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One of the co-founders and current director, Dr. Josiah Rich, began the foundation after realizing the possibilities of treating patients with difficult, life-long diseases in a closed environment. After receiving a 5-year grant in 2002, and inspiration from a recurring patient named Charles Long, Rich began providing basic health care to prisoners in Rhode Island-- specifically focusing on addiction treatments. The foundation began when Dr. Rich and colleague Scott Allen, MD, turned results from this grant into a full-fledged advocacy center. They built on the long-standing tradition of Brown's Warren Alpert Medical School to work in Rhode Island correctional facilities; the inmate population provided an ample source for teaching young physicians, as well as large population well-suited for long-term research studies. While it began as an 5-year study into addiction and incarceration, the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights, based in Miriam, has substance abuse rehabilitation clinics, treats HIV/AIDs patients, and studies/treats lifelong infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. 

The system allows for compilation and continued monitoring of the aftermath of these hurricanes. The platform also provides access to the film and organization following those still effected by the disasters years later. It also serves as an area for conversation and discussion for how to mitigate the effects of disasters in the future.

1) "It's a community that's all too aware that declaring a crisis doesn't actually mean anything significant will change...Within the last 12 months, there have been multiple "crisis" states declared in Indigenous communities across the country, including even the entire territory of Nunavut—where 84 percent of the population are Inuit."

2) " "What do you find 20 years ago? The same conversations we are having now about suicide. The same conversations we are having now about the lack of mental health. The same conversations that we are having around socio economic development," Tait told VICE."

3) "One of the reasons Canada conveniently forgets the multiple recommendations and reports around youth suicide and mental health is that when it comes to Indigenous peoples they are considered "the other" "

The author is Adriana Petryna, a professor of Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to her work as at the University, Dr. Petryna has written several books and articles focusing on the effects of cultural and political forces on science and medicine. Other interests include social studies of science and technology, globalization of health, medical anthropology, and anthropological methods