The Delaware Board of Nursing annulled 26 licenses. The Georgia Board of Nursing asked 22 nurses to voluntarily surrender their licenses.

TEEN GETS COLLEGE DIPLOMA BEFORE FINISHING HIGH SCHOOL

The 23 nurses facing possible license revocations in Texas can continue working while their disciplinary cases are pending. Texas Board of Nursing general counsel James "Dusty" Johnston said more charges could come as officials develop "the necessary information for each individual."

A spokesperson for Veterans Affairs said it removed 89 nurses "from patient care" nationwide last year immediately after being notified by federal officials. The agency has not found any instances of patients being harmed.

New York's Office of the Professions posted on the state education department's website that it expects some of the 903 licensees who attended the schools "did, in fact, attend required hours and clinicals and are properly licensed." Those people are being asked to have a qualified nursing program submit verification.

Attorneys for some of the nurses in New York and Georgia say nurses who legitimately earned diplomas are getting caught up in the investigation.

"There are obviously people who bought transcripts who are fraudulent and should not be practicing nursing under any circumstances," said Atlanta attorney Hahnah Williams. "But there are also people who went to those schools legitimately and did nothing wrong. And they are somehow being lumped together with the fraudulent nurses."

Williams said her clients are hardworking immigrants who went to schools that were accredited at the time and have since worked for many years without incident.

Similarly, attorney Jordan Fensterman in New York said he has clients who attended classes at one of the schools to finish up their R.N. degrees and then worked during the pandemic. He said those nurses deserve due process now.

The state board actions are taking place as hospitals across the nation try to deal with chronic staffing challenges.

"Hopefully, the number is smaller once the authorities sort things out," said Kennedy, the American Nurses Association president.

#nunyas news

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automaticprinceninja · 1 month ago

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theculturedmarxist · 1 year ago

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In front of Columbia University’s Low Memorial Library, seven infant-sized bundles of white cloth rested on the steps, splattered with red paint. Behind the swaddles, plywood boards read “10,600 lives slaughtered,” “4,412 children,” and “let Gaza live,” alongside images of Palestinian flags and olive trees.

This was the scene where Columbia students gathered last Thursday for a “peaceful protest art installation” and demonstration organized by the campus chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine. Hundreds of students demanded that Columbia publicly call for a ceasefire in Gaza, divest its endowment from corporations complicit in Israeli apartheid, and end its academic programs in Tel Aviv.

The next day, Gerald Rosberg, chair of the Special Committee on Campus Safety, announced Columbia had suspended its chapters of JVP and SJP through the end of the semester, citing an “unauthorized event” that “included threatening rhetoric and intimidation.” The announcement quickly drew widespread criticism, including from hundreds of Jewish faculty who denounced the “vague allegations” that served as grounds for the suspensions.

But amid the backlash, StandWithUs, a self-described “non-partisan Israel education organization,” lauded Columbia’s decision. “StandWithUs sent several legal letters to universities like @Columbia, urging them to immediately hold these groups accountable for the hate, fear, and harassment they incite on campus,” the group wrote on social media. “We hope more universities will follow suit.”

Alongside Israel advocacy groups like the Brandeis Center, the International Legal Forum, and the David Horowitz Freedom Center, StandWithUs has spent years trying to shut down criticism of Israel on college campuses, often by weaponizing civil rights law. The groups allege that, while the political speech may be protected by the First Amendment, it fosters a campus climate of antisemitism in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits federally funded programs from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin. As students have ramped up pro-Palestinian demonstrations over the past month, Israel advocacy groups have escalated a pressure campaign of their own.

