As part of moving toward a community-led model, FLOURISH recently announced the first two recipients of its Community Mobilization and Innovation (CMI) grant program, a fund reserved for community groups who have ideas that will improve the lives of Black moms, babies and families. The first round of funding will support Influence Church’s Project Impact program and Jamaa Birth Village’s St. Louis Doulas of Color Accessibility & Affordability project.
Project Impact is an eight-week support group effort that offers Black men and women stress-management and life-coping skills. Both groups will start in January 2020 for community members in the 63111 and 63106 zip codes. The women’s group will feature a beginners’ sewing class, where not only will participants learn how to sew, the group will learn coping strategies for managing stress, trauma and anxiety. “This program will enable female community members to connect with others, share experiences and provide an outlet to women facing challenges in their life,” says Kacie Starr Long, pastor of Influence Church. “As a church, we’re here to meet the needs of the community in creative, relevant and refreshing ways.”
Jamaa Birth Village, located in Ferguson, provides affordable doula and midwifery services for low-income Black women in St. Louis. Doulas, a centuries-long practice for childbirth that eventually got negated by modern medicine, provide emotional, physical, and educational support to an expectant or new mother. Using a racial equity lens and collaborative research study framework, Jamaa will use these CMI funds to raise awareness of the affordability, accessibility and benefits of doula services to improve health outcomes and advocate for doula coverage through Medicaid by demonstrating maternal health outcomes and cost-saving benefits. “All women should have access to doula care, it isn’t just reserved as a luxury service for the affluent. Doula support increases survival rates by reducing the likelihood of postpartum depression and cesarean section surgery and improves breast-feeding success rates,” says Brittany (“Tru”) Kellman, founder of Jamaa Birth Village. “Not until doulas are reintegrated into normal prenatal and perinatal care practices will all women and babies truly thrive.”
The CMI funds are designed to foster innovation and empowerment in St. Louis neighborhoods at greatest risk of maternal and infant mortality, and support groups who are not the traditional recipients of grant funds. “Many strong candidates applied in the first cycle but the review committee ultimately chose these two programs because they felt that these projects were presented strongly and truly aim to support Black mothers in the region through culturally responsive efforts that are racially equitable,” stated Brian Washington, Generate Health’s manager of planning & partnerships. Candidates that were not chosen were notified and encouraged to reapply.
If you or someone you know is interested in applying for the next funding cycle (deadline Feb. 14, 2020), visit flourishstlouis.org/community-mobilization-funds for more information.
