Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Grant.
Melissa, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
As a group of health care professionals with decades of birth control, sexually transmitted infection, and early abortion care experience, we noticed that women in the US often face long wait times, unnecessary restrictions, and impersonal service when looking for affordable reproductive health care.
Our vision for carafem was to create a new experience in health care that was affordable, high quality, and focused on the client experience. We pictured small, highly efficient health centers with a modern feel that provided one-on-one care with minimal wait times and a real focus on exactly what our clients want.
When we opened our first center in early 2015, we carried this vision with us and it drove many of our decisions. To make sure the experience was comfortable and a departure from stereotypes, we prioritized making the inside of the center soothing – incorporating subtle touches like soft music, warm colors, natural lighting, and aromatherapy. To make the process less stressful on our clients, we use technology to improve access and easy to understand printed materials and options to make sure our clients understand everything. Our goal is to always put our clients first. We are focused every day on what we can do to make your health care experience a little better. Whether it is an evening or weekend appointment, one-on-one time with an experienced, knowledgeable clinician, or even a cool drink and a snack, we want to make sure carafem is the best healthcare experience available.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Providing basic health care in the United States is not simple. In fact, it seems to get harder every day. When it comes to reproductive health care, the barriers increase almost exponentially – particularly in the Southern United States where restrictive legislation makes access a real challenge. We understand that when women in the South need birth control and abortion care, they do not always have a choice of their provider. Almost 20% of our clients in Georgia drive to us from over 100 miles away looking for a provider who can meet their health care needs on their terms. We strive to listen to these needs and exceed their expectations.
Being a provider of early abortion care, we understand the importance of privacy and accessibility so our offices are located in multi-use medical office buildings, which are more private than standalone buildings, and close to public transportation options. We have a deep respect for our clients so providing a private, safe experience is very important to us. We are also focused on eliminating most of the wait time associated with medical care. Our clients are brought back to talk to a clinician right away and often see no other clients when visiting carafem. Most visits last less than one hour. Each day we work to overcome obstacles and challenges facing our clients.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We provide reproductive health care that is sensitive to the needs of the individual and their lifestyle. We know there is a lot of stigma associated with sexual and reproductive health care. It is for this reason we have combined a health care experience that is of the highest quality with a public voice that speaks out about the services we offer.
Traditionally, birth control, infection testing, and abortion care are rarely talked about in the same way other medical providers publicly advertise their services. Many private health care providers pick and choose what services they offer and have left women confused about who they can trust. carafem decided that if almost one in three women in the US has an abortion in her life, they should not have to face the challenge of sorting through local providers to determine who did and who did not provide the care they needed.
carafem not only provides high quality health care, but we speak to our clients and potential clients in a bold refreshing voice that stands behind the work we do. We are proud of the care we offer and are happy to tell the world it is available here.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1800 Peachtree St., NW #800, Atlanta, GA 30309
- Website: www.carafem.org
- Phone: (855) 729-2272
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carafem/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carafemhealth/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/carafem
- Yelp: carafem.org/dc-reviews
- Other: carafem.org/atl-reviews
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
