![\"Arete](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/MADWSSFZMNESZFETBTCQ2EIIWY.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Arete Health Shield’s CEO, Byron Sanders (left), announces Creatives Care Dallas, a program designed to make preventive health care and mental wellness resources affordable and accessible for Dallas County’s creative community at the Latino Cultural Center in Dallas on Oct. 24, 2025.<\/p>\n
Nathan Hunsinger \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n
The 2019 death of Dallas spoken word poet Rage Almighty in particular spurred Arete Health\u2019s CEO Byron Sanders into action. <\/p>\n
The poet, born Adam Tench, lacked access to health insurance and used a secondhand inhaler for his asthma, Sanders said. Tench\u2019s death was from very \u201ctreatable medical circumstances,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cThat struck me as profoundly unfair.\u201d <\/p>\n
The new program does not provide comprehensive coverage nor is it intended to replace insurance. Still, for those unable to afford health care or medication, it \u201cgets them a long way,\u201d Sanders said. <\/p>\n
Creatives Care Dallas also offers discounts on dental, vision and medical procedures. For specialized care such as dialysis and cancer treatment, the program\u2019s physicians can provide referrals. Members can add up to four other Dallas County residents to their coverage plan who do not need to be dependents or spouses. <\/p>\n
News Roundups<\/p>\n
By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n Dallas Music Office director Kristina Kirkenaer-Hart helps announce Creatives Care Dallas, a program designed to make preventive health care and mental wellness resources affordable and accessible for Dallas County’s creative community at the Latino Cultural Center in Dallas on Oct. 24, 2025.<\/p>\n Nathan Hunsinger \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n Kristina Kirkenaer-Hart, director of the Dallas Music Office, surveyed artists about their needs early into her tenure and affordable health care emerged as a top concern. <\/p>\n She was keen on finding a solution that would prioritize flexibility for touring artists to have care even as they were away from Dallas and that would ensure prescriptions did not cost \u201can arm and a leg.\u201d <\/p>\n Arete Health had the infrastructure. The music office knew people in need. <\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to be exporting our artists to other cities that care more about their creatives,\u201d Kirkenaer-Hart said. \u201cWe want them to go away, but we always want them to come home.\u201d <\/p>\n When Cameron McCloud<\/a>, front man for the local band Cure for Paranoia, aged out of his parents\u2019 insurance, he stopped taking his prescribed antidepressants. \u201cIt seemed like the only option at the time,\u201d said the 32-year-old, who has bipolar disorder. <\/p>\n He planned to enroll in Creatives Care Dallas for access to mental health services including therapy and medicine. <\/p>\n Cameron McCloud of Cure for Paranoia gives a performance after the announcement of Creatives Care Dallas, a program designed to make preventive health care and mental wellness resources affordable and accessible for Dallas County’s creative community, at the Latino Cultural Center in Dallas on Oct. 24, 2025.<\/p>\n Nathan Hunsinger \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n Part of the proceeds from Creatives Care Dallas will be donated in honor of Tench to Amplified Minds<\/a>, a local mental health nonprofit. <\/p>\n The announcement of the program follows a similar effort from the Fort Worth Music Office, which last year established Sound Care in partnership with JPS Health Network to connect musicians to health care options. <\/p>\n Sanders attributed the relatively low enrollment fee for Creatives Care Dallas in part to technological advances made during and after the pandemic. <\/p>\n \u201cTelemedicine has radically reduced the per-person cost for delivering a lot of important health care services,\u201d said Sanders, whose background includes a stint at pharmaceuticals company Pfizer. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people who will tell you that this can\u2019t be done, [that] the numbers don\u2019t work out. That is false,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re also trying to do is radically change people\u2019s belief about what they deserve out of the health care system.\u201d <\/p>\n Details<\/p>\n For sign up and further information, visit visitdallas.com\/creatives-care-dallas\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n Her new single, \u201cLover Girl,\u201d is about her relationship with the Mavericks shooting guard.<\/p>\n Readers enjoyed reading about misophonia; urge our Texas senators to end the shutdown to save the WIC nutrition program; support rainbow crosswalks; and would love more coverage of high school marching bands. <\/p>\n More than 40 bands including System of a Down, Evanescence and Power Trip slated to perform at the festival. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gig-based and freelance creatives in Dallas County can now enroll in a health and wellness program catered to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":338225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,11321,7711,1596,7290,1141,975,358,173,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,5548],"class_list":{"0":"post-338224","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arts-entertainment","10":"tag-arts-access","11":"tag-dallas","12":"tag-dallas-county","13":"tag-health-care","14":"tag-music","15":"tag-texas","16":"tag-tv","17":"tag-tx","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa","24":"tag-visual-arts"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115451508656692391","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Dallas](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/E3TEKWFJPFFUZGXZNAHHGJ446A.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Cameron](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/BWQU2BHQUZFOBPGEQVWGQA7AAM.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Megan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6Z6NLGEZWVDADDVBJAJYOXZ5IM.jpg\")
<\/a>Megan Thee Stallion becoming a regular at Mavs games to support boyfriend Klay Thompson<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Members](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/V3XXGNAWDRBHXMCYOL4KXWCFVE.jpg\")
<\/a>Letters to the Editor – Misophonia, WIC nutrition, rainbow crosswalks, marching bands <\/a><\/p>\n![\"Evanescence](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/DXFASRFHDEAPEQJPSUAZLD4FUE.jpg\")
<\/a>Texas Motor Speedway to host Sick New World Texas Festival in 2026<\/a><\/p>\n