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Pa. families could soon be waitlisted for food assistance. Here’s why

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The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is in jeopardy unless Congress passes a national budget on Friday.

The WIC program is facing a $1 billion funding shortfall — which the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) indicated in January — putting around 6.7 million pregnant mothers and children at risk of losing access to nutritional foods na
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Kensington leaders using $3.5 million of opioid settlement funds toward housing revitalization

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Members of the Kensington Planning Process on Wednesday announced long-term plans for using opioid settlement funds to prevent what they call the next “impending” crisis — housing issues and gentrification.

To date, Philadelphia has been awarded $200 million in total opioid settlement funds, money paid by opioid makers, distributors and retailers in restitution for their role in t
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Rage rooms invite people to relieve anger, but do they work?

At Rage Room Philadelphia, for fees ranging from $30 to $100, prospective “ragers,” as Tull calls them, have plenty of options to grab a baseball bat, crowbar or sledgehammer, and smash their anger away.

There’s the basic 5 minute Fast n Furious package, which for $30 includes one bucket of breakables – from kids toys, small electronics and bottles – for five minutes of rage time. Or there’s a one-hour car smash session for groups of up to 12 people.

And yes – most people are successful at des
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‘Kids at Play’ in Roxborough is setting up a new mental health program for children

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Kids at Play, an indoor sensory playground and pediatric therapy center, is launching a new program that combines recreation and mental health services for children.

The announcement comes as the organization relocated its facilities to Roxborough from East Falls about nine months ago.

Kids at Play offers outpatient speech, occupational and physical therapy — in addition to Appli
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Antipsychotic injections tied to sharp decline in hospital readmission, Rutgers study shows

These conclusions strengthen the belief that injections are more beneficial for individuals with schizophrenia than oral medications, said Rutgers University psychiatric clinical pharmacist Daniel Greer, the lead author of the study.

“One of the biggest problems with patients who have schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, is a lot of the symptoms can cause impairment in functioning, and mental functioning,” he said. “So remembering to take medication every day when you’re having hallucinat
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A new study shows that OUD treatment access in Philly is fragmented

A new study is drawing a detailed picture of the opioid use disorder crisis in Philadelphia, and the results are eye-opening.

Using geographic information systems (GIS) mapping and focus groups around the city, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University have found that Philadelphia’s “robust” treatment system is also “siloed” and “fragmented.”

The findings show that individuals living with substance use describe several social determinants of health that create barriers to care. Among those co
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1 year later, Upper Darby’s pet-friendly homeless shelter remains a lifeline

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Chuck Jones never imagined that one day he would be homeless.

“I had a pretty good life for a while,” he said.

He previously worked as a caretaker for an elderly woman, and was living in Upper Darby with his dog, Midnight, a black labrador retriever.

Jones describes Midnight as “his world.” He follows him on long walks in the park, interacting with other people, and making each
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A Philly mom's message for families dealing with addiction during the holidays

Wondering if she was alone with her struggles, Alston turned to a group that educates and supports parents of children with substance abuse disorder.

“Parents of Addicted Loved Ones” (PAL), an Arizona-based nonprofit, provides a support network for people like Alston. She found the resource “solely by accident,” but it’s brought much comfort to her life.

“The first meeting that I was included in, it’s like a light bulb went off in my head and I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God. I’m not crazy,’” s
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Philly’s gun violence rates are dropping but more work is needed to strengthen youth empowerment, leaders say

Philadelphia gun violence prevention advocates feel that their work made a difference in 2023 — and they hope to continue and grow their work as Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker takes office in 2024. As of this month, there’s been a 25% decrease in fatal and non-fatal shootings compared to last year. That’s a higher decrease than was expected — mid-year data initially showed that shootings
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Rite Aid closures could leave Philly-area customers in a lurch for prescription drugs

Shopping for another pharmacy will not be easy

With the Rite Aid closures, which happened abruptly, Parekh said it’s very likely that some customers will not have enough time to find alternative solutions.

“There could have been more effective communication with some of those local pharmacies to roll over these prescriptions ahead of time, to let those providers know — physicians, NPs PAs, etc. — that, ‘Hey, we’re closing. You need to think about alternative strategies for your patients.’ That
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South Philly residents discuss supervised injection sites at Bridging Blocks event

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Two months after Philadelphia City Council voted to prohibit supervised injection or safe consumption sites, some city residents are concerned about what happens next.

