Editor’s note: Jitoria Hunter, chief of staff at Converge, Mississippi’s Title X family planning grantee, reflects on the recent opening of an  in-person reproductive health clinic at the Jackson Medical Mall. The article is part of Mississippi Today Ideas’ ongoing effort to publish thoughtf ul guest essays. I grew up in Greenville, in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, where family and community are everything. Access to care was often determined by distance and circumstance. I watched some of my neighbors, friends and family go without the health services they needed because they could not afford them or because those services were never close enough to reach. I saw how that lack of access held people back from living fully and reaching their potential. Those early experiences are why this work is deeply personal to me. Across the Deep South, reproductive and sexual health care remains under constant threat. What happens here often sets the tone for the rest of the country. In Mississippi, our communities have carried that weight for generations, working against systems that make something as basic as care feel out of reach. Still, we continue to move forward, creating new possibilities for what access can look like because our people deserve more than what history has offered us. Jitoria Hunter Credit: Courtesy photo Opening a reproductive health clinic inside the Jackson Medical Mall felt intentional. The mall, once a neglected shopping center in a Black neighborhood, was brought back to life through Dr. Aaron Shirley’s vision of turning a forgotten space into one that could serve people again. The Jackson Medical Mall is part of the continuing legacy of expanding health care access in Mississippi by Dr. Shirley, who died in 2014. That transformation reminds us that health care belongs in the heart of the community. Our clinic continues that commitment by creating a place where people can receive high-quality care close to home. When we put out the call to Jackson residents, they made it clear that access also means choice. They wanted the same trusted, patient-centered care available through telehealth, but in a place they could walk into and experience in person. That honesty from the community shaped what came next. In our new clinic inside the Jackson Medical Mall, we have created a space built in direct response to what people told us they needed most, care that feels personal, close and consistent.  Patients will find both free and low-cost services that include wellness exams, testing and treatment for STIs, contraceptive counseling, pregnancy testing and preconception care. We also offer resources such as the over-the-counter contraception Opill, prenatal vitamins and a community wellness pantry that will rotate based on local needs. Patients can also receive one-on-one support with scheduling appointments, enrolling in insurance programs like Mississippi’s Medicaid Family Planning Waiver, and connecting to other reproductive wellness resources. This work honors the people and communities that raised me and reflects a continued commitment to the belief that everyone deserves access to care that is respectful, compassionate and rooted in trust. I have witnessed the beauty of the people in Jackson and the power of what community can build together. The opening of GetPersonal by Converge represents more than a new clinic. It is a reflection of what can happen when care is shaped by the people it is meant to serve and grounded in the belief that every Mississippian deserves the best of what health care can be.  Bio: Jitoria Hunter has spent more than a decade advancing sexual and reproductive health across the South. She is Mississippi educated, earning her bachelor of Public Health from MUW and her master of Healthcare Administration from Belhaven University. Hunter serves as chief of staff at Converge, where she helps guide strategy and keeps the organization moving in alignment with its mission to expand access to sexual and reproductive health care across the Deep South. She stays grounded through the life she shares with her husband Trenton and their son Tahj, who connect her to the purpose behind the work she leads. ...read more read less