Earlier this month, StandWithUs sent an open letter to thousands of universities addressed to the general counsel and vice president of student affairs, outlining actions colleges could take to ensure compliance with Title VI. The group’s recommendations include requiring student identification cards at protests, monitoring university communication channels for “biased statements about Israel,” and investigating student groups for ties to Hamas. The group has also sent a surge of direct letters urging administrators to clamp down on specific Palestine solidarity campus events. Meanwhile, on November 9, the Brandeis Center filed two Title VI complaints with the Department of Education against the University of Pennsylvania and Wellesley College. (The Brandeis Center also joined forces with the Anti-Defamation League to call on the presidents of nearly 200 universities to investigate their SJP chapters, alleging they could have ties to Hamas that would constitute “materially supporting a foreign terrorist organization.”)

According to Dylan Saba, a staff attorney at Palestine Legal, the groups tend to target “pretty mundane examples of pro-Palestine expression … because that’s precisely what these organizations are trying to get rid of.” But as Israel’s military assault over the past month has become “increasingly indefensible for the pro-Israel forces,” it’s spurred a new wave of Title VI threats.

“That’s what’s motivating the strategy to try to raise the stakes of Palestinian expression and organizing by getting universities to try to crack down on it,” said Saba. “If you can’t win the debate because the facts aren’t in your favor, it’s pretty sensible to try to stop it altogether.”

Crackdown at Columbia

The Title VI crusade adds even more fuel to the recent punitive actions against Palestine solidarity student groups.

Since the start of Israel’s bombing of Gaza, students at Columbia have organized numerous protests, vigils, and rallies in a show of support for civilians in Gaza. As part of a nationwide “Shut it Down for Palestine” walkout on November 9, SJP and JVP arranged an art installation and rally.

One day later, the groups were suspended for the unauthorized event and “threatening rhetoric and intimidation,” making them ineligible to hold campus events or receive school funding for the remainder of the term.

While university policy requires students to obtain a permit 10 days before an event, violations of policy usually result in a disciplinary proceeding against individual students, not an outright suspension of an entire organization, according to Katherine Franke, a law professor at Columbia University who has been serving as a faculty advocate for the sanctioned students.

Franke noted that the organizations were suspended by a newly formed group, the Special Committee on Campus Safety, which was created with no advance notice and did not go through the standard University Senate Executive Committee approval process. Columbia’s website does not contain any mention of the Special Committee before the November 10 announcement, which did not elaborate on the new committee’s members or purview.

“We don’t know who’s on it, who created it, what its authority is, under what rules is it operating,” said Franke. Franke has asked Rosberg, the chair of the Special Committee, for more information about the new group and the specific rhetoric that led to SJP and JVP’s sanctioning. She says she has not received a response.

Additionally, internet archives show Columbia quietly updated its student group event policy some time between June 12 and October 20 to include new language around the sanctioning of student organizations “for failure to obtain event approval and/or not abiding by terms of an approved event.”

“They edited the student conduct rules without any consultation with the groups that normally are required to be consulted,” said Franke.

Columbia University did not respond to a request for comment.

During her 25-year tenure, Franke noted she’s seen “a lot of demonstrations,” from the Iraq War to 9/11. “All manner of things have been debated, protested, and the university’s structure was able to handle it,” she said. “But somehow, they had to create — without any consultation with any of the responsible governing bodies — a whole new way of dealing with these issues.”

Columbia is one of three private universities that have now sanctioned their SJP chapters in an unprecedented cascade of crackdowns on student organizing around Palestine solidarity.

Earlier this month, Brandeis University announced an outright and total ban on its SJP chapter, claiming the group “openly supports Hamas.” On Tuesday, George Washington University suspended its SJP chapter from hosting on-campus events for three months.

Roz Rothstein, co-founder and CEO of StandWithUs, wrote in a statement to The Intercept that after the group sent letters to thousands of universities, “many responded privately thanking us for the letter or, in the days after receiving it, taking concrete action on their campuses, such as Columbia, Brandeis, and GWU banning SJP for the rest of the semester.”

She added, “Other schools have notified us that they have launched independent investigations or task forces to address antisemitism. We look forward to seeing the results of those inquiries.”

