Spotlight on Spectrum: The Other Clinic

Let’s Celebrate a Victory!

Healthcare for Trans Persons and Repro Justice

This month we are highlighting a positive development in the reproductive justice landscape in Mississippi:

We have a new gender affirming hormone therapy practice, Spectrum: The Other Clinic, based in Hattiesburg!

RJ means giving repro healthcare, rights, and justice for EVERYONE. Access to this essential medical care means a new level of freedom and life for Trans and Nonbinary people in our state.

Stacie Pace’s Story 

A few years ago, Stacie Pace, ACNP/AGNP, and her husband knew it was time for a change. They are both Nurse Practitioners in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Stacie works as a hospitalist at Forrest General and was wondering what she could do to go out on her own and work for herself as a practitioner. 

She did not want to work in family practice, and the urgent care market is saturated. One day she was talking with her best friend, who happens to be a gay man, and they came up with the idea of some kind of medical practice that serves LGBTQ+ community members. 

Healthcare that addresses specific healthcare needs for LGBTQ+ people in Mississippi is sparse. Stacie got in touch with The Spectrum Center in Hattiesburg and began inquiring how her and her husband’s skills as Nurse Practitioners could fit in with the structure and needs of the community. 

One summer evening in 2019, Stacie met with a transgender support group and LISTENED. As she asked about healthcare needs for trans people, they responded with stories of being completely rejected as patients, experiencing a lack of access to hormone therapy, and other essential healthcare needs. Regarding access to those life-saving hormones, Stacie responded with incredulity, “You can’t just go get it???”

No. No, trans people cannot easily access healthcare in general, especially gender affirming hormone therapy. 

Stacie wondered if the medical training for providing hormone therapy was particularly difficult or complicated. Is that why it isn’t available for people?

Nope. The medicine itself is not exceptionally challenging. 

Stacie got the extra education indicated. She began to network and connect with potential patients. In a matter of months Spectrum Clinic was born.

Along with learning the specifics of hormone therapy, Stacie says that learning how to run a business as a medical provider has been a challenge. She is continuously expanding her practice and hopes to bring her husband on as another provider. The need for medical care and support for trans people in Mississippi is great.

Ashley, our Faith in Women director, and I had the privilege to have a video chat with Stacie and see her passion first hand. Here are a couple of things she had to say about her work and clinic. 

“Best job I could ever imagine.”

“Being nice matters…makes the huge-est difference.”

“Kindness is easy.”

 

How Spectrum Clinic Operates

Stacie and the Spectrum Clinic have continually built relationships with The Spectrum Center and Planned Parenthood of Hattiesburg. A trans person in need of care hears about Spectrum Clinic through this network of organizations and also through individual personal relationships. 

Check out the SPECTRUM: The Other Clinic. Their online presence there is direct and clear and shows exactly how one accesses care through the clinic. Their Facebook page is another very convenient way for someone to initiate care at Spectrum Clinic. 

The Spectrum Clinic offers an affordable and flexible pricing structure to ensure that everyone who needs care can access it. Most of Spectrum Clinic’s patients don’t have health insurance.

Stacie and her husband own the clinic together, meaning they have control and flexibility in their work that they would not have working in another setting. They can decide how much to charge and how much money they need/want to make out of their business. Spectrum Clinic rates are significantly lower than other comparable providers, of which there are few. 

The key to success in Stacie’s practice has been building relationships and trust. She does most of her visits through telehealth but still manages to respond to patients with trust and compassion and love. Text messaging is an effective and personal way she communicates with patients. 

One way they have built relationships is naming their practice “Spectrum: The Other Clinic” to signal acceptance and support like the Spectrum Center gives. 

Listening to the stories and needs of the people who come to her for medical care is the priority. 

In respect to safety concerns, visits through telehealth limit in-person vulnerabilities. Stacie takes common-sense safety precautions if meeting in person. 

She notes that the negative feedback she receives is mostly online, especially on Spectrum Clinic’s Facebook page. She does not feel especially threatened by the “keyboard warriors.” She notes that “95% of the trash” comments and reactions are from self-identified Christians. 

 

Life and Death Reality for Trans People

What patients of The Spectrum Clinic are facing: 

Many patients need hormones after transitioning but have lost their previous access for various reasons like financial problems or moving to another state. 

Stacie says that a significant number of her patients are deciding between ending their own lives and living life without hormone therapy. She says that her screening for depression is very simple: almost all of her patients tell her they are depressed. 

