By McClain Bryant Macklin on July 23, 2020
Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives
Health Forward Foundation
I was taught at an early age that I owe a debt to my community. Both of my parents made a living by improving the lives of others. I have always been driven by a desire to make them, my community, and my ancestors proud. And it is that desire that calls me to policy work. […]
By Cecilia Belser-Patton on July 20, 2020
Inclusion & Equity Director
Yes On 2/Healthcare For Missouri
Earlier this month, we celebrated our nation’s Independence Day and the as-yet-unrealized vision of the Founders to secure, “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Of course, not all of us have enjoyed these allegedly inalienable rights. COVID-19 has shone a bright light on the health care disparities that have plagued our state since long […]
By Erica Andrade on July 8, 2020
Chief Program Officer
El Centro Inc.
How I dread having to utter the words, “Sorry, you don’t qualify.” Every year, as we assist hard-working families to sign up for Medicaid or the insurance marketplace, this is a phase we have to use often. Worst yet is when we explain to someone that their income is too low to qualify for marketplace […]
By Richard von Glahn on June 25, 2020
Policy Director
Missouri Jobs with Justice
I will admit that, in the midst of a global health pandemic that appears to be resurging in Missouri, as well as the protest movement for racial justice, it can be easy to lose focus on things that would otherwise command our attention. Elections, especially primary elections that tend to have lower turnout anyway, can […]
By Health Forward Foundation on June 18, 2020
Medicaid expansion will be on the ballot in Missouri on Tuesday, August 4. Health Forward has long recognized that a lack of insurance is a critical barrier to health. As such, Health Forward has been proud to lead efforts to place the decision to expand Medicaid before Missouri voters. It’s a decision that has the […]
By Karen Dehais on June 12, 2020
Evaluation and Learning Officer
Health Forward Foundation
Even as businesses and workplaces cautiously re-open, Health Forward is acutely aware that among low-income individuals and people of color, employment opportunities, working conditions, and benefits vary dramatically. Addressing these disparities is essential, as is advocating for policies that advance economic inclusion and health equity. Unemployment disparities We all know that too many people are […]
By Health Forward Foundation on June 2, 2020
The past three months have undeniably and climatically exposed the fact that racism is alive and the very culprit that’s caused millions of people of color to be unwell. After three months of isolation from the COVID-19 pandemic — which gripped our nation and claimed the lives of a disproportionate number of African Americans — […]
By Stephenie Smith, MSW on April 28, 2020
Co-Founder/ Managing Partner
Sophic Solutions, LLC
“The census was designed as a tool to ensure adequate representation, resources, and voting power for citizens, any attempt to use it instead as a means of suppressing the vote, should be and must be viewed as an insidious threat to our overall democracy.” ~ Leon W. Russell, chairman, NAACP Friends, by now you have […]
By Qiana Thomason on April 23, 2020
President/CEO
Health Forward Foundation
An abundance of national historical data reminds us that in public health, when America catches a cold, people of color catch pneumonia. As coronavirus (COVID-19) rips through our communities, it exposes social injustice and divisions that determine whether people have necessary resources to be healthy. As such, we are paying acute attention to nascent local […]
By Tania Hewett-Mader on April 9, 2020
Policy Associate
Health Forward Foundation
Every year around this time, we stop to reflect on what has transpired over the first half of the legislative sessions in Kansas and Missouri. The legislative spring break gives us a moment to assess where we are with the policy issues that Health Forward is closely monitoring. We use our policy agenda as a […]
