Peace & Health: How a group of small-town activists and college students set out to change healthcare

The story of how the work of one small group of people grew to meet the size of their calling: to ensure that Health Care is a Right, Not a Privilege.

Peace & Health is the story behind this improbable effort: the 20-year-old who plants the flag in his small hometown of Middletown, Connecticut; the daughter of a sharecropper, who made her way north during the great migration and becomes the North Star of the drive to transform health in the community; the son of a Jewish émigré and pharmacist who breaks from his peers to support the cause; the musician who played in the big bands of the South in the 1930's, who loses his teeth and is now determined to make sure others do not lose theirs; and the college student and future US Senator who helps buy the building so the free clinic would not be shut down permanently. A young nurse-practitioner joins the organization as it expands beyond one Connecticut town, and today, CHC and its Weitzman Institute operate programs across the US, transforming the delivery of health care for populations who have been ignored.

"An antidote to modern cynicism. Charles Barber brilliantly tells the astonishing story of how an idea - healthcare as a right for all - can become a reality in one community. If you think it can't be done, read this book!"

- Danielle Ofri, MD, author of When We Do Harm: A Doctor Confronts Medical Error

"Peace & Health reads like a novel but is all true: an inspiring story about community-based healthcare too easily ignored amidst medicine's penchant for high-tech care."

- Joseph J. Fins, MD, Professor of Medicine and Medical Ethics, Weill Cornell Medical College

"In this affecting and expertly crafted book, Charles Barber tells the story of how a few inspired, resourceful, militantly decent people created from scratch an enduring institution that makes a lot of people's lives better. A much-needed reminder of what we're capable of at our best."

- Carlo Rotella, PhD, Professor of English, Boston College, and author of The World Is Always Coming to an End: Pulling Together and Apart in a Chicago Neighborhood

"For those committed to community engagement, Peace & Health provides a deep wellspring of hope."

- Chyrell Bellamy, PhD, Director, Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health

"More than a history of healthcare innovation, this book celebrates the passion that drives change in the world."

- Ian Roberts, MD, Professor of Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Charles Barber is a Writer in Residence at Wesleyan University and a Lecturer in Psychiatry at Yale. He has written widely on mental health and criminal justice issues, both in popular and scholarly publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Salon, The Nation and Scientific American Mind. Charlie has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS News, and NPR's Fresh Air. Charlie was educated at Harvard and Columbia Universities. He lives in Connecticut with his family.