Young caregiver and experts talk about the challenges of being a youth caregiver By Yesenia Barrios Abigail Gafter was 12 years old when she started taking care of her great uncle. He was obese, had substance use disorder, and depression. “It’s almost like being a parent with a newborn going ‘okay, where do I have...
Category: mental health
How a counselor shortage is hurting students struggling with anxiety, depression
School counselor retention was already a problem before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to mental health experts. They said it's only gotten worse in recent years. By Nicole Cortes, Zioni Moore and Whitney Souffrant This story was published to USA TODAY on April 21, 2022. It's a typical school day at Miami Lakes Educational Center located in this northwestern...
“When it comes to creating change, it’s not a sprint–it’s a marathon”
By Yesenia Barrios, Urban Health Media Project Victoria Waltz was 17 years old when she attempted suicide by overdosing on Vicodin. It wasn’t until she woke up in the hospital and doctors said they feared for her safety that she realized she had depression. Waltz, raised in a Black Christian family that didn’t believe in...
Together, Philly mom and son cope with mental health issues
By Aileen Delgado and Julianne Hill This article was published in the Philadelphia Tribune on March 29, 2022. At two-and-a-half years old, Elijah Tillman was diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder after getting expelled from day care. At 5, he experienced a traumatic episode, causing post-traumatic stress disorder. At 12, major depressive disorder was added to...
Foster children at high risk for a multitude of mental health problems
By Yesenia Barrios Lisa Cohen had to start over 13 times. As a foster kid she needed to find new friends at each new school at each home where she was placed. One time, after being forced to leave a foster home she loved, she woke up in her new home with cuts in her...
COVID-19, remote learning left Miami high school seniors stressed, strained and struggling to catch up
By Justin Fernandez, Ajmaanie Andre, Kymani Hughes, Krystal Li and Angely Peña-Agramonte Urban Health Media Project Hannah Corcoran had her plan in place: after graduating from high school, the Miami teen wanted to attend her dream school, the San Francisco Art Institute, and major in art. But then came the COVID-19 pandemic. Hannah was forced...
Systemic racism spurs COVID-19 to hit Florida communities of color harder
By Julianne Hill, Justin Fernandez, Gabriella Fuster, and Melissa Noda Urban Health Media Project Florida’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic unmasked disparities in healthcare based on socioeconomic factors, disproportionately hurting communities of color in the state while exposing weaknesses in leadership, according to a Florida health expert. “We know from our country’s history that responding...
COVID-19 pandemic leaves ‘transportation deserts’ even more barren
This Urban Health Media Project story was reported by Richard Wright Public Charter School students Grace Reed and Kamaia Bexley, UHMP intern Pam Rentz of Florida A & M University and Georgetown University’s Master’s in Global Health program students Mary Kate Fogarty, Andrew Lizon and Maria Cordero. Principal writing by Richard Willing, UHMP. The members...
Early screening for learning disabilities ‘would make a huge difference’
By Aileen Delgado, Courtney Curtis and Rick Hampson Urban Health Media Project WASHINGTON -- Frank Pinckney wonders what his life could have been like if his parents and teachers had believed what he now believes: that as a child he had a learning disability, attention deficit disorder (ADHD) and suffered from trauma after a sexual...
Virtual learning harbors its own gifts
By Tamar Coon Urban Health Media Project Before March of 2020, everything was normal: I was in 8th grade at Columbia Heights Educational Campus. We were reading a book that I loved. Then, my homeroom teacher started talking about a plague, and I heard about a virus and lockdowns happening in China. All of a...