One Step
Toward Reaching
Families
in Need
Take One Step
for New Mexico Women
The residents of rural New Mexico are suffering a health crisis and Ed Ulman, Education and Outreach Manager at KNME, is using the power of public broadcasting to address it step by step.
Ulman convened a large coalition of community partners in the development of Take One Step for New Mexico Women, a healthcare initiative targeting the rural populations that experience discrepancies in healthcare services. The initiative offered health fairs, family fun events and on-air segments for and about the women and their families who were struggling with difficult healthcare situations.
“It was a real eye-opener to see the need,” explained Ulman. During a mobile health fair in the rural town of Espanola, “there were lines of people waiting for us in the parking lot of Wal-Mart, all there to get free HIV testing.”
To meet more of the need and sustain ongoing activity, Ulman and the coalition leveraged their original grants to gain additional funding from Blue Cross Blue Shield. With the funding, they took mobile health fairs to five areas around the state, reaching thousands of people to improve the health and lives of families in need.
A large coalition of community partners donated their time, expertise and efforts to Take One Step New Mexico including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Sandia Pueblo, New Mexico Lions Eye Foundation, Inc., New Mexico Sports and Wellness, Eye Associates of New Mexico, Women's Health Sciences, La Familia Medical Center and Wild Oats.
This story is part of the National Center for Media Engagement Stories of Impact archives. To read more of how public broadcasting is impacting local communities around the nation go to www.mediaengage.org.
