“I lost my mom to suicide when I was 29 and then my dad to a motorcycle accident when I was 39. So, I came back to the Upper Valley where I have family—my brothers, my daughter, and nephews. I get to have my 18-month-old nephew for two nights a week. He has bright red hair and I will sometimes bring him over to the clinic to say hi to everyone.
I did love being an inpatient neuro nurse. In this role, I was often there at a really tough time in someone’s life. I felt like I was making a difference, but it was more of a short-term piece. I could only help the person when they were right in front of me. I could help them get their blood pressure under control and get on their medications. But if I sent them home and they couldn’t afford their medications, then I was ultimately not helping them in the long term.
Going into public health, I learned a lot about health equity. One of the first papers I wrote when I went back to school for my Master of Public Health related to youth suicide among the LGBTQ+ population. It is around four times higher than the average among cisgender kids. I found that this was a population I really wanted to help. When I tried to find LGBTQ+ resources in this area, there was not a lot here. There is a lot of support closer to Burlington and on the New Hampshire seacoast, but none of these groups are located in the Upper Valley. If you are part of the LGBTQ+ community in the Upper Valley, you kind of look around like: Where do I belong? Who can I talk to? What social events can I go to?
I feel like the Good Neighbor Health Clinic really helps people where they are at. In order to take care of their health, people need to feel safe, and know they are going to have a meal and somewhere to sleep, so we work closely with local organizations that provide these services. In addition to medical or dental care, we help people get onto Medicaid or Medicare, or if they need to pay for medications or food. I am just a very empathetic person, probably too much. The entire program sits perfectly with my heart. I just adore it.”
-Rachael McMillan, Lebanon, NH
