Repros for Iowa Repros for Iowa

Loved speaking with Cedar Rapids parade and then attending the Pride Parade!

For a full list of CR Pride events, click the link below!

https://crprideia.com/events

In the first part of my final two episodes, I got to interview The I'm Glad You Stayed Project.



The I'm Glad You Stayed Project strives to educate the public, especially teenagers, on real-time suicide prevention actions and resources to save the lives of those struggling with mental health and suicidal ideation. We supply suicide prevention resources at no cost and teach Q.P.R. (Question. Persuade. Refer.), a suicie prevention course, to the community. We are not professionals, just friends helping friends, trying to make a difference! You can find out more about our group at imgladyoustayedroject.org . We are a federally recognized 501(c) non-profit and are run by volunteers. We have been around for two years and have sent our resources to schools, mental health facilities, churches, and individuals in 41 states! So far, we have sent out over 70,000 of our "Just Keep Swimming/ 988" wristbands and 36,000 of our "How To Help A Friend Who Is Struggling" pamphlets!

After graduating from the University of Iowa College of Nursing in December 2007, Katy began her nursing career at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics on the Neuroscience Intermediate Inpatient Unit as a staff nurse.  In 2014, she transferred to the Surgical and Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit and became an Assistant Nurse Manager of the unit in 2017.  She completed training and have been practicing as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) since 2017 and took the role of Coordinator in 2020.  As Coordinator of this program, Katy continues to see patients as a SANE, manage the rest of the SANE team, and work with our community partners to ensure they are all providing the best possible care to our patients/victims/survivors.

April is sexual assault awareness month. This interview is with Storm O'Brink.






Storm O’Brink, C-CBE (they/them/their) is the volunteer coordinator for the Rape Victim Advocacy Program in Iowa City, full-spectrum doula, and certified childbirth educator. They started their career in anti-violence work in 2016 at Transformative Healing, an LGBTQIA centered sexual assault advocacy program which was defunded in 2017. They are a co-creator of the Queer Health Advocates program and a co-facilitator of the Queer Art Healing Group.. They have facilitated many workshops for healthcare professionals on sexual violence, medical violence, and LGBTQIA healthcare. In their role at RVAP they specialize in working with survivors of medical and obstetric violence, as well as LGBTQIA survivors. They also provide technical assistance and training to any organization looking to improve services to survivors. Storm’s areas of interest in doula work include birth and medical trauma, postpartum services, reproductive healthcare, trans families, and abortion. 

Give it up for Christie! I got to hear her speak at some rallies and decided to have a conversation with her.

After SO many months of being gone, I'm back (thanks to my trip to D.C. with Planned Parenthood). I deciced to do an interview with my fiancé to get his perspective on our abortions!