Marcus Biddle

I'm Philadelphia-based journalist with a background in urban design, outreach work and community engagement. My work has appeared on web text and radio broadcast at NPR affiliate station WHYY-FM, as well as national health and science podcast "The Pulse." 

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Pottstown officials demand answers after rumors spread over Philadelphia homeless encampments

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As Philadelphia prepares to shut down homeless encampments in Kensington, officials in surrounding counties are expressing concerns that the planned sweep will bring more unhoused residents to their communities.

Philadelphia’s latest plan has received mounting questions and criticisms — from harm reduction advocates, City Council and now officials outside the city’s limits.

On We
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Most Philly health providers cannot speak Vietnamese. A local pharmacist is trying to change that through a stroke education program

Van Hellerslia was born in Vietnam and immigrated to the United States as a refugee when she was two. She grew up in the Logan neighborhood of North Philadelphia. Her family spoke Vietnamese at home, and her proficiency in English was almost non-existent.

“I pretty much grew up learning English either from Sesame Street or going to school,” she said.

When she was 11 years old, her mother began experiencing serious health issues. Hellerslia found herself in a health navigator role, something sh
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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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Concerned about the dangers of being Black in America, some search for freedom abroad

For most of her life, Coretta Wright has always been reluctant to hop on a plane for far-flung locations. “I was always afraid of traveling. A fear of what might happen — the unknown,” she said. Wright was born and raised in Philadelphia to parents who struggled with addiction. Three days after her birth, Wright’s mother gave her up to her aunt and uncle, who were already raising five children. By the time Wright was 12, Philadelphia elected Ed Rendell as the city’s 96th mayor and 76ers all-star
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Pennsylvania’s health system is among the nation’s best, according to latest scorecard ranking

Pennsylvania’s health system receives high marks for overall performance compared to all 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to a new Commonwealth Fund analysis. The Commonwealth Fund’s 2023 Scorecard on State Health System performance is the latest in an annual report that assesses health systems based on 58 healthcare indicators, including access to coverage, insurance costs, service use, disparities, and overall quality. The organization has also included women’s reproductive he
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No Menthol Sunday encourages Black health equity by saying ‘no’ to the tobacco industry

May 21 marks No Menthol Sunday — a campaign to raise awareness about the health risks of menthol cigarettes, specifically aimed at Black communities. The vast majority of Black Americans who are smokers use menthol cigarettes. No Menthol Sunday started as a call for faith-based leaders to educate their communities about the detriments of smoking. It’s also a rallying cry to stand up to the tobacco industry by even encouraging smokers to not buy menthol cigarettes for one day. In April 2022, The
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‘We deal with people as well as pets’: Philly’s IndeVets expanding its peer support network for veterinarians

Being a veterinarian is a dream job for many animal lovers — but the reality is often a far cry from giving clean bills of health to happy puppies and kittens. Many veterinarians report struggling with work-life balance and with the stark realities of their job — mainly having to euthanize very sick, beloved pets. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 1 in 6 veterinarians experience thoughts of suicide, putting them at higher risk for suicide than their pee
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