Michele Cohen Marill, Freelance Journalist Profile

Articles

Cuts Could Slash Funds for Foster Youth, COVID Orphans in CA

2 weeks ago | imprintnews.org | Michele Cohen Marill

This story was produced by MindSite News, a nonprofit news site that reports on mental health. Sign up the MindSite News Daily newsletter here. Just as California is poised to become the first state to provide financial support to COVID orphans that they can access when they turn 18, proposed state budget cuts threaten the scope of the program — and may reduce the value of an account young people like 16-year-old MacLemore Porter are slated to receive in less than two years.
Budget cuts could slash “baby bond” funds for COVID orphans

2 weeks ago | mindsitenews.org | Michele Cohen Marill

Budget cuts could slash “baby bond” funds for COVID orphans A first-in-the-nation program to create financial support for California children who lost parents to COVID may be trimmed under budget proposals put forward by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
COVID stole a parent from more than 200,000 children. Indian Country lost the most.

Mar 16, 2025 | tucsonsentinel.com | Michele Cohen Marill

MindSite News This story was produced by MindSite News, an independent, nonprofit journalism site focused on mental health. COVID-19 hit the Navajo Nation in waves, like an invisible tsunami that swept people away from their loved ones.
Opioid orphans: Grandparents struggle to raise children left behind

Mar 15, 2025 | seattletimes.com | Michele Cohen Marill

Libby Walker pushes up her sleeve and reveals the tattoo on her left forearm, a three-inch square with a tint of yellow. “I love you Oh SO Much,” it says in big, rounded handwriting. There’s a heart beneath the words and XOXO to the side. For the rest of her life, Walker will wear the last message her daughter, Heaven Leigh, left her on a Post-it note before she died of a fentanyl overdose on Aug. 1, 2020, at the age of 30.
Appalachian grandparents raise children of parents lost to overdose

Mar 15, 2025 | publicsource.org | Michele Cohen Marill |Rich Lord

This story was produced by MindSite News, an independent, nonprofit journalism site focused on mental health. Get a roundup of mental health news in your in-box by signing up for the MindSite News Daily newsletter here. Libby Walker pushes up her sleeve and reveals the tattoo on her left forearm, a three-inch square with a tint of yellow. “I love you Oh SO Much,” it says in big, rounded handwriting. There’s a heart beneath the words and XOXO to the side.
COVID stole a parent from over 200,000 children. Indian Country lost the most

Mar 13, 2025 | seattletimes.com | Michele Cohen Marill

COVID-19 hit the Navajo Nation in waves, like an invisible tsunami that swept people away from their loved ones. Hospitals across the country overflowed with patients, but the virus had a particular ferocity when it hit remote Navajo communities in northern Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. In its wake, families were shattered: 2,000 Indigenous children in that region lost a parent or caregiver, according to one analysis.
Grandparents Struggle With Children Left Behind

Mar 13, 2025 | imprintnews.org | Michele Cohen Marill

Libby Walker pushes up her sleeve and reveals the tattoo on her left forearm, a three-inch square with a tint of yellow. “I love you Oh SO Much,” it says in big, rounded handwriting. There’s a heart beneath the words and XOXO to the side. For the rest of her life, Walker will wear the last message her daughter, Heaven Leigh, left her on a Post-it note before she died of a fentanyl overdose on Aug. 1, 2020, at the age of 30.
COVID stole a parent from more than 200,000 children. Indian Country lost the most.

Mar 12, 2025 | ictnews.org | Michele Cohen Marill

This story was produced by MindSite News, an independent, nonprofit journalism site focused on mental health. Michele Cohen MarillMindSite NewsCOVID-19 hit the Navajo Nation in waves, like an invisible tsunami that swept people away from their loved ones. Hospitals across the country overflowed with patients, but the virus had a particular ferocity when it hit remote Navajo communities in northern Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
‘Bereavement Deserts’: Amid a rise in parental deaths, grief in children is often overlooked

Feb 26, 2025 | youthtoday.org | Michele Cohen Marill

‘My son needed something I couldn’t give.’ Surviving parents seek grief support for kidsAmanda Joyce Jensen will always remember the night she told her 4-year-old son, Kezman, that his father, Marshall, had died of cancer – and how Kezman said he already knew because “Daddy came to me first.” He cried as he drew a picture of his dad standing at the end of the hallway, wearing a red superhero cape, flying into his thoughts.
Here's how Utah has taken a groundbreaking step toward helping grieving children

Jan 27, 2025 | sltrib.com | Michele Cohen Marill

Note to readers * This story is excerpted from a national version produced by MindSite News, the country's only news site focused on mental health reporting.