Bright Beginnings, a mentorship program designed to ensure the well being of inner-city mothers and their babies, will be able to help even more area families thanks to a $50,000 grant from the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven to expand the initiative.
Established two and a half years ago, Bright Beginnings pairs volunteers from the Schools of Medicine and Nursing, and from elsewhere in the New Haven community, with pregnant women ages 15 to 24 years, who receive prenatal care at the Women's Center at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Together, the mentors and mothers-to-be focus on the importance of timely health care visits and immunizations for babies. They also address appropriate use of emergency medical services, ways to minimize the number of childhood injuries, encourage early stimulation of babies and the value of parental self-esteem. To date, the program has assisted more than 125 families in the Greater New Haven area.
"We believe that Bright Beginnings can serve as a model to help alleviate some of the substantial health problems faced by underserved, poor families," says Dr. John M. Leventhal, professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine, who serves as the medical director of Bright Beginnings
According to Elizabeth Demir, a founding member and chair of the Bright Beginnings advisory committee, "The Community Foundation grant will allow us to expand the number of successful matches this promising program can sustain each year."
The foundation's grant was awarded to the Friends of the Children's Hospital at Yale-New Haven through its Ellen D. Galpin Fund. The Friends of the Children's Hospital, a nonprofit, volunteer organization that is part of the medical school's department of pediatrics, is dedicated to improving the health of children through advocacy, outreach, education, research and clinical care.
To volunteer as a mentor for the Bright Beginnings program, call Lyla Johnson, at (203) 785-7597.
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