According to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, “40% of respondents have attempted suicide in their lifetime—nearly nine times the attempted suicide rate in the U.S. population (4.6%).” This survey, produced by the National Center for Transgender Equality, goes on to report (updated 2017) on the reality of healthcare for transgender people. The section “Harmful Effects on Physical and Mental Health” goes on to note:

 

Respondents also encountered high levels of mistreatment when seeking health care. In

the year prior to completing the survey, one-third (33%) of those who saw a health care

provider had at least one negative experience related to being transgender, such as being

verbally harassed or refused treatment because of their gender identity. Additionally,

nearly one-quarter (23%) of respondents reported that they did not seek the health care

they needed in the year prior to completing the survey due to fear of being mistreated as a

transgender person, and 33% did not go to a health care provider when needed because

they could not afford it.

 

Stacie sees positive mental health changes in her patients after treatment. This clinical outcome is essential. She notes that some of her patients have gotten in touch with her and let her know how meaningful and life-saving the care they received truly was. In our video call, Stacie was visibly moved when she talked about this kind of work. She especially emphasizes how, from her perspective, simply being kind is so powerful, and it is something that the transgender people she knows often do not experience. 

 

What makes you brave? 

We asked Stacie what makes her brave. She says that she is “just doing her job, basically,” doing “what makes sense.” She sees a need and meets it. Stacie gives credit to her way of being in the world to her parents, both her dad and mom, who taught her to be open and loving. Also, having a best friend who is gay and connected to the LGBTQ+ community has given her opportunities she would not have otherwise. 

Stacie’s disposition is open, direct, and without pretense. She has a sensible joy about her. I appreciate that she emphasized her own antiracist work inside herself. She recently read White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, PhD, and recommends reading it with self-awareness as an opportunity to grow as a person seeking justice for all people. 

 

Reflections from the Editor: 

Loretta Ross spoke this year at the Sister Song Reproductive Justice Summit about white allyship. “Don’t be an ally!” she said. “Do your own thing!” And the “thing” can work in tandem with RJ and Black Lives Matter. She indicated that each person has their own work to do for human liberation and that “allyship” isn’t the goal in and of itself. That comment stuck with me because I think being an ally is GREAT, but it is not an active word. What does an ally do? Whatever the person to whom one is allied needs, right? But if I find my own place in the work of social justice and healing our world, then I have my own agenda and can align my work with the work of others. Then I personally will not co-opt the Repro Justice movement, which is specifically led by Black, Indigenous, and other women and people of color. As a white woman I can hear my own call, so to speak, and do the work which is mine, and let myself be led by the womanists of Sister Song. 

Ashley and I both love that Stacie and her husband’s personal needs and career path lined up with the needs of a particular community, in this case transgender people seeking healthcare in the Deep South. The synthesis is a growing health clinic operating in the brave new world of Pandemic 2020–and just in time. 

 

Links to Check Out

SPECTRUM: The Other Clinic

SPECTRUM: The Other Clinic Facebook Page

The Spectrum Center Facebook Page

The Spectrum Center Hattiesburg

Planned Parenthood Hattiesburg

http://www.ustranssurvey.org/reports

http://www.ustranssurvey.org/

Usts reported updated 2017

The Language of “Repro”

What’s the difference between reproductive health and reproductive rights? And what is reproductive justice? We hear these questions off and on, and maybe you’ve wondered yourself!

Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice

Organizations and individuals in the “repro” movement work within one or more of these frameworks. We thought we’d share a few basic definitions and resources to help clarify these closely aligned, yet slightly different approaches:

Reproductive Health

This refers to the direct provision of healthcare services related to people’s reproductive needs, like contraception, STI testing and treatment, mammograms and other cancer diagnostic tests, and ob-gyn care. Abortion care is considered reproductive health care. Planned Parenthood is an example of an organization that provides reproductive health care, along with many local public and private health clinics and physicians. Some, but not all, providers of reproductive health care also advocate for reproductive rights.

Reproductive Rights

Reproductive Rights are simply the rights and freedoms related to reproduction and reproductive health, which are controlled explicitly by laws that vary by country or state. Examples of reproductive rights include the right to legal and safe abortion, the right to birth control, freedom from coerced sterilization, access to reproductive healthcare, and the right to sex education. NARAL Pro-Choice America, founded in 1969, champions the idea that “Freedom is for every body.” They work “from the state house to the White House” advocating for legislatures and any other government body to support the autonomy and dignity of the individual human life and body. One’s body is one’s own. Others, especially a government, should not control a person and their body.

