Establishing a Reproductive Health Fund in Kalamazoo

Policy Win

Issues:

Eliminating Racial & Economic Disparities Expanding Abortion Access

NIRH is committed to securing municipal funding to support abortion access, and we ground our strategy in the growing movement to create municipal budgets that truly invest in community health and safety rather than over-policing.

In 2021, NIRH worked with All* Above All and the YWCA of Kalamazoo to make Kalamazoo the first city with a Reproductive Health Fund that supports the full range of reproductive and sexual health care options. Working collaboratively with a shared vision and strategy, we secured county funding for the Reproductive Health Fund, covering doulas care to improving maternal mortality, and gender-affirming care — a critical lifeline for the trans community. While county funding will not be support the Fund’s support for abortion care, NIRH and the partners on the ground are committed to continuing that advocacy in the future.

Working With Our Partner: YWCA Kalamazoo

Our partnership with NIRH is an invaluable connection that has gone above and beyond our expectations as a grantee and partner. From our very first stakeholder meeting in 2020, NIRH traveled to Kalamazoo to convene and facilitate conversations with Kalamazoo community members; this trip was free of charge to us and truly led to relationship building. NIRH continued to be a thought-partner and linked us to numerous resources to help us model our health fund ever since and remained an open source for us to share ideas. As things came together for the County vote, NIRH gathered their resources and teams for a robust mobilization effort including press releases, talking points, public commentary training, and meeting with County officials; all of this was done professionally, timely and in full collaboration. Success of this effort was deeply supported by NIRH every step of the way.

Relevant Resources

Stories From Real People

The NIRH model … is something that we wish to see among other grantor/grantee relationships. The support we received from NIRH helped us reach our outcomes and went beyond our expectations of partnership.
Demetrius Wolverton, Director of Mission Impact, YWCA Kalamazoo

More Impact

Fund Abortion NYC

NIRH Action Fund and our partners in the #FundAbortionNYC Coalition called on the New York City Council to do its part to ensure that financial barriers don't interfere with anyone's ability to control when and whether to become a parent - and the City Council listened!

Ongoing New York City All* Above All Expanding Abortion Access Eliminating Racial & Economic Disparities

Advancing Birth Justice

NIRH believes in the right of people who can become pregnant to choose when and whether to become parents, and the right of every person to parent their children with dignity and in safety. We support policies that increase equitable access to doula care, address maternal mortality, and provide insurance coverage to pregnant and parenting people.

Ongoing Eliminating Racial & Economic Disparities

Building Support for Abortion Coverage through Municipal Resolutions

NIRH and our partner All* Above All (All*) work with cities, states, and advocates at all levels to take actions that support funding for abortion, oppose the discriminatory Hyde Amendment, and work towards passage of the federal Equal Access to Abortion Coverage (EACH) Act

2013 - 2021 St. Louis, MO Durham County, NC Multnomah County, OR Pittsburgh, PA Philadelphia, PA Seattle, WA Boston Ithaca, NY Los Angeles, CA Cook County, IL Madison, WI Cambridge New York City Travis County, TX All* Above All Eliminating Racial & Economic Disparities Expanding Abortion Access

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