Changing Standards

At Pomona College in Claremont, California, student organizers have also been challenged by a shifting web of guidelines. Samson Zhang, an editor of a student publication focused on leftist campus organizing called Claremont Undercurrents, noted that new policies seemed to arise in direct response to specific Palestine solidarity campus actions.

In one instance, 150 students attended a vigil at the student services center. “It was very intentionally organized so that no club claimed it, and the messaging was that it was organized by everybody and nobody,” said Zhang. “That happened Friday, and by Monday they sent out an email with a new demonstration policy that an event is only compliant with the student code of conduct if there’s a specific student club that it’s registered under.”

And, on November 7 — the day before a planned divestment protest — Pomona President Gabi Starr sent a letter to students and alumni with a reminder of campus demonstration rules. Claremont Undercurrents reported that one day before Starr’s email blast, StandWithUs sent her a letter expressing concern over the event. The letter urged the administration to take immediate action “to prevent discriminatory treatment of Jewish and Israeli students” and specifically noted that the administration has “the right to prohibit masks worn for the purpose of concealing identity.” Starr’s email similarly states that “masks that prevent recognition of individuals pose a challenge to the ability to maintain campus codes of conduct,” adding that students may be asked to remove them.

In response to inquiries from The Student Life, a campus newspaper, Pomona’s spokesperson said Starr’s mention of masks “was in response to significant concerns related to our own campus — not in response to any outside organization.”

StandWithUs has targeted Pomona before. In April 2021, the Associated Students of Pomona College voted to ban the use of student government funds on items or companies that “knowingly support the Israeli occupation of Palestine” — a move that triggered a swift condemnation from Starr. That same day, StandWithUs sent a letter praising Starr for her statement and calling on her to use “whatever means at your disposal to invalidate this resolution.” Every student government representative that voted in favor of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions resolution that year was then doxxed on Canary Mission, a secretive website that posts public blacklists of Palestinian rights organizers.

One year prior, in February 2020, the David Horowitz Freedom Center wrote to Starr and Pitzer College President Melvin Oliver, claiming that the colleges had violated Title VI by fostering “pervasive, college-sponsored anti-semitism.” The Southern Poverty Law Center has classified Horowitz as an extremist, noting that “the Freedom Center has launched a network of projects giving anti-Muslim voices and radical ideologies a platform to project hate and misinformation.”

“Political Cudgel”

A core ask from groups like the David Horowitz Freedom Center and StandWithUs is that university policies adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Association, or IHRA, working definition of antisemitism, which critics say falsely equates broad criticism of Israel with antisemitism. The IHRA definition found new footing in 2019, when then-President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing federal agencies to “consider” the IHRA definition in Title VI enforcement.

“IHRA expressly recognizes that criticism of Israel, similar to criticism of other countries, is not antisemitic,” wrote Rothstein of StandWithUs. “And it recognizes that some rhetoric and actions related to Israel do cross the line into bigotry.”

By eliding meaningful differences between critique of Israel and Jewish discrimination, said Saba of Palestine Legal, the groups warp claims of antisemitism into a “political cudgel” to be wielded against students voicing solidarity with Palestine.

The Brandeis Center’s recent Title VI complaint against the University of Pennsylvania conflates disparate events as uniform examples of campus antisemitism. The letter notes recent disturbing attacks against Hillel, a Jewish student organization, including bomb threats and an instance in which a Penn student vandalized the Hillel building and yelled “fuck the Jews.” But the letter also highlights Penn’s “Palestine Writes” literature festival, condemning the September event’s inclusion of speakers “known for their aggressive stance against the Jewish State.”

In November 2022, the International Legal Forum, an Israel-based organization dedicated to “fighting legal battles against terror, antisemitism, and de-legitimization of Israel,” filed a Title VI complaint against the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, after nine student groups banned supporters of Zionism from speaking at their events. In its complaint, the group wrote, “Zionism is an integral and indispensable part of Jewish identity.”