Reproductive Justice

Historically, U.S. movements for reproductive health and rights have centered the needs of white, mostly middle-class women, especially in the fight for abortion access. Even though Black women and women of color have solidly supported these efforts, their contributions and needs are often sidelined, minimized, or erased from the narrative altogether.

SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective defines Reproductive Justice as “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.” SisterSong formed in 1997 in the early days of the Reproductive Justice Movement.

Reproductive justice (RJ) is a movement created by, led by, and centering women of color. Developed in 1994 and grounded in the human rights framework, RJ elevates the needs and voices and experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, over and against the prevalence of historically white-led women’s rights movements.

RJ encompasses reproductive health and reproductive rights, while also addressing the social, political, and economic systemic inequalities that affect women’s reproductive health and their ability to control their reproductive lives.


Reproductive Justice Resources

Sister Song’s website
Sister Song’s very active Facebook page
Sister Reach in Tennessee
Loretta Ross’ website
Loretta Ross’ Book Reproductive Justice: An Introduction


Reproductive Dignity

Reproductive Dignity is a term you’ll see us using a bit more often in Faith in Women communications, and we want to explain what we mean and why we use it.

At Faith in Women, we promote access to reproductive health care, we educate and organize faith voices in support of reproductive rights, and we believe whole-heartedly in doing our part to disrupt and dismantle white supremacist patriarchy in ourselves and our institutions. With gratitude and humility, we strive to align our work with the holy, world-changing vision of reproductive justice.

In the repro space, folks love a good acronym. You’ll often hear organizations use the catch-all “RHRJ” when talking about our work or our partners. The tent is big, and that’s a good thing!

None of these terms or acronyms has ever felt just right for what we do at Faith in Women, especially when we’re working in collaboration with others across the repro movement. For one thing, we bring a faith lens to the work of reproductive health and rights, which is rare in a movement where religion, especially fundamentalist Christianity, is rightly regarded as one of the main drivers of reproductive oppression. And as a white women-led organization, to call our work reproductive justice, however much we believe in the principles, would be to co-opt and water down an important framework meant to center Black and Indigenous people of color.

So last year, as part of the Leaders of Moral Courage Fellowship, the facilitators and fellows began looking for a term that describes our shared support of reproductive health, rights, and justice, while acknowledging the diverse perspectives, racial and gender experiences, and spiritual traditions embodied by the members of our group. One value we all held in common was the inherent worth and human dignity of all people; thus “reproductive dignity” was born. Try it out sometime and see how it fits into your ministry or faith community!

One thing to remember though: in justice work, we can often get caught up in the language, sometimes to the point of avoiding authentic relationships or even avoiding the work itself for fear of saying it wrong or causing harm. If our goal is to build a more just world, we should know the terms, understand our shared history, and respect and honor each other’s roles in the movement. And then we should get to work.

Reproductive Justice and Dignity in Pop Culture

Pop culture and media often shape how we think about the world. As we escape indoors from the summer heat and unrelenting pandemic, look for how issues related to reproductive freedom and dignity are portrayed in the media we consume. What are the stories being told? Who’s telling them? What questions are they asking? How can we be asking better questions, telling better stories? Below are a few things we’ve been watching and reading lately:

Ashley’s Picks

Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen
Released in June on Netflix, the must-watch documentary Disclosure “is an unprecedented, eye-opening look at transgender depictions in film and television, revealing how Hollywood simultaneously reflects and manufactures our deepest anxieties about gender.”  Helmed by Laverne Cox of Orange is the New BlackDisclosure lays out the history of onscreen depictions of trans lives, both positive and negative, and explores how such media shapes society’s understanding of gender. This powerful documentary is a lesson in empathy and critical thinking.

The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
What if Jesus had been married? Although modern Christians take for granted that Jesus never had a wife, the Bible doesn’t definitively say. That’s the central question of this latest work of fiction from Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees and Dance of the Dissident Daughter. The Book of Longings is a tale of the life of Ana, Jesus’s (fictional) wife. Ana longs to be a writer. Like women have done since the beginning of time, Ana (mild spoiler alert) uses herbs and tinctures, with the full approval of her husband Jesus, to prevent pregnancy so that she can fulfill her dream of studying and writing about the lives of women.

