We’ve heard many personal stories since Hurricane Michael made landfall as the fourth-strongest storm to ever hit the United States. While thousands were able to evacuate in time, since I was recovering from chemotherapy, travel was not an option.
My only choice, like many in Florida’s State House District 7, was to ride out the storm - alone.
I will never forget the fear I felt when facing the horror of that storm - a storm that I can only describe as one of biblical proportions - and that I was somehow left behind and forgotten. Those feelings are shared by many of our residents today, with no relief or representation in the Florida House.
I’m not running out of personal vanity or to run for something bigger down the road; I stepped up to serve because I saw our community’s despair, and the high stakes we face. I saw friends tragically end their lives and fall to destructive habits because of the trauma. They felt there wasn’t anyone fighting for them. People need hope. I will fight for those who, like me, have been fighting to survive. I am running because I know how one feels when you’ve been abandoned by society. Where an economy only works for the few and leaves the rest of us behind.
The problems we face are difficult and complex; food insecurity, affordable/workforce housing, access to and the cost of high-quality healthcare, debris and timber removal, economic development, expanding our community colleges, a renewed focus on vocational and apprenticeship programs, and funding for our rural public schools. In spite of these many challenges, however, there exists a new opportunity to reconstruct our community - to build a new District 7 that works for all of us. One where our scars do not define us, but where we can heal and thrive.
With Hurricane Michael’s powerful winds, the status quo flew out the window. The damage is deep and may take years to heal, but the potential for relief is even greater. During the course of this campaign, I have proposed measures to streamline the data collection process and create better transparency during the resolution of insurance claims. Historical data shows that those with access to money or power tend to get faster responses - and higher approval rates of claims from FEMA. Even with extensions granted from the Trump Administration, some communities in our district, like Sumatra, Bristol, Scotts Ferry, Blountstown, Clarksville, among others, still have acres of fallen trees and debris uncollected- or even accounted for- because of the slow initial response and lack of timely federal intervention. Put simply, all of us stand to lose if wildfires cant be contained, and all lose if damage to our springs and rivers escalate because the funding to clear out fallen trees and other debris remains nowhere to be seen.
Another major issue following the storm has been funding agricultural relief. In North Florida, agriculture is our bread and butter, yet banks cant approve more loans for row crops that are needed for a hopeful harvest next year. Without immediate help, families will starve. I applaud Sen. Montford for his efforts to provide relief, yet because of federal and state inaction for immediate intervention measures, like creating an emergency disaster bank for no interest access to funds for row crop farmers, many will go bankrupt from being unable to borrow in time to plant this year’s harvest.
Almost six months after Hurricane Michael, we are still seeing great challenges in access to health facilities and preventative services. If elected, I will work to increase healthcare access by collaborating with nonprofits, religious/ faith-based institutions, private business, and providers to bring mobile screenings, rural clinics, and prenatal and family planning for expecting mothers, because no one should perish because there arent enough first responders. I will also continue to fight for our public hospitals that have struggled to open or stay open due to Hurricane damage, like Weems, Madison Memorial, and Calhoun Liberty. A lack of care - preventative and responsive - risks our very lives. As one painfully aware of how critical preventive care can be, I will never quit fighting for those who are struggling. It’s time we say enough is enough.
The challenges ahead of us are great, but our decisions today will affect our district for decades to come. Let’s take this opportunity to not cling to what was, but to reconstruct our communities for what they might yet become. We have an opportunity to welcome new businesses, but for that to happen, we must provide an inclusive, welcoming environment where no one is left behind.
I wasn’t groomed to run by the wealthy or the elite. I, rather, am representative of the people I would serve: having experienced illness, homelessness, and poverty; yet like fellow residents of District 7, stood resilient through it all. We are adaptive, compassionate, and we persevere. District 7, I ask for your support and your vote for a new chapter in our region’s story, one where no one is left behind or forgotten. Let’s leave a legacy all can be proud of!
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