Since its founding in 2001, StandWithUs, which is registered as a nonprofit under the name “Israel Emergency Alliance,” has launched efforts to oppose “anti-Israel bias” in libraries, supported anti-BDS laws, and encouraged supporters to buy Caterpillar stock amid scrutiny over the construction company’s role in Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes. The group recruits annual student fellows to serve as pro-Israel activists on American campuses nationwide and once invited Elvis Costello on a VIP trip in an attempt to convince the singer to change his mind about canceling concerts in Israel.

Last year, StandWithUs filed a Title VI complaint against George Washington University, after assistant professor of clinical psychology Lara Sheehi hosted a brown-bag lunch with a Palestinian professor, leading to a pressure campaign and an internal investigation that turned up nothing. “Many of the statements the complaint alleges were made by Dr. Sheehi were, according to those who heard them, either inaccurate or taken out of context and misrepresented,” the university said in a summary of its findings at the time, adding that Sheehi had “denounced antisemitism as a real and present danger” in classroom discussion. StandWithUs refuted this characterization. In February, Palestine Legal filed its own Title VI complaint against GWU for a “hostile environment of anti-Palestinian racism,” which cites the Sheehi case among others.

“The byproduct of all of this is that you have now a lot of obfuscation about what the meaning of antisemitism is and what constitutes antisemitism, which is very dangerous for Jewish students on campus,” said Saba. “It makes it much more difficult to be able to identify and work to eliminate real instances of antisemitism and threats to Jewish students, which tend to come from the political right.”

Meanwhile, many members of the Jewish community are resisting these groups’ efforts to conflate Judaism and Zionism, noting that their faith inspires resistance to injustice, not blanket support for a regime.

“A lot of institutions across the country, and also at the university, have pushed this idea of a hegemonic Jewish community that all shares the same political beliefs,” said Rafi Ash, a Brown University sophomore who was one of 20 Jewish students arrested during a November sit-in at an administrative building organized by BrownU Jews for Ceasefire Now. “We all have been kind of disturbed by the ways in which a Jewish identity has been twisted in a way that makes it political.”

While the Department of Education is expected to field a new influx of Title VI complaints from organizations representing Jewish students, Saba noted that groups like Palestine Legal have also filed complaints regarding instances of anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and Islamophobic discrimination on campuses. The Department of Education has never made a finding of antisemitic or anti-Palestinian discrimination in any of its investigations so far, though that could soon change as the Israel–Hamas war puts Title VI in the limelight. The American Civil Liberties Union has begun to take legal action over the First Amendment rights of Palestinian solidarity protesters.

“We are in touch with many, many, many student groups across the country, and we are seeing a pattern of heightened scrutiny and suppression,” said Saba. “Fortunately, despite the mass suppressive effort, students are continuing to organize, continuing to speak out, and are refusing to be silenced. We’re seeing one of the largest upsurges in pro-Palestine organizing and demonstration that we’ve ever seen.”

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mariacallous · 2 years ago

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Exposure to poverty is deeply intertwined with the deterioration of emotional health. This linkage is often exacerbated by a lack of coordinated social support for individuals and families. To appreciate this connection and how efforts in some communities suggest ways to address it, consider three public health issues and their impact on mental health: homelessness, food insecurity, and hygiene poverty (i.e., a lack of resources to maintain personal hygiene).

Homelessness

There is a close connection between homelessness and mental health. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, homelessness and associated behavioral health issues have increased. While there are widely differing estimates of the prevalence of mental disorders among individuals experiencing homelessness, a review of the research by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) suggests that between 20% and 50% have serious mental illness. Research suggests, moreover, that the experience of being homeless often intensifies the condition of individuals with poor mental health, with factors such as increased stress aggravating previous mental illness through heightened anxiety, fear, substance use, etc.

Some believe that the best course of action for those experiencing homelessness and mental illness is to provide treatment and services first so that homeless individuals are stabilized and “housing ready,” and only then can live successfully in permanent housing. Under this approach, placement in housing would follow initial treatment. However, many jurisdictions now use a Housing First model. In this approach, an individual is placed into permanent supported housing as the first step, followed swiftly with treatment and social service supports to start addressing the individual’s physical and mental health, education, employment, and substance use issues. Studies suggest this is an improvement on “treatment first” approaches.