Anna’s Picks

The Magicians
Syfy network adapted Lev Grossman’s trilogy of novels into a five-season hit show. The show takes the books–a grown-up reflection on The Chronicles of Narnia, the Harry Potter series, and similar books–and adds on a deeper reflection on relationships and sexuality, including SPOILER ALERT a magical abortion.

Born Behind Bars
This docu-series shows the lives of women and their babies as they live together in the “Wee Ones” dormitory in a maximum security women’s prison in Indiana. The show is produced in a way that reminds me of TLC shows–plenty of dramatic music, replays of emotional moments–but the content lends to so much reflection on what it means to be able to have agency as a mother and as a person in our society. The women in the show by and large mention their drug addiction (often meth), generational abuse, and lack of health care and education. Watch with an eye toward repro justice and human dignity and wait for the questions to bubble up. Here are a few:

  • Why aren’t the women in drug rehab?

  • I imagine that it is rare for ANY woman to raise her baby from 0 to 12 months. How many mothers/parents get to do that?

  • Again, why isn’t there a rehabilitation and therapy program for everyone in this prison?

Here are a few more resources that look at repro dignity and contemporary media:

Doing The Work.

“Doing the work” can mean a lot of things. For some, the work is meeting the direct needs of the community through sex education, or child care, or abortion care. For others, the work is affecting change through policies and laws that create more just and equitable society. And for still others, the work is creating a vision for the future no matter what the current political or social circumstances might mean.

At Faith in Women, we take the long view of what it means to “do the work” of reproductive dignity and human rights, and for us, investing in transformational relationships and a resilient community is a big part of our long term strategy.

Last year Faith in Women hosted the Leaders of Moral Courage Fellowship, exploring the intersections of courage, faith, and community in reproductive health, rights, and justice work. One of the most powerful outcomes of the project was the “fellowship” itself- the new community forged by the fellows. The cohort created a basis for understanding, learning, growing, and acting that looked different than many movement spaces. A sense of love and collaboration grounded in spirituality pervaded that space, even when conflict arose.

Leaders of Moral Courage was a great example of building an alternative system/space/community where things are how we want them to be. With such a community supporting us, when the outside world doesn’t live out those same ideals, we’re equipped and energized to make changes.

Be encouraged as you do your part of the work. Thank you for being a partner in creating a world filled with justice and light and reproductive dignity for all.

Childcare: Our Unspoken Crisis

The Childcare Situation is Dire. Let’s Talk About It.

Schools are closed, camps are canceled, and many daycares are closed as well. Working parents are expected to continue to work full-time and also become care-givers for their children.

Even though our society does not recognize care-giving as valid work that deserves fair pay, providing care is indeed work. People whose “Plan A” care situation has been canceled now find themselves working an extra job- caring for children.

In Mississippi there are no state-wide closures of childcare centers. This stance by the state government means that either:

  • parents must evaluate the risk and make the decision themselves whether to send children to their childcare facility if it is open or continue to pay to hold their child’s unused spot,
  • find alternative childcare either in a center that is open or find alternative care such as babysitting, a nanny, or family/friends who might be able to offer some care, or
  • work without any extra childcare, splitting childcare responsibilities with a spouse or partner as a best-case scenario.

Therefore, money and family/social networks are the only things keeping some of us going. Those of us without such resources are suffering disproportionately. The children themselves are suffering from this uncertain childcare situation and are missing friends, important lessons, and even meals.

Sister Song reminds us that Reproductive Justice means the human right to “…parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities.”

Our current childcare crisis in Mississippi is neither safe nor sustainable. Parents and families are not okay. The children are not okay.

Yet here we are in Mississippi, facing a long, hot summer without adequate ways to care for and rear our children.


In Your Own Words

Why do you support reproductive dignity?

Reproductive dignity is the right to fully experience and live in my body without oppression and state terror visited upon it. Reproductive dignity is also a meaning making tool of joy, and embraces that every life deserves to be lived as they wish, regardless of the good, bad, or random luck to be born in a specific time or place or body.

Alexandra Melnick, English teacher at Leland High School in the Mississippi Delta and 2019 Leaders of Moral Courage Fellow

Why do YOU support reproductive dignity? Click here to tell us.

