Mississippi

The Mississippi Children’s Health Project (MCHP) provides services to children in remote rural communities of the Mississippi Delta region through a combination of school-based, fixed-site and community outreach service strategies. The Mobile Medical Clinic is used to conduct mass health screenings and to administer treatments and preventive care at public schools, housing complexes and Head Start centers.

The Mississippi Gulf Coast Children’s Health Project (MGCCHP) was established in response to the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Child health indicators rank Mississippi 50th in the nation. Pervasive barriers to care contributing to this include lack of transportation, lack of insurance, geographic isolation and financial instability; nearly one third of all children in Mississippi lived in poverty even before Hurricane Katrina. The MGCCHP is part of Children’s Health Fund’s Transportation Initiative, which enhances access to transportation to medical appointments for patients living in areas with deficiencies in public transportation.