Missouri Health Talks

Laveta Lockridge and Job Green work at the Lincoln University Extension office in Caruthersville. This year, they started a community garden as a way to educate folks on nutrition, as well as provide them with free, fresh produce in an area where that can be hard to get.

Dr. Ashley Popejoy is a spokesperson for the American Dental Association and a pediatric dentist in Southwest Missouri. She spoke about the many oral health complications that can come from cancer treatment and how a medical team can help.

Registered Dietician Merri Leach and Social Worker Sarah Spoonemore work together at the Mosaic Medical Center in St. Joseph. They spoke about the importance of wraparound care for cancer patients, and focusing on a patient’s mental health, social wellbeing, financial stability, nutrition and more.

Dr. Tyler Severance is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist at University of Missouri Healthcare, which means he works with kids who have blood and cancer disorders. He spoke about some of the short and long-term impacts cancer treatment can have on kids

Jennifer Rosenblad and Amy Appold are best friends who live in Columbia and have both survived breast cancer. They spoke about the benefit of knowing other survivors who fully understand the challenges of treatment, as well as about how community support was important during their experiences.

Randy Rafter is the executive director of Black Pride STL, the second oldest Black gay pride organization in the country. The group began more than 30 years ago during the AIDS epidemic, but has sense evolved and expanded to serve the entirety of a person.

Aaron Kitchens is the executive director of the Glo Center — an LGBTQ+ resource and community center in Springfield that serves the southwest part of the state.

Open Table is the local soup kitchen in Fulton that serves dinner to the community four days a week — regardless of income. Sue Beaty is the president and shared a little about the group and how they're serving the community through conversation and over dinner

Callaway County Special Services is the local SB40 board in Fulton. It’s a tax-supported program that provides services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Executive director Mike Lederle spoke with Emery Jones, the director of day services at the Life Enrichment Center about their individuals — who range in age from 18 to nearly 80.

Good Dads is a Missouri-based program that teaches men how to be better fathers and role models to children. Ava Summers and Mary Holloway with Good Dads spoke about a new program they've launched in Fulton called Forge.

Baby Grace is an organization that provides diapers, wipes, children’s clothing and more to families in Fulton — for free.

North Star Advocacy Center is a domestic and sexual violence shelter based in Maryville and that serves the northwest corner of the state.

The Safe House in Cape Girardeau provides safe shelter, case management, a 24-hour crisis hotline and more for people experiencing domestic violence throughout Southeast Missouri.

According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 71% of pet owning women entering shelters reported that their abuser threatened or harmed family pets.

In 2024, domestic violence shelters across the state served nearly 55,000 people who were seeking emergency shelter, court advocacy, therapy and more.

Doretta Kidd lost her husband, Johnny, to Alzheimer’s last November. She and her stepdaughter, Ashley Avery — who assisted with his care — spoke about what they learned from their years of caregiving and what they’re doing now to try and continue to make a difference.

Terri Lipe lives in Bolivar and has been caregiving for her mother for 11 years. To make ends meet, she began a take-and-bake casserole business out of her home.

Hannah Richardson lives in St. Louis and is 25, or in her words, “currently 14 years away from my age of onset “ for Alzheimer’s disease. Her family has a rare genetic form of the condition that impacts people in their late 30s and early 40s.

Billie Baldwin lives outside of Bolivar and is a caregiver for her husband. She and friend Terri Lipe are co-facilitators of the Polk County/Bolivar area Caregivers Helping Caregivers support group, which meets once a month.

Maureen Templeman teaches gerontology — or aging — at Missouri State University in Springfield. She recently launched a new project called the Southwest Missouri CARE Collective that’s designed to create a new opportunity for mutual aid between caregivers.

According to the 2024 Missouri Student Survey, nearly 35% of school aged kids in the state report feeling hopeless at times.

Debbie Bennett and Kaylie Walker are both nutrition educators in northwest Missouri and for the past few years they’ve hosted an MU Extension podcast called “Truth or Trend” that examined online trends and claims about health and well-being.

Earlier this month, the newest version of Dietary Guidelines for Americans was released by the federal government — with a new inverted pyramid graphic that looks very different from the My Plate and Food Pyramid guides that have been used during the last few decades.

Gina Plata-Nino is the SNAP director for the Food Research and Action Center, a national nonprofit group focused on eliminating hunger in the US, and spoke about some of the impacts changes to SNAP could have on Missourians.

The Missouri Immunization Coalition was a non-profit that focused on advocacy, education and training around vaccines. Funding cuts to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention in April led to a loss of funding for the group and they were forced to shutter in summer 2025.

Building Community Bridges is a group that focuses on supporting area youth — and their families — by providing community and giving them the chance to discover new passions and learn new skills, such as boxing, chess, modeling, dance and more.

