#springdalestories

"One of the reasons I got involved in climate change awareness is because my grandma always joked if she ever passed away, 'Bury me back in the Islands, I don’t want to buried in America. I’m not American.' Then when I started to learn about what rising sea levels are doing back home, I asked her 'Did you know the water has been taking graves out to sea?' She said, 'yeah.' She said her parents, both their graves were already gone to sea. She said it’s been happening for a while now. I guess rising sea levels and global warming has been happening for a while now, but we haven’t really understood it. I asked her, 'Is that what you want? Do you want us to bury you ever there and then in a couple of years, in less than a decade, your grave is going to be gone?' And she said, 'well, it’s up to you.' I told her, 'Even though you’re gone I want there to be a place where I know I can come and still talk story with you.' So she said alright then. If she does pass away we can bury her here. My grandfather is buried over there. It kinda breaks my heart I can’t fulfill her wish of going back home to where she grew up." Chris Springdale, AR #IAmAmerica #pacificwarrior #Springdalestories #teamspringdale #marshallislands #climatechange #green #activism #climatecrisis #environment #Arkansas #family #love #death #american #immigration #ocean #sea #grandma #hope (at Jones Center)

"I came all the way from the Marshall Islands. I was seeking a better education for myself. I can’t say much because I am new. It’s a complicated culture. It’s really difficult for me, finding a way to live here. There is no one I know, I don’t have any relatives here and I by live myself. These are the only two things I consider really hard moving here. The first day I arrived to Springdale from Oklahoma, I was at a street light and I didn’t know that when it went green I had to go. I thought those colors didn't represent anything." Terry Joseph Bates Outreach Clinic Springdale, AR #IAmAmerica #Marshallese #Arkansas #Springdale #Springdalestories #teamspringdale #culture #language #moving #change #challenge #overcome #strength (at Joseph Bates Outreach Clinic)

"If you walk into this Health Department, we will serve you regardless of your ability to pay, or your insurance status, or your residency status. About the only time we require any documentation is entering into the WIC program [Women, Infants, and Children, a program which offers nutritious food, nutrition education, and health referrals to low-income mothers] which is a federally funded program. And at that, all you need to do is bring in proof of the place where you live. Not proof of legal residency. Something like a utility bill. We deny nobody from the WIC program. One of the issues that we have in our Marshallese community with Medicaid is that they don’t understand that it has to be renewed annually. So then a lot of kids slip through the cracks because the parents, for a multitude of reasons, just didn’t understand. A lot of it has to be done on the internet now, which not everyone is savvy with. And if you don’t speak the language, you’ve got a big barrier. I think there is underutilization of the maternity program. We have a maternity program through the Health Department and the Community Clinic also has a maternity program. To qualify for either of those, you basically just have to walk in the door." Sandy Joseph Bates Outreach Clinic Springdale, AR #IAmAmerica #Springdale #TeamSpringdale #SpringdaleStories #service #change #families #mothers #mom #love #nurse #doctor #health #knowledge #challenge #community (at Joseph Bates Outreach Clinic)