Bitterroot Group Rallies for Title 10 Funds

There were speeches, chants, banners and music Monday at a noontime rally by about 100 people protesting the Ravalli County commissioners' refusal of $50,000 in federal Title X funding.

The rally started in the 11 a.m. hour at the Ravalli County Administration Center, below the third floor county commissioners' offices. At 12 noon, the crowd marched over to the Ravalli County Courthouse, which houses the Public Health Nurses' Office. That office will no longer receive Title Ten federal funding for helping low income women with family planning, sexually transmitted disease, pap tests and other services. Public Health Nurse Griffin emphasized that the office will still be offering their other services such as immunizations.

The county commissioners voted 3-2 in early September to not accept the funding, causing a groundswell of angry responses, leading to the rally. Griffin thanked the crowd in brief remarks and said she had hopes that another organization would step in to provide the services.

Others used the gathering as a starting point to campaign against the commissioners in the 2014 election.

Judy Griffin told us what nursing services will and what will not be offered as of October 1.