How communities are addressing the challenge

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Pathways to Housing: Pathways to Housing works with individuals experiencing homelessness to provide housing without treatment preconditions and, once participants are housed, goes on immediately to address underlying issues involving mental health, substance use, medical care, and education. After arranging housing, Pathways manages an integrated care clinic to ensure that “participants have access to a low-barrier, person-centered approach that emphasizes recovery, wellness, trauma-informed care, and the integration of physical and behavioral health care.”

Denver, Colorado – Colorado Coalition for the Homeless: The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) operates twenty permanent supportive housing and affordable housing properties and administers housing vouchers nearly 1,300 households in the Denver area. Like Pathways, the Coalition takes steps to ensure that, once housed, residents immediately receive the physical and behavioral health services they need to be able to achieve stability. CCH provides integrated medical and behavioral health care, substance use treatment, dental, vision, and pharmacy services through an on-site Federally Qualified Health Center.

New York City, New York – Breaking Ground: Breaking Ground provides permanent supportive housing for individuals who have experienced chronic homelessness in New York City. Housing is co-located with wraparound services such as on-site medical care, psychiatric care, substance use referrals, and skills-building/employment programs. In addition to a focus on housing, Breaking Ground provides New Yorkers who remain unhoused with Street to Home services, which include 24/7 engagement and outdoor counseling and connections with available medical and social supports. Programs like this are likely to be particularly important in the context of New York City’s new plan to involuntarily hospitalize unhoused individuals with mental health conditions despite a chronic psychiatric bed shortage in city hospitals.

What else could be done to help?

Expand Housing First models to encompass more communities, including those in rural areas. As illustrated in the examples above, Housing First programs show that providing stable housing can improve the efficacy of psychiatric and substance abuse treatment as well as aid in connecting individuals to social services. A 2018 study on the effects of housing stability service use among homeless adults with mental illness found that participants who achieved housing stability had decreased use of inpatient psychiatric hospitals and emergency departments. Currently the severe shortage of affordable housing makes it very difficult in many jurisdictions to provide immediate housing for homeless individuals. Moreover, although the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development distributes emergency Section 8 housing vouchers to jurisdictions for unhoused individuals and people attempting to flee domestic violence, it is common for people to wait years for voucher assistance. Achieving the goal of stable housing for people with mental health conditions will therefore require ramped-up investment in housing as well as health and social service supports for residents.

Utilize mobile crisis intervention teams to address social and behavioral health needs of individuals experiencing homelessness that are at risk for a mental health crisis. Breakthroughs in mental health services are often the result of multi-agency partnerships. One such breakthrough has been the development of local crisis intervention teams, which use a co-response model between law enforcement, emergency medical services, and mental health providers. In a previous publication, we highlighted several successful programs using this model. Since the full launch of the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline in June of 2022, many jurisdictions are working to deploy crisis intervention teams for behavioral health emergencies in a way that is most beneficial to those in need, including those experiencing homelessness. Moreover, states can now receive an enhanced federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for mental health crisis systems.

Improve the coordination and continuation of services for people experiencing homelessness. Departments at all levels of government often fail people with housing and mental health problems because of administrative obstacles and budget silos. Fortunately, there have been some steps to tackle these challenges. California, Arkansas and other states, for instance, have received federal Medicaid 1115 Waivers that allow them to better coordinate housing, health care, and other services for vulnerable populations. In February 2023, Congresswoman Madeleine Dean reintroduced legislation through The Homelessness and Behavioral Health Care Coordination Act to the House of Representatives, which would authorize a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant to enable state/local/tribal entities to coordinate care for individuals simultaneously experiencing homelessness, behavioral health, and substance use disorders.

