The 217 Today Podcast

217 Today: Monday, July 19, 2021

Brian Moline and Carolina Garibay
 
Paige Raab holds her baby in the neonatal intensive care unit. Her experience with two traumatic births and NICU stays led her to create the new nonprofit group,

Paige Raab holds her baby in the neonatal intensive care unit. Her experience with two traumatic births and NICU stays led her to create the new nonprofit group, "The Nest Postpartum." Courtesy of Paige Raab

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Monday, July 19, 2021

Today's headlines:

  • A child poverty report released today shows major improvement in the last decade, but for kids in many rural pockets of the state, progress was less significant.

  • The Red Cross is urging people to donate blood to help with a blood shortage as patients resume elective surgeries and trauma cases increase across the nation.

  • Local mental health professionals say the psychological impact of the pandemic is something many people are still struggling with, even as life begins to return to normal.

  • The University of Illinois has released updated COVID-19 guidelines for faculty and staff on its Urbana campus this fall.

In today's deep dive, we meet the founder of a new organization in Champaign-Urbana that aims to provide critical support to local families whose babies spend their first weeks of life in the neonatal intensive care unit. 

Reporting today contributed by Maureen McKinney, Steph Whiteside and Christine Herman.