Kayla Keller and Hannah Pond both work at the Halo Girls Home in Jefferson City, a residential program for homeless and at-risk girls ages 16-21 who are pregnant, parenting, and non-parenting.

Hannah Dolan lives in Jefferson City and was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. She spoke about the importance of talking about and normalizing neurodivergent experiences.

Craig Fontenot and Dr. Kelly Cleary both work at Food Allergy Research & Education, or FARE — a national non-profit focusing on food allergies. They spoke about what people can do to make holiday gathering safe and more comfortable for everyone.

The Center Project is an LGTBQ+ community center in Columbia that serves mid-Missouri. Mel Constantine Miseo is a board member and spoke about the recently announced food share for the holidays — where anyone needing help can come to the Center Project and receive shelf stable foods.

Erin Washburn and Stephanie Daniels both work for FosterAdopt Connect in Springfield. They spoke about how some of their services — especially their Youth Connect Center can support youth ages 13 through 21, as well as families involved in the child welfare system.

Dr. Matthew Tilton and Amy Baumgartner with Northeast Missouri Health Council in Kirksville spoke about how they use AI in their clinic — having it listen to patient-provider conversations, so doctors can focus less on their note taking and more on their connection with patients.

Dr. Philip Payne is the chief health AI officer at the Center for Health AI, a collaboration between WashU Medicine and BJC Health System in St. Louis. He spoke about the code of conduct that providers should consider when employing AI in healthcare processes and decisions.

Nurses Drew Herbert and Matt Farmer are University of Missouri researchers trying to find out if generative AI, along with professional therapy, can help pregnant people with opioid use disorder who are ready to seek care.

Dr. Amy Patel is the Medical Director of the Breast Cancer Center at Liberty Hospital outside Kansas City. She spoke about an AI algorithm they use with breast ultrasounds that gives radiologists a data-informed second opinion.

Jason Mayberry is the stroke coordinator for Texas County Memorial Hospital in Houston, Missouri. They began using RapidAI, an AI software, in October 2023 that helps their doctors more quickly assess, diagnose and begin treatment for people experiencing stokes.

PFLAG Sedalia is a community group focused on serving LGBTQ+ folks and their families throughout western Missouri and beyond.

Jessi Frencken and Carmen Rathert are the co-owners of The Pediatric Place, an interdisciplinary therapy clinic in Clinton and Knob Noster that offer services, such as occupational therapy, speech therapy, physical therapy, ABA [applied behavior analysis] therapy and more.

New Growth Transit is based in El Dorado Springs, and it serves it’s community as a sort of neighbor-to-neighbor ride share – where community-member volunteers are reimbursed to drive folks to the doctor, work or to get groceries.

Once a month, the senior center in Osceola offers a toenail clinic for their patrons.

Mercy Services United is a newer initiative in Sedalia that provides a walk-in hub for social services and connection for those in need. It’s a partnership between many organizations, including the United Way of Pettis County and the ToRCH program at Bothwell Regional Health Center.

The Heckert Community Center in Sedalia opened in 2022 and offers many services to members, such as a full gym, an indoor walking track, an indoor pool, a myriad of fitness classes and more.

The Pettis County Health Center has just officially become a milk depot – which means they are now a drop off site for those wishing to donate human breast milk to help medically fragile and premature infants.

The Northeast Missouri Health Council in Kirksville is a federally qualified health center (FQHC), that serves folks throughout northeast Missouri. At an FQHC, patients regardless of income and whether or not they have insurance can access a wide variety of services, including medical and dental care.

Rural Advocates for Independent Living, or RAIL as it’s more commonly known, is an organization based in Kirksville that covers 10 counties throughout northeast Missouri. Its goal is to help people with disabilities stay independent and in their communities.

Tonia Berry and Bailey Quigley work at the Northeast Missouri Area Health Education Center (NEMO AHEC), which aims to develop the healthcare workforce in rural Missouri by engaging with high schoolers.

Makenzie Schroeder and Lissa Behm-Morrowitz at the University of Missouri recently released a study about how using social media filters to change one’s appearance can lead to a phenomenon called “social self-comparison.”

CoMo Mobile Aid is a local grassroots organization that sets up outside the local overnight shelter, Room the Inn [RATI], twice a week – offering a pop-up thrift store, a wound care station and a large, converted van where folks can get all sorts of essentials: from band aids and Tylenol to menstrual pads and shampoo.

Jaquie Melloway and John Trapp are the leadership team that run Room at the Inn, the local overnight shelter in Columbia that serves unhoused people. They spoke about some of the things that have surprised them about the folks they serve.

Reighna is an unhoused woman in her 40s. She spoke about some of the systemic challenges that can make it hard for people to climb out of homelessness, but also about the community that supports her.