Because Women Deserve Better: The Heart Behind The Sunrise Coalition

Last week on Instagram, I asked if you wanted to hear more about the history of The Sunrise Coalition or if you wanted me to discuss how we are addressing the leading causes of pregnancy-related deaths. From that poll and conversations I have been having this week, I learned that many of you do not know how the Sunrise Coalition came to be. 

The Sunrise Coalition was born in response to my own motherhood journey, where I had to
self-educate, self-advocate, and eventually pay for my own medical services after realizing the
pelvic floor physical therapy insurance would cover was not the care I, nor any woman
deserved. From there I wondered how this care could ever become the standard if the price tag
of $75-$150 per session would not be supplemented by insurance. I am fortunate enough to
have been in a situation where my budget could stretch and to have a partner who trusted me when I said the short term financial burden was worth the long term benefits. I received the care I deserved. 

I wanted to use the knowledge I gained during my own self-education and became a pre and postnatal fitness specialist. During this time, I was able to partner with the Pelvic Method to ensure the care I was providing was aiding in postpartum recovery and not causing further damage. This experience highlighted the reality that the only women able to receive what should be the standard healthcare services, were women who were able to pay for the care themselves. 

This haunted me as I spun my wheels trying to find the solution. Then, on a run in the summer of 2022, the idea of what is now the Sunrise Coalition came to me. I stopped in the middle of the trail and immediately put it in my notes app. 

Since then,  we have moved from an idea in a notes app, to a conversation around the standard of women's healthcare and our responsibility to do better, to a coalition of providers ready to serve, to a community giving their time, talents, and money to provide women with the care they deserve. Today, the median income in Chattanooga falls just under $62,000. With the ever increasing cost of living, the ability to pay for medical services that insurance does not deem necessary is unrealistic for most Chattanooga residents. 

The problem is the medical services that insurance does not deem necessary are services that vastly increase the quality of life and health span for women. Every day women have to make the choice to put their physical and mental health on hold due to financial constraints, and it is quite literally killing us. But the threat of your partner, friend, co-worker, or neighbor dying should not be the only motivating factor in elevating women's healthcare. 

Numerous studies have shown that a mother's health and happiness is a key indicator in her children's wellbeing and ability to thrive. Women influence spending at staggering rates and are vital to our workforce.  Women make our homes, economies, and communities flourish. Women deserve better, because we all deserve better. 

I am grateful that I get to partner with you in creating the community we all want to live in.