Wheeling Street Doctor William Mercer teamed up with a big-city street medicine team during a visit to Los Angeles. The trip taught him some new techniques, while affirming the groundbreaking street medicine work that Wheeling is already doing at home. 

I cried when I first saw and spent time with the Saint John’s Bible. It was the resurrection illumination (the pictures that accompany the biblical text) with Jesus telling Mary Magdalene, and all of us, “don’t hold on to me...”

I’ve always heard crying at art was a thing. My mother and sister, both artists, could regularly get a few tears going on  family trips to the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. I’m more of a crier at things like “Les Miserables,” church, and “It’s a Wonderful Life,” always “It’s a Wonderful Life.” But never art. While I like opportunities to evoke an emotional experience,  I always wondered, what were they seeing in Monet, or Van Gogh that I was just missing? 

So when tears started at the hand painted illumination in the Saint John’s Bible, it finally  registered for me.

West Virginia is no stranger to pulling the shortest straw. 

Since its inception, this state and its people have been subject to ruthless natural resource extraction, harmful legal systems, and widespread social and political manipulation. Although the state has found itself in the grip of the so-called Make America Great Again movement, there are many here who empathize with their immigrant neighbors and are working hard behind the scenes to support them. 

Ryan was a 31-year-old convicted felon who ran the streets of Wood County as a kid, abandoned by a father he never knew and weighed down by a legacy of family addictions and dysfunction, along with the racism he endured as one of the only kids of color in his community.

He says he never really felt like he “had a place in the world” and that he was somehow “less than” the people and the world around him. Nothing in his life made him believe that he had any potential worth or value, and he found his “safety in hiding from the world.” 

Mustard Seed Mountain’s editor sat down for an interview with Ohio Valley Mutual Aid (OVMA) volunteer and organizer Libby Horacek to discuss mutual aid: what it is, what it entails, and how you can get involved.

It is nearly six months since Wheeling closed its exempted homeless camp in freezing December temperatures, displacing around sixty individuals. 

Some former camp residents are now in permanent housing, but many more are staying in abandoned buildings and local shelters. For certain groups, there is still not a clear path forward. 

I have been a Chef for almost 20 years and have worked in the restaurant/hospitality industry for 31 years. The industry is notoriously known for its “work hard, play hard” philosophy. The shifts are generally long as well as physically and mentally demanding. A lot of workers turn to substances when the shift ends to try and decompress and numb the anxiety, including myself.

For a long time, I thought fun and substances were basically the same thing. Not exactly—but close enough that I didn’t question it.

Celebrations meant using. Stress meant using. Boredom meant using. Even happiness somehow circled back to it. I told myself I was having fun. And sometimes, even in the moment, it felt that way. But the part I didn’t talk about—the part that mattered more—was what came the next morning

The White House Historical Association recently opened a new, cutting-edge education experience in Washington, D.C., a first-of-its-kind, immersive center telling the story of the Executive Mansion, its inhabitants, and the people who have dedicated their careers to its functions.

“Like in most cities, transportation is part of the heart of our city."

“I started to learn that my addiction was just a symptom of a much deeper problem. I didn’t realize how sick I was until I finally got away from all of the sickness—and I would have never gotten away from all of the sickness on my own.”

Timothy Harriman is the kind of person I can listen to for hours, giving full attention—in fact, I have. But storytelling is only one of Timothy’s many talents and passions.

If you don’t involve yourself with poor people, with people of color—if you live in that secluded subculture that doesn’t interact with these other cultures—then you just don’t understand.

In the early 2000s, the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child coined the term “toxic stress,” explaining how ACEs trigger biological reactions from the excessive activation of stress response systems on a child’s developing brain, as well as the immune system, metabolic regulatory systems, and the cardiovascular system. Toxic stress from ongoing, high doses of adversity can become embedded in a person’s traits and behaviors.

In the mid-1990s, there was a landmark study conducted by the Center for Disease Control that revealed that 12.5% of individuals who experienced four or more ACEs before their 18th birthday had a 390% increased risk of COPD, a 240% increased risk of hepatitis, a 460% increased risk of depression, and a shocking 1,220% increased risk of suicide.

A short account of how I continue to learn about health disparities and strive for better practice.

Although we love a good book, sometimes, a short message is what we need. Language is magic in the sense that just a few words or sentences can move us. Each issue, we pose a different question to our community and ask for answers written on sticky notes. These words of wisdom can be seen strewn throughout the paper!