The Gift of Life Story: Our History

The Gift of Life Foundation (GOL) is a non-profit, community-based organization, founded in 1988 as a result of a crisis situation in obstetrical care in the Montgomery area. Our area was known as one of the worst areas in the nation to have a baby. Obstetricians were leaving. Infant mortality rates were increasing, as well as high rates of low birthweight babies. Hospitals were experiencing high numbers of walk-in deliveries. In essence, the system of perinatal care was fragmented, uncoordinated, and in disarray.

Gift of Life emerged when a Montgomery county-wide coalition of concerned community leaders, private obstetricians, pediatricians, local hospitals, and city, county and state government leaders formed to address the problem. Federal grant dollars and community funds were solicited and used as seed money creating the first managed maternity care program in the region.

During the first year of GOL’s operation, the organization applied for and was awarded the first Medicaid Maternity waiver in Alabama. This waiver allowed the Gift of Life to subcontract with area health care entities such as local private physicians, a community health center, county health departments, and area hospitals to provide pregnancy-related services for Medicaid eligible recipients.

In 1999, Gift of Life expanded from four to twenty counties. As a result, Gift of Life became responsible for over thirty percent of Medicaid’s Maternity Care Program counties within Alabama. From 1999 to the program’s conclusion in 2015, GOL coordinated over 6,000 Medicaid patient deliveries annually. In December 2015, Gift of Life Foundation ended the Medicaid Maternity Care Program.

In 2000, the Gift of Life became the sponsoring entity for the Montgomery Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, that changed into the Growing Our Own Youth program. The program’s health educators provided health and healthy choices education to area youth in partnership with Montgomery Public Schools. Due to organizational changes in 2016, Growing Our Own Youth was temporarily put on hold pending program reassessment.

In 2009, the Gift of Life again led the way in maternity health care by implementing a Nurse-Family Partnership program, the first in Alabama. The goal of this evidence-based home visitation program is to help first-time mothers have healthier pregnancies, improve child health and development, and become more self-sufficient. Registered nurses partner with women and their families during the prenatal period and continue the relationship until the child reaches age two.

On September 1, 2014 the Gift of Life was awarded a five-year Healthy Start grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). This grant has provided the opportunity to build upon years of community-based experience to improve, expand and implement new case management activities to focus on the social determinants of health that impact perinatal care.

Other funding sources include The Daniel Foundation, Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention-Children’s Trust Fund, River Region United Way, Kiwanis Club of Montgomery, The Hobbs Foundation, and Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education.

Today, Gift of Life is building stronger communities through home visiting, mobile family coaching and other support programs that improve the health and well-being of at-risk families. Our motto is: Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies, Healthy Communities. Our programs address the maternal-child health needs of pregnant women, and parenting mothers and fathers and caregivers of infants and children through the age of two (2). Our goals are to reduce infant mortality, preterm birth and low birth weight; equip mothers to have a healthy pregnancy and birth outcome; provide effective parenting skills; and help mothers and fathers become more self-sufficient. Our goals are accomplished through our community outreach programs: Nurse Family Partnership, Parents as Teachers, Mobile Family Coaching and Fathers in Action.

Gift of Life Celebrates 35 Years of Impact

After an extensive two-year renovation, the Gift of Life Foundation (GOL) will reopened its doors to its families and the community with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 14, 2024.

Executive Director Dr. Regina Traylor said the grand reopening, which was held on the anniversary of GOL’s founding, reflects the tremendous growth the organization has experienced in its staff, programs and services over the last 36 years. She said the “new look” adequately reflects that progress and signals to the community that GOL is still vibrant and still advancing its mission to reduce infant mortality.

“There is a real sense of excitement at Gift of Life now that we have a building that represents our growth, acknowledges the contributions of our founding board members and first executive director who started this work back in 1988, and a forward direction we are moving in as we work to address maternal child health disparities and lower our state’s infant mortality rate,” said Traylor. “The new design not only better supports our staff and their work with GOL families but it gives us the space we need to collaborate with our community partners.”

The renovation took just over two years to complete. Division 12 provided architectural and interior design services, and construction was provided by JGS Construction.

The building features a contemporary design infused with touchdown stations, expanded client areas and meeting spaces, multipurpose space to support client consultations and in-person visits, a staff recovery room, a centralized workroom, a large storage space and glass walls that filter natural light into the building. Traylor said the response to the new design has been positive and a lot of thought was given to making it client-centered.

“It’s a brighter, livelier and open space that I know our families will be able to connect to,” she said. “From the artwork and designated breastfeeding area to the furniture selection and serene decor, I feel we’ve incorporated many of the things that our clients need to feel cared for and supported in our space.”