$4.5 million grant to reduce infant mortality, improve birth outcomes
The infant mortality rate among African Americans in Grand Rapids has decreased 23 percent over the last six years. Still, African American babies are nearly four times more likely to die before their first birthday than white babies. Strong Beginnings - a federally-funded program that provides outreach, case management, education, and mental health services - is working to eliminate that disparity. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation recently committed $4.5 million to Strong Beginnings to continue its work to improve birth outcomes among African Americans. Since the program started in 2004, low birth weight among participants has dropped from 17 percent to 7 percent.  "Being born too small or too early can have lifelong impacts on a child's ability to learn in school and ultimately be successful in life," explained Peggy VanderMeulen, Strong Beginnings Program Director. Strong Beginnings starts working with women early in pregnancy, helping with anything from access to health care to quitting smoking to finding housing or employment. Services continue until the child is two years old.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant - which will be paid over five years - will allow Strong Beginnings to nearly double its capacity so that it can serve 800 women a year. It will fund a fatherhood initiative, breastfeeding support groups, and expand community-level efforts to improve the overall system of care. Additionally, it will support Strong Beginnings' work to address racial equity.
 "There's more than twenty years of research that suggests the chronic stress of dealing with racism on a day-to-day basis over a lifetime accounts for the disparity in birth outcomes," VanderMeulen said. "The stress can lead to higher blood pressure, a decreased immune system, and higher release of stress hormones, all of which work together to help the baby be born too soon."
VanderMeulen points to studies that show disparities remain regardless of a mother's income or level of education. - African American women with incomes of $35,000-$40,000 have worse birth outcomes than white women with incomes of less than $10,000.
- African American women with graduate degrees have worse birth outcomes than white women who did not complete 10th grade.
Spectrum Health is the fiduciary of Strong Beginnings, which also involves nine other community partners, including Arbor Circle, Grand Rapids African American Health Institute and Cherry Street Health Services. Please click on the link for recent coverage of Strong Beginnings in the Grand Rapids Press.
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KinderCamp helps prepare young children for school success
 | | Severiano at KinderCamp |
School started early for five-year-old Severiano. He knew his classroom, his fellow students, and the routines of kindergarten well before the first day. Severiano was part of the first class of KinderCamp, a new program intended to ease the transition to kindergarten and prepare children and their families for school success.
"It gets him used to going to school so he knows what to expect. It just keeps the kids focused on school," his mother Lichele Greer said of KinderCamp.
Children and their parents attended KinderCamp sessions at Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy and Burton Elementary School in Grand Rapids last month. While the incoming kindergarteners were with their teachers, their parents also were in class, discussing things like how to be involved in their child's education, how to keep their family organized, and school programs such as the Kent School Services Network.
"They've raised the bar on the expectations for kindergarten," William Griffin said as he attended KinderCamp with his son. "It does help me to understand some of those things."
KinderCamp is a joint project of Grand Rapids Public Schools, First Steps, and the Great Start Collaborative of Kent County. It was funded by a grant from the Early Childhood Investment Corporation and Grand Rapids Public Schools Title I funds.
Click on the link to see more photos from KinderCamp. |
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Children's Healthcare Access Program leads to healthier kids, fewer costly hospital visits
The Children's Healthcare Access Program (CHAP) is demonstrating that when we reallocate resources to prevention and early intervention, children in our community are healthier. An independent evaluation found that visits to the emergency department have decreased 14% at participating healthcare providers, while inpatient hospital admissions are down 12%. The decreases are even more significant among children with the most significant needs: 35% decline in emergency department use and 62% decline in hospitalizations.
Click on the links for the CHAP evaluation report and for recent coverage of CHAP in local and statewide media. |