 


Calling Out the Weak Solutions We Have Been Given

Rev. Carol Burnett, our Faith in Women Board President and director of the Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative, recently wrote an opinion piece calling out the failures of Mississippi’s response to the crisis in terms of childcare.

Carol’s perspective on the crisis:

  • Existing centers are in danger of closing.
  • Instead of funding new emergency “pop-up” childcare centers as the state of Mississippi has done since the beginning of the pandemic, what about shoring up existing centers with emergency placements and emergency dollars?
  • Our existing childcare centers might not be there later when we need them.

Faith in Women commends you, Carol, for speaking out on behalf of the vulnerable members of our community. 

After our May newsletter went out, Anna Wolfe of Mississippi Today wrote about this very topic of childcare and also spoke with Carol. Read her article here.


Childcare in Mississippi is a Long-Standing and Ongoing Issue. 

Even before COVID-19 and the statewide shutdown, Mississippi had a shortage of child care providers for young children. In 2018 there were only enough spots in licensed centers for 23 percent of our state’s infants and toddlers.

Clearly this aspect of the childcare situation in our state does not pass the “safe and sustainable” test set forth by Sister Song and the values of reproductive justice and dignity. Mississippi simply continues to fail our children.

Universal (public) pre-K is one way to support children in our state. Mississippi First is working toward that goal. Executive Director Rachel Canter wrote an Op-Ed last month about the Coronavirus pandemic showing the need to continue to push in this direction.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

An Upside to the Crisis? 

You may not be looking for an upside to this crisis, but Monisha Bajaj makes some great points on Blavity.com. Check out her opinion piece For Parents Of Color, Schooling At Home Can Be An Act Of Resistance, which offers a positive perspective on the childcare crisis that has come during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I love that Bajaj looks for the new, just, free ways of being in the midst of suffering. Do you have a story or experience in that vein? If so and you feel like sharing, please email me at anna.faithinwomen@gmail.com. I would love to hear some life and joy in the midst of chaos!

I hope that we at Faith in Women can encourage YOU in the ways you are envisioning and even embodying the future in this time of great upheaval.

Wherever you are and whatever your life circumstances right now, may you be rooted and grounded in love. 

Take heart,
Anna

The Reverend Anna Fleming-Jones
Program Coordinator for Faith in Women

@annaflemingjones on IG
anna.faithinwomen@gmail.com email me!

April 2020: Reproductive Health News and Tools

Opponents of reproductive dignity are pushing their agenda even during this global health crisis.  

On April 10, Governor Tate Reeves announced that all “elective surgeries” in Mississippi would be halted through April 27, 2020 due to COVID-19. He includes abortions in the “elective” category. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynegologists disagrees, however, calling abortion care essential and time-sensitive. Thankfully, Judge Carlton Reeves is on our side. We at Faith in Women trust doctors and science over politicians, and more importantly, we trust women to make the best decisions for themselves, their bodies, and their families during this dangerous and uncertain time. Let your representatives know that people of faith support abortion access, especially now!

Track your period with power and freedom: the Euki app. 

Faith in Women believes that Mississippi women should have everything they need to thrive in life, including access to confidential, affordable, high-quality reproductive health care and information. That’s why we’re excited about the Euki app, the first sexual health resource and period tracker app on a totally private and secure platform. (No one is collecting, monitoring, or selling your data!)According to Women Help Women, “Euki addresses the needs of anyone who can get pregnant, including queer people, transgender people, gender non-conforming people, people with multiple sex partners, people with irregular periods, and anyone who may have felt misunderstood or marginalized by the medical system. Euki also puts abortion back where it belongs – alongside comprehensive information about sexual health.” Download the Euki app today from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Free Emergency Contraception.

The Yellowhammer Fund is providing free emergency contraception to any resident from Mississippi, Alabama, or the Florida panhandle. If you or someone you know could benefit from having emergency contraception on hand, order a pack today (limited to one order per person in a 3 month period.)

We at Faith in Women love you! We are here to give support and encouragement.

Take heart,
Anna

The Reverend Anna Fleming-Jones
Program Coordinator for Faith in Women

@annaflemingjones on IG
anna.faithinwomen@gmail.com email me!

March 2020: Keeping Faith in a Crisis

A note from Ashley Peterson, Faith in Women Director: 

In February 2019, Faith in Women sent a newsletter focusing on Caring for Ourselves in Troubling Times. At that time our concern was the wave of abortion bans sweeping many states, including Mississippi, and we hoped to offer support to our friends and colleagues on the front lines of the fight for reproductive health, rights, and justice. We wanted to remind you that you are worth caring for, too.

