Not many people can say that they have a degree in communications, have changed a law in Ethiopia, and helped restore running water to a hospital that had been without for 25 years. But Webster University alum Kim Bouldin-Jones can.
Bouldin-Jones grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and came to Webster University in 1983 after hearing about the Conservatory program through a friend. Instead, she fell into the School of Communications and began working toward a degree in Communications. She hoped it would help her achieve her dream of photographing fashion in London. But Bouldin-Jones diverted from both, eventually becoming an active member in community and world service.
She graduated in the 1980s, the decade of Madonna, Cabbage Patch Kids and the spike of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Chaos ensued and fear grew alongside falsities about the manner in which the virus spread, painting a target on the backs of people within marginalized communities. During that time, Bouldin-Jones spent a stint of time living in San Francisco. She saw the impact the HIV/AIDS crisis had on people, and developed interest in the topic.
“There was a freedom people had prior to HIV and AIDS and then all of a sudden, there was this disease where people were scared and people were nervous … HIV/AIDS was something that could literally take your life away and shorten it,” Bouldin-Jones said. “When you look back during those time periods, it was this cloud that was over people’s heads. When I started to work in HIV, it was coworkers, friends and people that I worked with that were infected and affected by HIV. I lost a lot of people in my life to the disease.”
Upon graduating, she moved back to St. Louis and began working at Planned Parenthood, doing some of the clinic’s first rounds of testing and counseling of HIV/AIDS. Bouldin-Jones received CDC training to properly test for the virus and talk with people who had been diagnosed. From here, she began work with the St. Louis Effort for AIDS, working with those living with AIDS or who were at risk of getting the virus..
“You have to start where they are,” Bouldin-Jones said. “There was a time when I first started working in HIV that it was a death sentence. Before they got the medication, infection to death in some areas was 18 months. The only cure we had was to prevent people from getting it.”
Bouldin-Jones left her position with the St. Louis Effort for AIDS to spend more time with her children. In the early 2000s, she worked part-time, teaching health and counseling at John Burroughs High School. A few years in, she was invited to teach harm reduction and HIV prevention to a group of doctors in Africa.
After seeing and visiting hospitals that had no running water or had leaks in their roofs, she wanted to step in to help. She began her nonprofit, Medical Facility Aid (MFA), after her first trip to Africa, officially launching it in 2008. Countless medical organizations and nonprofits assisted hospitals, but Bouldin-Jones couldn’t find one that helped upkeep the infrastructure of small hospitals in the developing world.
“How can people get healthy in sick hospitals?” Bouldin-Jones said.
A hospital in Ethiopia was the nonprofit’s first complete project. The hospital, which had been without running water for 25 years, was the only one in an area populated by nearly 8 million people. It was a government facility, which meant Bouldin-Jones had to work with the Ethiopian Minister of Health to change laws regarding the donation of money to government hospitals. After two and a half years, the hospital had running water.
Bouldin-Jones returns to Africa regularly, taking a short break during the COVID-19 pandemic and to recover from surgery on her foot. She says she’s eager to return next summer, feeling far from done with her work. Bouldin-Jones received the Loretto Award from Webster University in 2021 and currently serves on the School of Communication’s Advisory Board.
“I do believe that I have a lot more in the tank to give,” Bouldin-Jones said. “I am anxious to go to the next phase and see what’s left out there for me to do. I am excited to see what the next chapter holds.”
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