Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) awarded $455,000 to 12 North Texas nonprofits through its 2024 Health Grant opportunity. CFT’s Health Grant opportunity drives holistic care for people throughout their pregnancies, connecting parents to quality healthcare during the perinatal period, which encompasses the time from when one becomes pregnant to after birth.
According to a 2022 report from the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee (via CFT), Black women are more than twice as likely to die from childbirth compared to white women. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that Texas also saw an 8% rise in infant deaths due to congenital anomalies and pre-term births in 2021.
“Prior to March of this year, many women lost their healthcare coverage 60 days after giving birth. Now thanks to the new law HB12, women on Medicaid can have health coverage for a full year post-partum," Dimple Sureka, community philanthropy officer at CFT. "Returning to work also brings challenges navigating breastfeeding, childcare and inadequate sleep. New moms often don’t take time off from work because of financial consequences, and as a result, can’t focus on their own health.”
By investing in organizations supporting parents during the perinatal period, CFT hopes to help reduce pre-term births, maternal mortality and severe morbidity – serious and life-threatening problems that can occur during labor and childbirth.
Funding support prioritized Dallas County organizations that focus on advancing maternal health equity and justice by: serving women of reproductive age facing barriers to high-quality perinatal care and support, including low-income women and Black and Indigenous women; incorporating holistic practices; having clear protocols and partnerships to ensure clients receive the appropriate level of care, when needed.
The 12 nonprofits that received funding are:
Abide Women’s Health Services ($25,000): Provides affordable prenatal and postnatal care, childbirth education, doula support, ultrasounds, and lactation advice. Abide Women’s Health Services helps ensure every individual receives holistic, accessible, and judgement-free healthcare.
Delighted to Doula Birth Services ($50,000): Offers postpartum wellness services and education to address the issue of Black maternal mortality. Delighted to Doula provides resources for nutrition, housing, and mental healthcare.
HHM Health ($25,000): Delivers comprehensive obstetric and gynecological care. Clients also have access to additional medical care services including behavioral health, vision care, nutrition services, chronic illness management, pharmacy services, and oral health services.
Hope Cottage ($50,000): Supports women from pregnancy to parenthood with medical services, educational resources, material assistance, referral to community partners, and birth advocate support if needed.
In My Shoes ($50,000): Provides pregnant women experiencing homelessness with food, housing, clothing, and individualized support for physical and mental health, helping them transition to stable housing.
Jonathan's Place ($50,000): Addresses youth homelessness, teen pregnancy, and poverty by providing safe shelter, resources, education, and life-skills training for pregnant and parenting youth.
LBU Community Clinic ($50,000): Offers no-cost walk-in pregnancy tests, connects patients to obstetrics care, pediatric services, social support services, financial assistance, virtual visits, and insurance eligibility assessments.
Nexus Recovery Center ($50,000): Provides substance use disorder treatment and mental health services for pregnant and parenting women. Programming also includes prenatal, delivery, and postnatal care, parenting education, and support services in collaboration with Parkland Hospital.
Storks Nest Charity Fund of Dallas ($5,000): Offers education for pregnant women focused on pre-natal care in an effort to prevent low birth-weight, premature births and infant death. Partnering with Dallas College, SNCFD creates lactation rooms, aiming to improve access to education for mothers and women of color.
TexProtects ($25,000): Part of the Texas Pre-Natal to Three Collaborative, TexProtects advocates for policies supporting maternal health, early childhood education, and family support.
United Way of Metropolitan Dallas ($50,000): The Flourishing Family program provides home visits for postpartum caregivers, offering physical and mental health assessments, childcare education, and referrals to essential services, aiming to reduce emergency room visits and improve mental health outcomes.
Viola's House ($25,000): Supports teenage and young women facing unstable housing during pregnancy or early motherhood, offering short-term housing, mental health support, life skills classes, and access to prenatal and postnatal medical care, with plans to expand services.
All grants distributed were supported by the Phoebe & Russell H. Perry Fund at Communities Foundation of Texas.
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