We have never done this work because it was easy – we do it because it is necessary.
For 34 years, Provide has worked inside the systems that shape care training health and social service providers to show up differently for the people they serve, especially in the places where access is most restricted, where stigma is highest, and where providers are navigating uncertainty, risk, and isolation. When Roe v. Wade fell in 2022, Provide was ready. The Dobbs decision did not break us, but what followed did test us.
As Executive Director, one of the hardest lessons for me was recognizing that sustainability cannot be treated as separate from mission. Organizations working in crisis conditions often feel pressure to move faster, do more, and respond to everything at once. This period reinforced that growth without the infrastructure and resources to support it can create instability not only internally, but for the communities depending on us.
In 2025, continued political attacks and serious funding cuts forced a pause we did not choose lightly. We stepped back to protect the mission, preserve our foundation, and ensure that when we returned, we could do so with full intention.
That moment is now.
As we rebuilt, what became clear is that decriminalization is not a secondary issue. It is central to whether providers feel safe enough to support patients and communities with honesty, compassion, and integrity. That realization is now shaping the next phase of Provide’s work.
In 2026, Provide is back – focused on restricted states, on underserved communities, and on the providers who serve them with courage every single day – specifically in Louisiana and North Carolina.
These states represent two very different, but deeply connected, realities about what it means to navigate care under increasing criminalization, political instability, and systemic inequity. Providers there are not only responding to healthcare needs — they are operating inside environments shaped by fear, ambiguity, and rapidly shifting legal pressures. Both states sit at the intersections of reproductive health, poverty, race, rural access, HIV, and punitive systems that disproportionately impact Black communities, low-income communities, LGBTQ+ people, and people already navigating multiple forms of surveillance. And yet, these states are also home to extraordinary resilience, innovation, and care networks that continue showing up for communities despite enormous pressure.
Some of the most important work over the last nine months has not been visible publicly. It has been the slow, often difficult work of rebuilding systems, clarifying purpose, strengthening foundations, and creating the conditions for a healthier future.
We are not trying to return to a previous version of Provide, or with assumptions or prepackaged solutions.
We are returning with humility, curiosity, and a commitment to building alongside providers and partners who have remained rooted in this work long before this moment.
Together, we are building something more focused. more disciplined. More collaborative. More responsive to the realities providers and communities are facing right now.
Access to care does not pause for funding cuts – and neither will we. Not with advocates like you behind us.
To everyone who has stood with us: thank you. The hardest chapter is behind us, and the most important work is still ahead.
With gratitude,
Fatimah Gifford
Executive Director – Provide
GIVE TODAY ➝
Reproductive health needs to not disappear because of funding cuts or restrictive laws. Your gift helps us:
- Equip providers in restricted states with stigma-free tools
- Ensure underserved communities – BIPOC, LGBTQ+, low-income, and rural – have someone in their corner, always
- Prepare providers to counsel with compassion and expertise
- Fund Training for domestic violence. HIV and substance use providers
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