Hi, Catherine! Can you tell us a bit about yourself? I grew up in the Champlain Valley of Vermont. After graduating from the University of Vermont with my Bachelor of Science in Nursing, I decided to branch out and move to Montana. I’ve worked in several settings including pre-hospital medicine, acute care, surgical oncology, and [...]
The Covid-19 vaccine will be open to all Montanans on April 1st! We sat down with our Medical Director, Dr. Melissa Casper, to answer some frequently asked questions about the Covid-19 vaccines. If I get the COVID vaccine, am I actually getting COVID? None of the vaccines being offered in the U.S. use the [...]
"I played sports every year until I turned 14, which is the year I came out as Transgender. No one told me I couldn’t play sports anymore but I felt like if I did I would be treated poorly. I miss being a part of a team, but if I joined one now I know [...]
In our wildest dreams, we never could have imagined how you and our whole community would step UP to make sure that sexual healthcare and education were accessible to all during these stressful times! Approximately 275 of you participated this year and raised over $55,000 for Bridgercare's patients in need! WOW WOW WOW! [...]
I remember the first pregnancy test I ever took. I read the instructions four times (like it’s difficult to pee on a stick) and made myself count to 100 before looking at the results. And there it was - that beautiful plus sign that said I was pregnant. My husband and I had been trying [...]
As a young girl, I remember standing in the grocery store line looking at magazine covers with bodies plastered on the front, hoping I could look like that one day and as I got older, that comparison became more prevalent through the media I digested. There’s no doubt our culture is body centric, and while [...]
It’s been eight months since the COVID-19 pandemic began and there’s still not a clear rule book on what to do, especially when it comes to sexual and romantic partnerships. Just like with the millions of other things in our lives we’ve had to change this past year, the pandemic has made us look at [...]
Dear Bridgercare advocate, Long before the pandemic, mental health was falling behind in Montana. For years, our state has consistently ranked at the bottom for mental health resources with the fourth highest suicide rates in the country. Now, we are reckoning with a global pandemic. The spread of COVID19 has caused so much loss. [...]
What the heck is going on? The U.S. Supreme Court is currently hearing arguments on whether the ACA is constitutional. There are three ways they could rule on this… 1. That it is fully constitutional and is allowed to remain a law 2. it is completely unconstitutional and will go away completely 3. that certain [...]
In 2020, you helped Bridgercare… Provide 8,201 visits. 4,921 patient visits received a discount on the sliding fee scale, which provided $310,073 worth of medical services at no cost to the patient Insert 539 IUDs and Nexplanons (which are >99% effective birth control methods) Pivot to offering care via telehealth throughout the stay at home [...]
You’ve probably have heard of Pap smears, and that it’s important to get them on the reg. But lots of us don’t know why this test is so necessary! Although it seems a little mysterious and definitely a bit daunting, Pap smears should be on the radar for anyone who has a cervix. Knowing the [...]
A few weeks ago, we asked you for your feedback, thoughts and ideas in the All Things Bridgercare survey. Thank you to all 86 of you who took the time to fill it out! We know survey fatigue is real, so thank you for pushing through the exhaustion for Bridgercare. AND even if you didn't have the [...]
Full transparency - this is a straight up fundraising blog post for our Peer Education/Sexual Health Education program, BUT BEFORE YOU LEAVE THIS PAGE, please know it was written by one of our Peer Educators Lily. Lily is truly an incredible young person and we really hope you will take a minute to listen to [...]
Have you met one our best friends, the Forward Montana Foundation?? We HAVE to introduce you! This amazing organization is all kinds of awesome: they educate, engage, and organize young Montanans to shape their democracy to improve their lives and the lives of fellow Montanans. Yes, PLEASE! Anyhow, one of the most important elections of [...]
Welcome to Part 2 of Gender Identity 101: Kids Want Pizza Rolls, Not Gender Roles! Every time I take my three year old to pretty much any store, we have to have the same conversation about how silly it is that there are separate aisles for “boy toys” and “girl toys.” Our world pressures kids [...]
