An 89-year-old grandmother in Jackson recently shared with me that her Medicaid coverage was cut because her Social Security income placed her “over income.” A lifelong housewife, she relies entirely on survivor benefits from her late husband, her only source of support. Losing Medicaid means losing help with personal care, medications, and transportation, supports she depends on to stay healthy and live safely at home.
Stories like hers are now routine across Mississippi. Rising food insecurity, worsening chronic disease and shrinking access to basic health care have become everyday realities for too many families. These crises did not appear suddenly. They are the predictable result of long-term policy decisions that fail people living closest to the margins.
Our health care infrastructure is weakening. Nearly half of Mississippi’s rural hospitals are at risk of closure, one of the highest rates in the nation. Several county health departments have scaled back or suspended basic clinical services, leaving entire regions without routine care. Obstetric units have closed across many rural areas, forcing mothers to travel long distances or delay essential appointments. When a doctor’s visit requires hours of driving, missed wages, or unaffordable transportation, access becomes a barrier with life-altering consequences.
Mississippi has one of the highest food-insecurity rates in the country. Nearly one-in-six residents struggle to access enough food. More than one in five children live in food-insecure households, with rates even higher in rural counties and the Delta, where grocery stores are scarce and transportation is limited. Chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension and heart disease are rising in the same communities where nutritious food and consistent health care are hardest to reach.
This is where community-rooted organizations step in. At My Brother’s Keeper Inc., where I serve as President and CEO, we have spent 25 years building trust in the most overlooked traditional systems. Our work has expanded far beyond our early HIV-focused mission. Today, we bring health screenings into neighborhoods, offer sexual and reproductive health services, connect families to essential resources and operate programs that meet children, adults and older residents where they are. We do this because we live in the same communities, see the challenges up close and understand what people are facing, not what distant decision-makers assume.
Across Central and Southwest Mississippi, community partners provide fresh foods where grocery stores never returned. In the Delta, small clinics and mobile units help residents manage chronic illnesses that would otherwise go untreated. Federally Qualified Health Centers, churches, grocers, non-profits, and neighborhood leaders work together every day to fill gaps created by systems that move too slowly or overlook the people most affected.
This work is not optional; it is foundational. And for many families, it is the only safety net available.
Some may argue that state and federal systems should carry this responsibility. But Mississippi’s recent history shows that while agencies can authorize funds or set policy, they cannot guarantee those resources reach the people who need them most. That requires trust, cultural understanding and day-to-day presence—qualities held by community-rooted organizations and frontline clinics, not distant institutions.
This is why 2025 matters. Congress has authorized $50 billion through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, and Mississippi now has an important opportunity to strengthen rural health care through federal funding. Proposed state legislation, including the Rural Physicians Retention Loan Repayment Program, aims to bring more primary care providers to underserved communities. These policies hold real potential, but only if resources are delivered to the organizations already embedded in the community fabric.
Mississippi’s future depends on strengthening what is already working: the clinic staff who keep doors open; outreach workers who deliver supplies; navigators who help families access SNAP and vital benefits; health educators who meet teens where they are; and organizations that respond in real time to community crises.
While the holidays may bring a moment of relief, the needs in our communities do not pause this holiday season. For too many households, the struggle for food, medication and transportation continues long after the decorations come down.
When local organizations receive consistent support, entire communities thrive. Students attend school more regularly, parents maintain employment and businesses benefit from a healthier, more stable population.
Public health has always been local and our solutions must be local too. Mississippi’s community-based organizations are resilient, but they cannot continue to absorb the consequences of decisions made by those disconnected from the needs of real families. We all share responsibility to lift up the organizations closest to the crisis.
Healthy communities do not grow from distant plans. They grow from the hands of the people who show up, again and again, to make sure no one is left behind.
This MFP Voices opinion essay reflects the personal opinion of its author(s). The column does not necessarily represent the views of the Mississippi Free Press, its staff or board members. To submit an opinion for the MFP Voices section, send up to 1,200 words and sources fact-checking the included information to voices@mississippifreepress.org. We welcome a wide variety of viewpoints.