“It would help if we gave people a safe place to use and make sure that if they overdose, they don’t die,” said Sterling Johnson.

Johnson was one of 70 attendees who participated in a community discussion on safe i
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‘Justified Medical Mistrust’ docuseries looks to the past to change the future of clinical trials

A documentary series aims to shed light on an issue that Black American communities know well: medical mistrust.

“Justified Medical Mistrust: Acknowledging the Past to Change the Future” is a six-part film produced by global nonprofit Cancer Support Community (CSC).

The film was recently presented to an audience at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia for the inaugu
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How writing suicide notes helped save a teen’s life

This story is from The Pulse, a weekly health and science podcast.

Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

For a majority of his life, Justin Kemp has kept his emotions and personal struggles to himself.

Kemp, 17, is entering his senior year at Germantown Academy, near Philadelphia, where he’s active in student government and the Black Student Alliance. He also has aspirations to go to a historically Black university to study political science.

He’s a studious
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Incoming Penn students say carrying Narcan is shaping their outlook on medicine

Penn Medicine welcomed a new class of 157 first-year medical students with a hands-on orientation on how to administer naloxone – a life-saving medication used to help reverse an opioid overdose.

On Monday afternoon, in what the school called a “naloxone boot camp,” the training included keynote speakers from faculty at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania specializing in anesthesiology, palliative care, and addiction medicine. It’s the third time that the school has gi
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A Philly woman’s dream to build transitional housing for expecting Black mothers sees City Hall support

Gilmore’s story is another tragic statistic in the maternal mortality rates in the U.S., which have been rising in recent years. In 2021, 1,205 women in the U.S. died of maternal causes — compared to 861 in 2020. In 2019, the number was 754. The death rate among Black women is almost three times higher than among white women.

Herrera believes that validating and prioritizing the health concerns of Black mothers during pregnancy would move the needle on these numbers — and could have saved her f
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Pa. Black Maternal Health Caucus caps off Black Maternal Health Week

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Black women remain at a high risk of maternal mortality in the United States. They are about three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related death than white women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This ongoing paradigm is something that local Black women legislators in Pennsylvania are looking to change.

“Being Black and being pregnant s
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A SCOTUS case could have major implications for homelessness in Philly region

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know! The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear a case, Johnson v. City of Grants Pass, that could have sweeping impacts on the nation’s homelessness crisis — and how this issue is handled in our region. The case speaks to the rights of people who are experiencing homelessness, and whether cities can forcibly remove them when shelter beds and housing are not readily available. This comes as t
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A shocking secret, years of denial, and reconciling one’s identity: Sophie Ottaway shares her story

And her mother did everything to explain what had happened.

“She was thinking on her feet, and she was just endlessly talking with love and with care because my mom never intended anything bad to happen to me. I’m a hundred percent certain of that.”

Sophie was overwrought with emotions. When they got home, she immediately went to their fridge and snatched a bottle of beer. Then she stormed upstairs to her room — slamming the door shut.

She spent a lot of time in her bedroom collecting her tho
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Harm reduction activists ask for a ‘seat at the table’ during City Hall rally

From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Let us know! Dozens of harm reduction activists rallied outside Philadelphia City Hall on Thursday morning to protest against the city’s handling of the opioid epidemic. Advocates stood and marched for two hours, chanting anything from, “Saving lives is not a crime!” to “Not one more!” — citing opioid-related deaths and a lack of treatment. The demonstration comes as policymakers in City Hall ha
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New art installation visualizes life at the intersection of homelessness, drug use and sex work in Philly

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A new art installation is drawing on stories of perseverance from people surviving homelessness, the opioid crisis and sex work in Philadelphia.

The installation called “Not Welcome Anywhere” is a week-long, multimedia art exhibition that features visual and auditory narratives of these harsh realities at Blah Blah Gallery in Callowhill.

Curated by harm reduction organization Pro
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Addictive ‘gas station heroin’ mimics the effects of opioid withdrawal

From Camden and Cherry Hill to Trenton and the Jersey Shore, what about life in New Jersey do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a warning about the prevalence of tianeptine, also called “gas station heroin,” throughout the country. This month, CDC officials reported that tianeptine products being sold in gas stations, convenience stores and online, may also contain synthetic marijuana. The “Neptune’s Fix” brand is one tianeptine
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