Clarksdale, 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.

In the counties served by the MCHP, more than 33% of all children live below the poverty line. Many families served by the program are single parent families, often uninsured or underinsured and living in poverty. The MCHP works to address one of the nation’s highest infant mortality rates, an alarming rate of teenage pregnancy, and a rising incidence of asthma related to the use of pesticides by area farms.

The region is troubled by such pervasive barriers to care as lack of transportation, lack of insurance, geographic isolation and lack of financial resources. The MCHP combats these challenges through the delivery of comprehensive primary care that is provided without regard to ability to pay.

Serving Communities in Need: The MCHP serves children ages 0-19. Thirty percent of patients are uninsured and 34% are on Medicaid; 85% of patients identify as African American, 2% as white.