Food Insecurity

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that in 2021 over 34 million people—including 9 million children—were living in households that did not have enough to eat. Many of these families do not qualify for federal nutrition programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) or the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and are dependent on food banks or community donations. A national study found that food insecurity was associated with a 257% higher risk of anxiety and a 253% higher risk of depression among low-income families. Mothers and children appear to be at an especially high risk of mental health distress associated with food insecurity. For instance, food insecurity can exacerbate postpartum depression, and food insecurity has been found to be associated with increased behavioral and emotional dysregulation during infancy and adolescence. Food insecurity has also been associated with maternal depression and increased developmental risk in children such as decreased psychosocial function, elevated aggression, anxiety, depression, hyperactivity, and difficulties interacting with peers. In another study conducted to analyze the relationship between food insecurity and poor mental health, researchers discovered that food insecurity correlates to depression, anxiety, shame, and acute psychological stress.

What is being done in some communities?

Maryland – Frustrated by the lack of food access and overburdened charity models, the Black Church Food Security Network (BCFSN) created a self-sustaining food system at Pleasant Hope Baptist Church in Baltimore, MD. Using the community garden at the church, the organization created a pipeline for fresh food from the garden directly to community members experiencing food insecurity. The organization has grown into a partnership of Black churches across the country to provide health-related, environmental, and economic benefits to those most vulnerable.

Connecticut – Recognizing that the quality of a diet can serve as either a risk factor or protective factor to mental health, Mental Health Connecticut (MHC) partnered with the Healing Meals Community Project to deliver nutritious meals to food-insecure individuals experiencing mental illness. A 2020 small-scale pilot study conducted by the University of Hartford examined the partnership. It found the program to be effective and Healthy Meals to be “a highly workable intervention approach,” and recommended expanded community collaboration to promote nutrition education and improve food access.

California – Food Equity Round Table: Los Angeles County’s Food Equity Roundtable is comprised of a coalition of county officials and Los Angeles-area philanthropic organizations dedicated to addressing food insecurity. The goal of the Round Table is to promote cross-sector collaboration to improve access to and affordability of healthy foods, support supply chain/food system resilience, and enhance county-wide nutrition education.

What else could be done to help?

Strengthen government safety net programs to better respond to food insecurity. During the COVID-19 public health emergency, Congress extended flexibility and increased benefit levels of federal nutrition programs such as SNAP. To continue these programs and make them permanent, several bills have been introduced in Congress in the last few years, including the Closing the Meal Gap Act of 2021. Such measures would prevent millions of people from falling into food insecurity and the associated mental and physical health implications by permanently raising the baseline benefits for SNAP households, particularly for families with large medical or housing expenses. Another approach, included in the Improving Access to Nutrition Act of 2021, would eliminate time limits on SNAP eligibility. Currently, the time limit restricts many working-age adults to only three months of benefits in a three-year period unless they document sufficient hours of work. But, of course, for those with mental and behavioral health conditions, staying in the workforce can be difficult.

Improve cross-sector coordination to allow for increased support for food insecurity across the public and private sectors as well as nonprofits and philanthropic organizations. In September 2022, the Biden administration released a National Strategy on hunger, nutrition, and health. This included steps to permit Medicaid to include nutrition education and supports and other proposed actions to address hunger, reduce diet-related diseases (including mental illnesses), and nutritional disparities.

Hygiene Poverty

Inequitable access to personal care and hygiene products is an overlooked public health crisis. In the United States, data is limited on the mental health implications of what is widely described as “hygiene poverty.” Most research focuses on what is known as “period poverty,” with a 2021 study finding an association between women struggling to afford menstrual products and depression. In fact, the study found that two-thirds of the 16.9 million low-income women in the U.S. could not afford menstrual products. Meanwhile, in homeless and low-income households, chronic absenteeism in schools has been attributed in part to the mental health impacts of poor hygiene (often involving increased anxiety, bullying, and isolation). More research is certainly needed to fully establish the relationship between hygiene poverty and behavioral health in women, but for young women in low-income households, this added stress in their daily lives is a significant factor in their behavioral health.

