By Gary Hume | Apr 26, 2023
I grew up in rural Western Illinois. My parents were the first in their families to go to college. So all my life, education was a priority, as was community service. My father was a country lawyer who worked until the end of his life, at nearly 87, and I became a...
By Gary Hume | Apr 26, 2023
As a nurse in Central America and the U.S., I often cared for pregnant girls as young as 12 or 14 years old. The links between teen pregnancy, other risky behaviors and poor academic and economic outcomes transcend borders and cultures. I grew up in Costa Rica; my...
By Gary Hume | Apr 26, 2023
As a child, a severe stutter made me acutely aware of disabilities; understanding the potential for transformation led me to become a psychologist. Over a 40-year career in the fields of substance abuse and criminal justice, I helped to develop effective...
By Gary Hume | Apr 26, 2023
In 2000, I was managing a program for homeless runaways in San Diego when I got a call from the sheriff’s department about a 15-year-old girl. She was being prostituted to migrant agricultural workers north of San Diego while her enslavers held her baby boy...
By Gary Hume | Apr 26, 2023
In 1998, I read a letter in The Houston Chronicle that said thousands of schoolchildren never get eye exams or glasses because their families can’t afford them. I’m an optometrist, and I’ve long provided free eye care to many low-income kids. But...
