The connection between Black Individuals and the American healthcare system has lengthy been fraught with mistrust, restricted entry, and an absence of illustration. For Black ladies, non-binary people, and gender-expansive individuals, these challenges are compounded by racism, misogynoir, binarism and transmisogynoir. Traditionally, self-advocacy has been one of many solely instruments accessible to navigate these systemic obstacles, but even that is inadequate with out entry to the required data and assets.
Enter Kyndred, a groundbreaking on-line platform designed to disrupt and rework healthcare for Black ladies. Kyndred is a foundational growth of Kimbritive, a corporation that prioritizes the sexual wellness and pleasure of Black ladies by neighborhood, resourceful content material and professional care. Based by Brittany Brathwaite (MSW, MPH), Kimberly Huggins (LCSW, M.ED, MPH), and suggested by Tesiah Coleman (MSN, AGPCNP-BC, WHNP-BC, CLC), the group attracts on their mixed 30 years of expertise in public well being, reproductive justice advocacy, social work, nursing and scientific management. Extra importantly, their lived experiences as Black ladies inform their method to serving an often-overlooked inhabitants.
Set to launch in early 2025, Kyndred is dedicated to dismantling well being inequities and creating an inclusive, equitable healthcare area. Their method is centered on integrative and collaborative care, guaranteeing that every one practitioners not solely have top-tier credentials but in addition a deep understanding of Black ladies’s distinctive experiences. The emphasis is on suppliers who ship empathetic, high quality care that uplifts the neighborhood somewhat than merely treating sufferers.
Kyndred operates on a “brick-and-click” mannequin, initially specializing in digital providers to maximise accessibility. This ensures that Black ladies throughout the nation can obtain high-quality care from the consolation of their properties. Future in-person choices will complement these digital providers. Recognizing that 1 in 4 Black ladies depend on Medicaid for healthcare protection, Kyndred’s first precedence is to simply accept Medicaid, together with implementing versatile cost choices resembling sliding-scale charges and partnerships with monetary help packages.
Greater than only a healthcare supplier, Kyndred seeks to rewrite the narrative surrounding Black ladies’s well being. Black ladies have lengthy been lowered to statistics in well being inequity discussions, however Kyndred goals to vary that by difficult and reworking systemic biases. Their mission is each sensible—guaranteeing equitable, high-quality care tailor-made to Black ladies’s particular wants—and cultural, celebrating their resilience and creating areas the place their voices are heard and valued.
At its core, Kyndred is a sanctuary designed by Black ladies, for Black ladies. From the second a affected person schedules an appointment, they’re met with intuitive, accessible know-how and suppliers skilled to ship holistic, patient-centered care. Whether or not addressing psychological well being considerations, navigating menstrual points, or managing hormonal adjustments, each interplay is tailor-made to the person’s wants.
With Kyndred, healthcare is not nearly survival; it’s about thriving in a system that actually sees, helps, and empowers Black ladies. By prioritizing care that’s each high-quality and culturally competent, Kyndred is main the cost in creating a brand new, extra simply period of healthcare—one the place Black ladies not must struggle to be heard however are lastly positioned on the middle of their very own wellness journey.
Be taught extra about what makes Brittany Brathwaite, Kimberly Huggins and Tesiah Coleman Changemakers by testing the video above.
