Rebecca Smith
Health ReporterRebecca Smith is an award-winning reporter and producer for the KBIA Health & Wealth Desk. Born and raised outside of Rolla, Missouri, she has a passion for diving into often overlooked issues that affect the rural populations of her state – especially stories that broaden people’s perception of “rural” life. She created a conversations-based journalism project, Missouri Health Talks, in 2016 that empowers people throughout the state to share their stories of access to healthcare – in their own words.
She has degrees in both Journalism and Chemistry from Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, and often says health reporting is the perfect marriage of individual’s stories and reporting on science.
You can reach her at smithbecky@missouri.edu or 573-882-4824.
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The Northeast Missouri Health Council in Kirksville is a federally qualified health center (FQHC), that serves folks throughout northeast Missouri. At an FQHC, patients regardless of income and whether or not they have insurance can access a wide variety of services, including medical and dental care. -
One University of Missouri researcher is beginning to examine the health of service dogs. -
According to the Missouri Climate Center, there have been more than 100 reported tornados in Missouri this year, leaving many Missourians in need of help. But the state doesn’t appear to be taking full advantage of a program that could provide food assistance after such natural disasters. -
Sherrill is a bisexual, non-binary young adult living in Columbia who grew up in a conservative part of the state. They spoke about the relentless bullying they experienced in high school all while trying to figure out who they were for themself – they have since found a supportive community in Columbia. -
Rural Advocates for Independent Living, or RAIL as it’s more commonly known, is an organization based in Kirksville that covers 10 counties throughout northeast Missouri. Its goal is to help people with disabilities stay independent and in their communities. -
On July 10, Governor Mike Kehoe signed into law a bill that eliminates the so-called “tampon tax" on menstrual products and diapers. -
Missouri has had a ban of medical gender-affirming care for youth, as well as adults on Medicaid or who are incarcerated, since 2023. But other forms of gender-affirming care is happening in the state, and advocates say it’s saving lives. -
![May Hall sits on her motorcycle on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at David R. Francis Quadrangle in Columbia. “For me, gender euphoria is kind of a nebulous thing to pin down because it's the sort of thing where it's like, I will occasionally look in the mirror and be like, ‘Wow, I look really cute. Wow, I look really girly,’ etc, etc. But it's less of like a, ‘Oh my God, yay,’ joyous moment, and more of like a, ‘Oh my God, finally. I've been waiting on this.’ It's more of like a, ‘There we go. That's kind of what I've been aiming for this whole time,’” Hall said. “It is just those moments where I'm more passively just pleased with where I'm at. There are times where I'll be laying with my head on [my partner’s] chest, and it's like, ‘That just feels really nice.’ I feel, I don't know if it's feminine, but it's definitely, like, at peace. And, at this point in life, I'm less chasing the euphoria of like, ‘Oh my God. Gender,’ because I don't even know what I'm aiming for, and more aiming for the, like, ‘I would like to feel broadly satisfied in my life.’”](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5a8af8d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1750x975+0+0/resize/280x156!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F95%2F25%2Fa58d4aec4668be6e25abc498c907%2F20250401-bas-queer-joy-may-hall-0200.jpg)
May Hall is a lesbian in their mid-20s who defines their gender as “it’s complicated.” They spoke about how their gender – and their definition of gender euphoria – has changed over time. -
Tonia Berry and Bailey Quigley work at the Northeast Missouri Area Health Education Center (NEMO AHEC), which aims to develop the healthcare workforce in rural Missouri by engaging with high schoolers.
![May Hall sits on her motorcycle on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, at David R. Francis Quadrangle in Columbia. “For me, gender euphoria is kind of a nebulous thing to pin down because it's the sort of thing where it's like, I will occasionally look in the mirror and be like, ‘Wow, I look really cute. Wow, I look really girly,’ etc, etc. But it's less of like a, ‘Oh my God, yay,’ joyous moment, and more of like a, ‘Oh my God, finally. I've been waiting on this.’ It's more of like a, ‘There we go. That's kind of what I've been aiming for this whole time,’” Hall said. “It is just those moments where I'm more passively just pleased with where I'm at. There are times where I'll be laying with my head on [my partner’s] chest, and it's like, ‘That just feels really nice.’ I feel, I don't know if it's feminine, but it's definitely, like, at peace. And, at this point in life, I'm less chasing the euphoria of like, ‘Oh my God. Gender,’ because I don't even know what I'm aiming for, and more aiming for the, like, ‘I would like to feel broadly satisfied in my life.’”](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ee19eab/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1750x975+0+0/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F95%2F25%2Fa58d4aec4668be6e25abc498c907%2F20250401-bas-queer-joy-may-hall-0200.jpg)
