Why Public Media Still Matters — And How It Helped Shape The First Save

This year, I came across a PBS documentary called The First Responders. It told the story of Freedom House Ambulance Service — a pioneering group of Black men in 1967 Pittsburgh who became the first paramedics in America. It wasn’t the spark that made me write The First Save, but it helped shape it. The documentary provided important research and insight as I worked to tell this story with care and truth. That’s the quiet power of public media. It preserves history. It elevates stories that most of us never learned in school. It gives independent creators and curious minds the tools to keep those stories alive. Public media is under threat. Congress recently rescinded already-approved funding for PBS. Without public media, stories like Freedom House fade.

We’re crowdfunding now to bring The First Save to life — a short film that honors the legacy of Freedom House and the men who served their community when no one else would. If you’ve ever learned something from a public broadcast, if you believe stories like this should exist, consider supporting our campaign.