Melanie from Friendship Baptist Church in Wise County, Va allowed our Blank Street boys to tag along while she delivered bag lunches.
Wise County from Blank Street on Vimeo.
Health reform has passed and the weather is gorgeous, there are many reasons to feel blessed! But as we start pulling out the spring/summer clothes, many of us will have to come face to face with the dreaded: “winter weight.” Indeed, weight gain and obesity are related to our health care crisis. In Virginia, the statistics are disturbing:
In 2008, over 60% of Virginia’s adults were overweight or obese.
In 2007 31% of children were overweight or obese.
There are many factors that can cause these alarming statistics. Our friends at The Lutheran Blog are raising some important issues about health care, nutrition and wellness with their new “Spring into Life” series. America is struggling with an obesity epidemic and our Faiths call us to be faithful stewards of our bodies.
“If it wasn’t for this program, I’d probably be dead,” said Ryan Hayes, a Chesapeake 17-year-old in gray Challenge sweats. Less than a year ago, he was skipping school at Western Branch High School, using drugs and alcohol and getting into trouble at home.
Virginians, already feeling the pain of the Great Recession, have more pain coming to them thanks to the Governor’s pledge to close to the budget hole exclusively on the back of low and middle income Virginians. An important school program for at-risk teens that is on the chopping block because of budget cuts:
Call your member of Congress now & ask them to support health care reform: (202) 224-3121
I received another threatening letter today from Anthem, the Virginia Interfaith Center’s health insurance provider. I have a policy for me, my wife, and two children.
Anthem is demanding detailed “pre-existing condition” information on my youngest daughter who is adopted so they can decide what they will and will not cover. She is 12 months old. Adopted. Since December she has seen the doctor 4 times for shots and check ups. To date, they have not paid the doctor’s office for those visits.
We have no medical history on my daughter but they don’t seem to care.
It is illegal to deny insurance based on pre-existing conditions of an adopted child. Does not matter.
Anthem is just trying to do just about anything to refuse covering anyone who actually uses health care. Anthem sees my daughter as a revenue center who should not become a cost center.
Congress – just get it done.
In our effort to push for a budget that supported low and middle-income Virginians during this great recession, domestic violence spending was one of our three priorities. Now that the General Assembly has sent a budget to the Governor, how did domestic violence programs fare?
Members of the General Assembly passed a budget that restored funding for domestic violence services, homeless shelters (including domestic violence shelters), and child advocacy centers to the levels proposed in former Governor Kaine’s budget.
We started this session with a budget proposed by former Governor Kaine that included a 7.5% cut for domestic violence services through the Department of Social Services (VDSS), a 5% cut for Sexual Assault Crisis Centers through the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), an 8% cut for homeless intervention services through the Department of Housing and Community Development (DCHD), and a 10% cut to Child Advocacy Centers.
The Budget passed by the General Assembly still includes these original cuts to funding from Gov Kaine’s budget proposal, but doesn’t include any further cuts. The statewide reductions to domestic and sexual violence services will be:
The General Assembly did not include the marriage license fee increase in the final budget. That means no dedicated funding for children and youth services. It also means that domestic violence funding was not completely restored to its 2009 levels.
