The buzz on our brand new programs 🔥

Time flies when you’re battling literally hundreds of abortion restrictions, Marisa!

This month marks the year anniversary of The Leak of the Dobbs decision, the first real confirmation that Roe v. Wade was going to be overturned. Since then, abortion access has been decimated in many regions of the country, with hundreds of new anti-abortion laws introduced this year, not to mention the unprecedented overreach from federal judges 👀 on medication abortion that’s still playing out. 

While screaming into a pillow definitely helps in a pinch, we’ve found the best coping mechanism to be creating PIPING 🔥 HOT 🔥 PROGRAMMING 🔥 for our practical support community, the larger reproductive health, rights, and justice movement, and beyond. 

I’m oh so excited to share with you all about two brand new programs Apiary is rolling out in May, in addition to some very exciting updates to our cornerstone programs. Scroll down for the whole scoop on how we’re gearing up for year two without Roe—and a very special Partner Spotlight on our friends at the Society for Family Planning.

Thank YOU for making it possible for us to keep growing our programs, deepening our mission, and expanding our reach to strengthen practical support and keep safe, dignified abortion care within reach for all. 

In solidarity, 

Marisa Falcon
Executive Director
Apiary for Practical Support

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Apiary Programs Update!

#1. Practical Support Blueprint 🦺

Speaking of creating more sustainable systems and collaborative relationships for providing practical support, our first Practical Support Blueprint cohort is about to go live! The Blueprint (AKA the practical support birth plan) is our training program for groups who want to start providing or are looking to improve their practical support services. 

With many more abortion seekers having to travel longer distances for care, practical support is more urgently needed—and more complicated—than ever before. The Blueprint is a model we’re building - from the tools, insights and expertise of our team and the PSOs we work with - to train new groups up on how to do this important work so that PSOs can focus their limited time and energy on actually providing their services and helping people get the abortion care they need, not reinventing the wheel when it comes to infrastructure. 

And this month, we are rolling out our very first Blueprint Cohort! With our Blueprint Manager, Ayé, at the helm, the cohorts are small, focused groups of new and current PSOs that work together, offering resources, support, and feedback to enhance their services and expand their reach (like the number of people they serve or the types of support they offer). We’re proud to be fostering a vibrant practical support ecosystem that is connected, consistent, and well-resourced. 

#2. Volunteer Training Program 🙋 

Created in direct response to tons of requests we’ve received, especially in the past year, our volunteer training program is also officially kicking off this month! 

PSOs have been struggling with the sheer volume of new volunteer signups from folks who are fired up to take action and join the movement since the Dobbs decision. Vetting and training new volunteers takes A LOT of time and resources from organizations that are often entirely volunteer-run themselves, so Apiary’s Volunteer Coordination Manager Sara has been developing a program that centralizes the application process, formalizes vetting procedures, and standardizes the training curriculum. By offsetting this front-end labor and creating a coordinated system, we’re excited to create more continuity of care for patients and set PSOs up for success as their awesome new volunteers come on board. 

This program is rooted in the idea that there’s a place for everyone in this movement. Whether it’s direct service, fundraising, advocacy—it’s going to take all of us to achieve liberation. 

#3. The Hivemind 🐝  

The Hivemind is Apiary’s cornerstone program, a vibrant home for the practical support community that offers multiple channels for communication among groups, informal settings for brainstorming and bonding, and highly facilitated (and free!) training for PSOs. With its very own dedicated manager Naduah starting this month, this space will only keep growing and improving to better serve our incredible community. 

Coming soon…..

The 2023 Practical Support Summit 🌟 

This is fall, we’re bringing back our conference by and for the Hivemind. Our first summit happened back in 2021, and we can’t wait to be back together in person with our PSO family from all over the country to deepen our connections and dig in to meaty conversations about how the work gets done, how folks are dealing with difficult circumstances, what tools we’re using, and what new challenges are emerging. Stay tuned for more!

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Partner Spotlight: Society of Family Planning

Let’s hear it for the scientists! The Society of Family Planning is the source for equitable, science-based research, analysis, and clinical guidance on abortion and contraception. 

Last month, SFP invited me (Marisa! Hi, I’m back!) to present on a panel with some Very Smart People who have been tracking the impact of Dobbs on people seeking abortion care. My co-panelists Alison Norris and Ushma Upadhyay of ANSIRH, and SFP moderator Vanessa Arenas presented on the groundbreaking #WeCount project, an initiative that is literally counting the number of people who now have to travel out of state, monitoring both where people are traveling from and to which states they are now going for abortion-related services. Adrienne R. Ghorashi from the Center for Public Health Law Research at Temple University and Guttmacher’s Kelly Baden also joined to talk about the legal and political impact of the decision.

Not a researcher myself, I was humbled and honored to be invited to the table to highlight what’s missing from this data—that is, how people are getting from place to place—and how critical it is that we measure what people really need for that travel to happen. Thanks to SFP, practical support is part of the conversation, and we can’t wait to keep this dialogue going. 

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