Rebecca Smith

6 days ago | kbia.org | Rebecca Smith |Nick Sheaffer

Perrin Dowse is a transgender lesbian and spoke about exploring – and accepting her gender identity and expression. Alphabet Soup shares LGBTQ+ Missourians’ stories through portraiture and personal narratives. Perrin Dowse: At the beginning, it was more like I was feeling a disconnect from masculinity. I had always considered myself, like, “Oh, I'm an effeminate guy.” I'm comfortable in being a non-masculine dude and turns out that was cope.

1 week ago | kbia.org | Rebecca Smith

7th generation farmer Emma Alexander and her family live in southwest Missouri. Their family farm in Rogersville was recognized as Missouri century farm in 2020, which means it's been in the same family for more than 100 years. Emma and her 16-year-old son Lucas recently sat down and spoke about how farming and its challenges benefit their mental health and well-being. For the month of May, we're focusing on the health of farmers and farming families.

1 week ago | kbia.org | Rebecca Smith

There were times that Paige Spears wasn’t sure this day would ever come. “This has not been an easy road, you know. It's been a journey,” Spears said. “But thank God that we made it to this point, and I'm out here now, and I'm just ready to live my life one day at a time.”At 8:51 a.m. on March 17, after 37 years in prison, he walked out the front door of the Farmington Correctional Center.

2 weeks ago | kbia.org | Rebecca Smith

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and according to the Missouri Department of Mental Health, more than 1.2 million Missouri adults have some degree of mental illness. Dr. Zane He is a psychiatrist with University of Missouri Health Care. He works at the MU Student Health Center as a sort of “school psychiatrist."He spoke about how he's seen the stigma around mental health change during his career, and about how simply talking about issues can help reduce the stigma around mental health.

2 weeks ago | kbia.org | Rebecca Smith

University of Missouri Health Care will soon increase access to quick sports medicine injury care in Jefferson City. Beginning May 1, MU Health Care will be offering a walk-in sports injury clinic Monday through Friday from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. at the Missouri Orthopedic Institute in Jefferson City. Dr. Jeff Klott, an orthopedic surgeon at MU Health Care, said that, for now, the clinic is focusing on the needs of youth and college-aged athletes.