And now it’s March 2020. The fight against reproductive oppression continues to be unrelenting, but now we’re doing this work against a backdrop of a global pandemic — and all the fear, uncertainty, and disruption that comes with it. Our work for justice is more important than ever, even as our priorities shift to meet the needs of our families and communities during this time of crisis. Courageous ones, in taking care of the world don’t forget to take care of yourselves — body, mind, and spirit. Below we offer a few reminders and resources for the days ahead, and please reach out to us if there’s any way we can support you or your work.

In love and solidarity,

Ashley


It’s ok to be afraid. 

The global and national statistics on COVID-19 paint a serious picture, and fear is an understandable response. We don’t know how long this is going to last or the severity of what’s to come.

What we do know is that Mississippians are resilient. We have survived many crises. And we have many resources available to manage the stress, fear, and anxiety that permeate our lives right now. Here are a few:

A Global Coronavirus Healing Meditation

A Coronavirus Meditation with Lizzo

Therapy for Black Girls Podcast Session 145: Managing Anxiety About Coronavirus

Manage Stress Workbook

Meditation apps like Headspace (free and paid versions available)

4 At-Home Workouts

It’s ok to rest.

The American ethos of productivity and perfectionism will be severely challenged in the coming days of social distancing and isolation. Tricia Hersey is the Nap Bishop; her work at The Nap Ministry (@thenapministry) shows us that all humans are worthy, not only the “productive” ones. “We examine the liberating power of naps. We believe rest is a form of resistance and reparations.” Anyone can and should rest, but the practice of rest is especially meaningful and powerful for those most affected by systemic oppression.

Taking time to rest is an essential part of caring for oneself. Embrace the daily rhythm of wake and sleep. Remind yourself that no matter what capitalism tries to tell us, working slowly can mean “careful” and “conscientious” instead of “lazy” or “incompetent.”

Many of us are working from home for the first time, and even experienced work-at-home people are struggling (waves hand). In between wanting to feel connected to the rest of the world through social media and message boards, strategically visiting a store to score some hand sanitizer or groceries, or checking out the news for the latest pandemic updates, focusing on work and “business as usual” feels impossible.

Here are some things to try:

Make a list.
Do one thing at a time.
Give yourself a deadline.
Incorporate rest into your schedule.
Try a dance or laundry break every hour. 

If you are trying to work and also taking care of children, lower your expectations and hang in there. If you are in a work environment with unrealistic work expectations, do your best and remember that other people are afraid, too, especially bosses. Over-functioning is not the answer, though.

For those of you reading who are pastors, know that this is a unique time in our vocation. As a pastor myself I personally know the weirdness of not being able to be around people when my job consists of largely…being around people. Remember that spiritual leaders are called to quiet and contemplation as well, and make space to encounter the Divine in this strange wilderness. Also check out Pastoring in a Pandemic from Dr. Chaenqua Walker-Barnes. She has realness to offer.

It’s ok to grieve.

As important life and work plans are put on an indefinite pause, we acknowledge the pain and frustration that accompanies cancelling long-anticipated friend and family gatherings, vacations, conferences, fundraisers, and career networking opportunities. This is a loss of social connection, and it’s real. Author and theologian Nadia Bolz Weber tweeted some wisdom about the grief that comes with this loss, calling it “a pandemic of human disappointment.”

We’re all feeling a lot of things right now and the best thing we can do is operate with compassion and care for ourselves and others. Being a listener to another’s grief is such a powerful way to be in relationship with one another. Simply reaching out to a friend and being present can help us heal, even in the midst of this crisis.

Check out the Marco Polo app for video messaging, Skype or Zoom for video group meetings, Facetime if you have an iPhone. Most messaging apps like Messages or WhatsApp have ways to share audio and video messages. Let someone know you care! Look at them in the face while you are checking in. Don’t forget about snail mail. And try a Netflix Party!

It’s ok to be angry.

This pandemic, and our government’s response to it, have brought to the forefront what many of us already know —  we live in a nation of horrifying inequality. Our lack of a national infrastructure for effective, affordable healthcare is appalling. The effects of our government’s perpetual gutting of crucial social safety nets are becoming even more evident as millions of people face loss of jobs and income. The racism-tinged statements and actions coming from our President are enraging. Seeing companies and governments quickly make accommodations that they swore were unfeasible or too expensive in the past — such as telecommuting options for employees with disabilities — reveals the often arbitrary and profit-driven nature of these decisions.

