IMMEDIATE RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 18,2020 MEDIA CONTACT: MONA DAVIS, DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND OUTREACH

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

MONTGOMERY, AL- The Gift of Life Foundation celebrated the accomplishments of more than 90 moms and babies who graduated from its programs with their first-ever virtual graduation ceremony, which aired live on Facebook (@GOLFOUND) and YouTube (THE GIFT OF LIFE FOUNDATION-MGM) earlier today.   The moms completed one of three Gift of Life Programs: Parents as Teachers, Nurse-Family Partnership, and Mobile Family Coaching, which provide home visiting, virtual family coaching  and direct linkage to community resources to improve birth outcomes and reduce maternal deaths to women and families most at-risk for infant mortality in the River Region and target areas in East Alabama. 

Five graduates received Gift of Life's highest award, the Martha Jinright Resilience Award, for overcoming what could seem to be insurmountable odds to meet and exceed the personal and parenting goals they set for themselves with their nurse or coach over the past 18 months. The winners were: 

Belinda Russell                 

Kandace Harris                 

Jaquita Robinson             

 Kerisha Reed                     

MyKea Davis

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DOWNLOAD SUMMIT PRESENTATIONS HERE

The Alabama Department of Public Health and Alabama Healthy Start Grantees will present the virtual summit "Examining the Roots: The Impact of Maternal Mortality on Infant Mortality” on September 9, 2020, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

This year’s summit will explore the connection between women’s health and healthy birth outcomes; the state of rural health care for women; and COVID-19, health and mortality in Alabama.

Summit presenters will include:

• Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell, U.S. Representative of Alabama’s 7th Congressional District

• Monica McLemore, RN, MPH, PHD, Associate Professor, University of California, San Francisco

• Albert Holloway, MD, Pediatrics Specialist in Montgomery, AL

The event will also feature a panel discussion that includes families and others who have been impacted by maternal and infant loss.

This year’s summit is offered to health providers, health advocates and the community at no cost. For more information and to register go to https://golfound.org/2020-infant-mortality-summit, email mdavis@golfound.org or visit ADPH at www.alabamapublichealth.gov.

SPONSORS: Alabama Department of Public Health, Gift of Life Foundation and Birmingham Healthy Start Plus.

Gift of Life Community Action Network (GOL CAN) is all about advancing community partnerships! Our CAN member, the Council on Substance Abuse (COSA) is partnering with Trenholm State Community College in a Community Mask Giveaway on Monday, August 3, 2020, from 9:00am-3:00 pm at the Hope Recovery Center. The event will also provide information on substance abuse and underage drinking prevention, and where you or someone you know can go to get help.

Gift of Life in partnership with the Wellness Coalition is inviting area professionals and community members to join us for an online panel discussion on overcoming barriers to breastfeeding on July 29 from 10 a.m.-Noon.  The webinar is free, but CECs are available for nurses (2.4) and social workers (2.0) at a cost of $8.

The workshop will address several barriers to breastfeeding and ways health providers and encourage breastfeeding. It is also for expectant moms and dads and will address any concerns they may have about breastfeeding. Go to our Events page at https://golfound.org/events and click the link to register.

Gift of Life Nurse Supervisor Kristi Gay and GOL mom Temea and son Jayce are currently featured in an inspiring parenting profile on Nurse-Family Partnership's national website that explores Temea's time in Gift of Life's NFP and how the warm, supportive relationship she established with her nurse home visitor helped her achieve her goals and become a successful parent. To read the profile, click HERE.

MONTGOMERY, AL - In accordance with the latest COVID-19 developments and best practices recommended by federal, state and local authorities, Gift of Life Foundation staff will be working remotely and will implement telehealth protocols to ensure the health of employees and the families that we serve through April 30, 2020.

 During this period, all nurse home visitors, parent educators, family coaches and leadership staff will be accessible by phone and email to ensure continuity of services. All Gift of Life families are also invited to visit our new COVID-19 UPDATE PAGE AT https://golfound.org/covid19-information-resources to find helpful information and links to resources on COVID-19 and pregnancy.  

For our community partners, any referrals that are received through our website or by fax will be processed in the customary way. All group meetings, community education and outreach will be temporarily suspended until we have more of a sense of how COVID-19 is impacting our community.  Regular updates will be provided on our website at www.golfound.org  and on Facebook @GOLFound.

Gift of Life Foundation’s Community Action Network recently sponsored a skill building workshop on grant writing for area health and service providers and non-profit groups that serve at-risk families. The workshop was held at county health department and drew about 30 participants. Ann Cooper, Vice President of Community Initiatives for River Region United Way, facilitated the session and helped attendees navigate the grant writing process, from research, identifying needs and capacity, to retooling mission statements, community collaborations and learning how to effectively tell an organization’s story. The purpose of the event was to equipped providers and nonprofits with the skills they need to increase their program’s sustainability beyond grant funding.

Amen! Gift of Life Community Action Network kicked off its first Safe Sleep Sunday at Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church in Montgomery. Members had an opportunity to come to our table and pick up brochures, pose with safe sleep Baby Marcus and ask questions so they could learn about safe sleep, how it disproportionately impacts communities of color and what the community response to reducing Sudden Infant Death and other sleep-related causes of infant death should be. Special thanks to Gariesa Galbreath, church secretary and director of the Pilgrim Rest Project Share Program, and Pastor Walter E. Ellis for supporting our efforts to share this important message. If your church is interested in hosting a safe sleep outreach at a Sunday or Saturday service, please call Mona Davis, CAN Coordinator at (334) 273-7800.

Gift of Life Nurse Supervisor Kathy Pounds and Nurse Family Partnership alum Kayla Ramsey have been featured in the national publication, The Hechinger Report, on the effectiveness of parenting apps like Goal Mama, which GOL moms enrolled in our NFP program use to track personal goals, doctor visits, parenting lessons and connect with their nurse home visitor. Kathy and Kayla have also been featured on NFP's national website and have been interviewed by the company that developed Goal Mama. Click the link below to read the feature.
https://mailchi.mp/hechingerreport.org/parenting-apps-arent-just-about-the-kids-anymore?e=85e89ea22b&fbclid=IwAR2Djr2g-hkPAPSmnK_Uvv9gowK2lWm535ccz7zU0PeVOWX-fPa9fyWtoYc