Walking in a sea of people towards the ballroom, I felt the weight of a long-sought goal coming to fruition. My brain spun on the fact that nine months later, I would be able to vote. It was February of 2012. I had lived in this country since 1979 when I came from Colombia as a seven-year-old girl. In my 40th year I was finally becoming a US citizen, and in that moment as a mother, as a mental health professional, and as a parenting educator, I understood that I was finally going to be given...

It’s 2020. Pretty much NOTHING is going as planned this year. But that doesn’t mean we can’t turn this trend around -- and make a plan to VOTE THE WAY YOU WANT TO THIS YEAR ! Vote with popcorn on your kitchen table. Vote early if your state allows. Vote in a hammock by mail. Vote in-person on November 3rd with a facemask. And get the kids in your life involved! “Be a voter, raise a voter” is a motto so many of you have brought to life! Have kids join in as you do your civic duty no matter how...

The year my son Javier turned two, he and I spent a huge amount of time traveling around North Carolina and speaking to anyone who would listen about his healthcare needs. Javi has Down syndrome, and along with that he has many co-occuring conditions, including two holes in his heart, kidney and gastrointestinal reflux, severe obstructive sleep apnea, and a floppy airway. At that time, he did not have Medicaid coverage and my husband and I were relying on private insurance to help us access the...