As an example of state efforts to help support such students, the Oregon legislature allocated $700,000 to support youth-led projects designed to help tackle factors that affect mental health. One of the funded projects was for “caring closets,” within schools; these are locations with supplies of hygiene products, underwear, and other basic supplies for children from low-income families.

Unlike the public programs available to help families obtain healthcare, food, and housing, there are generally no public supports for families in need of hygiene products. The most commonly used public benefit programs (Medicaid, SNAP, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)) do not cover essential hygiene items such as laundry detergent, toilet paper, diapers, feminine hygiene products, toothpaste, shampoo, and deodorant.

What is being done in some communities?

Washington State – Essentials First seeks to fill in a critical gap that food banks, homeless shelters, schools, and refugee resettlement agencies across the state generally do not have the capacity to fill for critical hygiene items. Recognizing that household and personal care items were among the top tier of items Washingtonians had difficulty paying for during the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization focuses on the procuring large quantities of hygiene supplies that are distributed through existing social service networks across the state.

Massachusetts – Hope & Comfort addresses youth hygiene insecurity by providing supplies to youth-serving community organizations such as schools, Boys & Girls clubs, YMCAs, and food pantries in the greater Boston area. In a published pilot study from year one of the organization’s operations, 46% of surveyed youth said they had less stress, and another 19% said they had more confidence when given consistent and easy access to hygiene products.

What else could be done to help?

While local organizations are working to address hygiene poverty in their communities, they have limited capacity. Thus, it is important for policymakers at the state and federal level to recognize that hygiene poverty remains largely overlooked in health and social service programs and to take steps to include those needs in appropriate federal and state programs. Steps that could be taken include:

Increase flexibility for EBT cards. In late 2021 and early 2022, some states, such as Illinois, passed new laws permitting public benefits to be used to purchase diapers and menstrual hygiene products. This step does not require new programs or a new program infrastructure but is limited in that it does not provide dedicated funds specifically for hygiene products. A more complete solution would be to provide new funds under the existing program to cover essential hygiene needs.

Enable certain federal grant recipients to purchase hygiene products. Federal grant recipients providing services and supports, such as schools and homeless shelters, receive funds for a variety of uses. However, these funds typically come with tight requirements that often do not allow for the coverage of essential hygiene items, even where such coverage might further the objectives of the program. That usually forces organizations to purchase and distribute products using resources from private contributions, state and local grants, or in-kind donations.

There have been efforts in Congress to address these limitations on federal grants. In 2021, for instance, the Menstrual Equity for All Act was introduced in the House. If enacted, this would allow states to have the option to use federal grant dollars to provide students with free menstrual products in schools (currently only 15 states and DC have enacted requirements making it possible for students to access free state-funded menstrual hygiene products in schools). The legislation would, among other things, also fund pilot programs in colleges/universities for free menstrual hygiene products, allow homeless assistance providers to use grant funds that cover shelter necessities (e.g., bedding and toilet paper) to also use that money to purchase menstrual products, and require Medicaid to cover the cost of menstrual products.

Our understanding of behavioral and mental health conditions is gradually improving. This has led to advances in the development of treatment and support for populations experiencing these conditions, as well as the identification of circumstances that cause or exacerbate them. For instance, we have seen progress in dealing with the impact of warfare on many servicemen and servicewomen. There is also a greater understanding that law enforcement officers are not usually the best responders to someone experiencing a mental health crisis. Similarly, there is now greater attention being given to the effects of neighborhood violence and other sources of stress on school-aged children.

With these advances in mind, it is important for the health of individuals and communities that we continue to examine relationships between social conditions, the policies that shape them, and the impacts on behavioral health. The connection—in many cases the two-way connection—between behavioral health and homelessness, food insecurity, hygiene poverty, and other conditions needs to be studied and policies realigned to fit our increasing understanding of these relationships.

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