Grant Partners

The Family Health Center of Worcester’s (FHCW) mission is to improve the health and well-being of all residents in the Greater Worcester area, especially culturally diverse populations. 

FHCW will expand the capacity of its “OB Advocates” program which uses a case management model for all pregnant individuals from prenatal to two years post-partum.  The one-on-one support will be supplemented by group programs. 

Family Nurturing Center of Massachusetts (FNC) has been dedicated to building nurturing communities where children are cherished, families are supported, and healthy human development is promoted by all. 

FNC will deliver perinatal community education and supports through home visiting, parent-child groups, development screenings and by providing resources to families. 

The Neighborhood Birth Center (NBC) believes that people living in and around Boston should have access to a full range of pregnancy care and birthing options and improved health outcomes.

NBC will educate public health experts, policy makers, and payers regarding issues to advance midwifery education, workforce development, and access to birth centers, with a focus on equitable reimbursement.

First Teacher is a community of parents and caregivers working together to prepare all our children for success. First Teacher seeks to actively dispel the myth that Black and Brown children need to be saved; rather, their powerful parents need to be supported and loved through a powerful community that, together, fights systems which may harm children.

This grant will allow First Teacher to embed year-round English and Spanish perinatal health programming into the organization’s services.

Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC)provides new immigrants, especially Asians, with the support and resources needed to thrive in the U.S. BCNC ensures that the children, youth, and families they serve have the resources and support they need to achieve greater economic success and social well-being.  

BCNC will work to improve maternal mental health outcomes and increase culturally competed care for Asian immigrant families. They will provide the Parenthood and ME program for Chinese-speaking families during prenatal and post-partum periods when birthing people are at elevated risk for depression. 

The North Quabbin Health Collaborative’s (NQHC) mission is to bring trained public health professionals and services to rural communities that face long-standing barriers to equitable care.

Funding will support one-to-one nurse visits for families across NQHC’s five towns focused on families historically excluded from postpartum care, particularly in rural and structurally marginalized communities.

The Alliance’s Maternal-Child Health Task Force focuses on bringing together key stakeholders to 
address the most pressing health issues related to pregnant people and their families. 

The Alliance will expand upon their Doula Academy by training more doulas who reflect the 
community, launching a mentorship program for current doulas, and piloting a referral system. 

Vital CxNs’ (“vital connections”) mission is to partner with communities to co-create a more accessible, effective & equitable health ecosystem. They work with historically marginalized communities across Boston, with a focus on Black, Latinx, immigrant, and low-income populations who disproportionately experience health inequities.

Vital CxNs will work to strengthen perinatal mental health equity in Greater Boston by developing accessible educational tools, expanding community-centered resource navigation, and building peer leadership capacity for pregnant and postpartum families.

Propa City’s mission is to provide education, advocacy, public awareness, and support services to families in the community experiencing all types of loss.

Propa City will train doulas and other perinatal health professionals to better support families who experience infant loss. 

Greenfield Community College Foundation is the only public two-year college in the Franklin County region, serving as an essential hub for education and workforce development.

GCC will create an accredited training pathway for Certified Professional Midwives, thereby increasing access to trained licensed midwives. 

Sacred Birthing Village (SBV) works to improve maternal and infant health in Southeastern Massachusetts. 

SBV will train diverse individuals as doulas across Greater New Bedford to provide more support for birthing people in their communities.

The mission of It Takes a Village is to empower families and strengthen communities by providing the tools needed to break cycles of isolation and poverty. 

It Takes a Village (ITAV) and the Green River Doula Network (GRDN) will expand community-led perinatal education and support services for historically marginalized families across Western Massachusetts.

Accompany Doula Care works to integrate community doula support within health care systems and clinical teams, enhancing the birthing experience and equitable health outcomes by centering the client’s voice. 

Accompany Doula Care will partner with Health Leads to create a cross-sector workgroup (including providers, hospitals and other stakeholders) to increase equitable maternal health outcomes by focusing on hospitals’ readiness and acceptability of doulas in care teams. 

The mission of Worcester Addresses Childhood Trauma is to provide usable, accurate, and relevant community mental health education and support. 

Using findings from the Community Health Needs Assessment and City Wide Black and Brown Maternal Health Plan, they will deliver culturally responsive perinatal health education.

Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC) supports children and families with direct services and state-level advocacy to ensure that there is a voice for children in the legislature. 

MSPCC will host the Mind the Gap Coalition -- a statewide group of health care and community-based organizations, other nonprofits, mental health and maternity care providers, survivors of Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs), and other advocates working to improve state policies impacting perinatal mental health (PMH) within MSPCC. The two will work together to expand MSPCC’s advocacy and policy work to support prenatal to postnatal well-being.