As a nation we’ve forgotten – or ignored- our shared humanity and interconnectedness for far too long. There’s a lot to be angry about. The question is: what will you do with that anger?

It’s ok not to know how you feel.

Honestly, some of us introverts aren’t afraid of the prospect of “social isolation” and several weeks without big social and work commitments. Home projects and hobbies sound like a break from the routine of life!

But others, introverted or extroverted, are overwhelmed by the sudden demand of balancing childcare with working from home. Those of us who get our energy from spending time with friends and socializing are conflicted about social distancing and trying to figure out when and how to get those needs met.

Captain Awkward: Advice for Helping Loved Ones and Social Distancing for Extroverts

Parenting During a Time of Physical Distancing

Nevertheless we persist. It is ok to have hope that we can get through this time, together (but not in the same room).

Some more things to carry us through:

Supporting Creators in Need with The Creator Fund

Recipes for Pantry Cooking with Pinch of Yum

NPR: Tiny Desk Concert Playlists

Watch The Good Place on Netflix

#SustainingCommunity Video Series

Additionally, anything NOT on the internet or tv: reading, drawing, dance party. Get creative, and if you aren’t feeling creative, I have enough ideas to last 10 lifetimes, so email me!

We at Faith in Women love you, dear reader! And we are here to give support and encouragement.

Take heart,
Anna

photo of Anna Fleming-Jones

 

 

The Reverend Anna Fleming-Jones
Program Coordinator for Faith in Women

@annaflemingjones on IG
anna.faithinwomen@gmail.com email me!

2020: Courage, Community, and Resilience

Our vision for 2020 is to grow in courage, strengthen our community, and embrace resilience. Join us! 

Courage: What gives you courage? When we think about our Faith in Women activism, it helps to remember why we are fighting for reproductive dignity for Mississippians. Do you want to create a healthier, more equitable world for your own children? Do you want access to higher quality healthcare for yourself or your community? This year, look for opportunities to dig deep and find your why, and to craft your story of courage to share with others.

Community: Faith in Women has supporters all over the state, and in 2020 we aim to build and fortify our network even more. We’ll be offering several opportunities throughout the year to invite newcomers, get to know each other, and strengthen our bonds forged in pursuit of the common good. Let’s learn and rest and grow together this year!

Resilience: The sacred work of activism can be both a beautiful gift, and utterly draining. How are you taking care of yourself and each other? A major focus for Faith in Women in 2020 will be resilience — how to care for ourselves and our community when the challenges seem overwhelming (which is often these days!) Throughout the year we’ll be offering opportunities to explore and deepen our resilience together.

Stay connected with us throughout 2020 to learn how to act, speak, and pray in ways that bring more freedom, health, and life to our communities!


A New Voice: As of this month, Faith in Women newsletters will be coming to you from Program Coordinator Anna Fleming-Jones! You may remember that Anna officially joined our team last spring, alongside her pastoral work as a United Methodist Clergywoman in the Jackson Metro area. We’re thrilled to have Anna’s personal and creative touch in this work!


The 2020 Legislative Session: Legislative session in in full swing! Claiming “Christian values,” every year our state government attempts to further restrict access to life-giving reproductive healthcare while failing to pass bills that would actually help to lift families from poverty, like Medicaid expansion and pay equity. Join our private Facebook group for real-time updates and ways to participate in the work of reproductive health, rights, and justice in Mississippi through our legislative process.

You can also stay connected through the Planned Parenthood Rapid Response Network: Keep engaged in the work of repro justice that goes on around our State; sign up to find what actions best suit your call to justice.

Take heart,
Anna
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The Reverend Anna Fleming-Jones
Program Coordinator,
Faith in Women

@annaflemingjones on IG
anna.faithinwomen@gmail.com email me!


In Your Own Words

Why do you support reproductive dignity?

I support women’s moral agency and bodily autonomy in matters related to reproductive health, rights, and justice. While I support this for everyone, in this patriarchal culture where women’s bodies are objectified and not safe from violence and abuse, where gender inequity erodes autonomy and dignity and justice, where too few women have access to comprehensive reproductive health care – I especially support this for women – all women.

Rev. Carol Burnett, Executive Director of the Mississippi Low Income Child Care Initiative