Healthy Start to benefit from #ONEDAY fundraising event

The Pittsburgh Foundation's #ONEDAY Critical Needs Alert online giving event is raising money to support organizations that provide basic needs for our neighbors. Since 2013, Critical Needs Alerts have raised nearly $14 million. Far too many people — especially those who are Black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) — are unable to meet their basic needs due to limited access to resources and opportunities that would help them thrive. Healthy Start of Pittsburgh is among the organizations that will benefit from this year’s #ONEDAY online giving event, which takes place from 8 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 6 at PittsburghGives.org. All gifts over $25 will be increased with funds from the $550,000 incentive pool. The Foundation spoke with Healthy Start's CEO, Jada Shirriel, about the organization’s work and how #ONEDAY will help. 

What is Healthy Start? How does your organization help people?

Healthy Start, Inc. Pittsburgh is a public health organization that supports healthier pregnancies, safer births, stronger families and a more equitable health care system. Our goal is to improve health for women and babies by making sure all families — especially Black families — have access to affordable, quality maternal and child health care in their communities. To do this, we use a multidisciplinary team model — which is inclusive of community health workers, certified lactation consultants and counselors, Lamaze-certified childbirth educators, certified doulas, nurses, licensed mental health clinicians, researchers, community health advocates and other public health practitioners who touch the entire community — galvanized in support of a vision where communities are devoid of health disparities and all babies can thrive. From the community health worker that teaches a new mom proper breastfeeding technique to the project coordinator showing members of a family how to prepare nutritious food, Healthy Start is making a powerful impact on families. Since our founding, we’ve served over 17,976 mothers/birthing people, fathers/father figures and babies with direct services, as well as thousands more community members through education programs.
 

KDKA's Pittsburgh Today Live visited Healthy Start to learn how #ONEDAY will support its services for Pittsburgh region families. 

What types of services does Healthy Start offer?

Healthy Start offers prenatal, birth and postpartum support to mothers, babies, families and other community members at-risk for poor birth outcomes in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. We focus on Black mothers, babies and families. Through our array of programs that are offered at no cost to participants, Healthy Start provides early prenatal care, health literacy, breastfeeding promotion, safe sleep education, depression screening and intervention, substance use prevention and more.

Are your programs for mothers only, or do you serve fathers, too?

Healthy Start serves the whole family. The active involvement of fathers has been shown to positively impact health outcomes during and after pregnancy and has been a staple of the Healthy Start model for decades. Our Fatherhood Program makes sure fathers, partners and father figures of families enrolled in Healthy Start home visiting are supported in promoting family health, coparenting and resource connections. Another thing people may not know about Healthy Start is that we provide services across the life cycle. Our Adolescent Services programs are focused on building confidence and promoting life planning and healthy decision-making for students in grades sixth through 12th — including preventing and delaying pregnancy, and parenting. Healthy Start programing touches the entire community.

What challenges unique to Pittsburgh are your families experiencing?

In Pennsylvania, Black women experience the highest maternal and infant health disparities according to the latest March of Dimes Pennsylvania Report Card. In Allegheny County, Black babies are five times more likely to die in the year following birth than white babies. Further exacerbating this disparity are challenges like lack of transportation, poor nutrition, socioeconomic status and harmful social constructs such as racism. Fortunately, when birthing people have access to high-quality maternal health care, the chance of experiencing a pregnancy-related complication or death is exponentially lower. This is why Healthy Start exists and why we co-developed the Allegheny County BIRTH Plan for Black Babies and Families: Battling Inequities and Realizing Transformational Health Outcomes.

Tell us how your programs have impacted participants and their families?

One Healthy Start participant shared, "The program did what a lot of programs don't do. And that is to get ideas, experiences and feedback directly from people in the community. That's always the way to go. Healthy Start has set the standard. The program is inviting and judgement free. You can gain a wealth of healthy options for your family and an awesome network."

How will #ONEDAY matter to you and your organization?

Community-driven, equity-centered events like the #ONEDAY Critical Needs Alert empower community members to invest in Black-led and -serving nonprofits like Healthy Start. This fuels our work to connect Black families to culturally relevant birthing and parenthood resources now and drive impactful systems changes in the future.