United Way creates ‘safety net’ to improve outcomes for babies in Bridgeport

BRIDGEPORT — The city has won a competitive three-year grant to support innovative, community-based efforts to improve outcomes for infants and toddlers.

The $250,000 award comes from the Pritzker Children’s Initiative, is one of 10 awarded nationwide and the only one in Connecticut.

United Way’s Bridgeport Prospers will manage the grant on behalf of a coalition of 41 public and private partners to strengthen programs and access to them. The goal is to give young children in the city a better start in life. They are calling the program the Baby Bundle.

Those involved call it a very big deal and the culmination of four years of effort.

“This will be a model for the state, hopefully,” said Beth Bye, commissioner of the state’s Office of Early Education.

Bye said the hope is not only that many more families will have access to prenatal and early childhood care, but that by targeting families that need it most, the grant program will help maximize the use of the state’s $17 million investment in early child care slots in the city.

Through the three-year grant, an estimated 1,050 infants and toddlers will gain access to a coordinated network of programs aimed at improving maternal and infant health, healthy child development and school readiness.

One such program is Earth’s Natural Touch, Birth Care & Beyond, a city-based doula service offered by SciHonor Devotion.

The doula service works with healthcare providers at Southwest Community Health Center to not only ensure healthier outcomes for expectant moms but train physicians to recognize and tackle clinical racism and bias that can compromise health.

“We are excited to jump in and get the work done to make change,” Devotion said on a Zoom call Wednesday to announce the grant.

It is estimated one quarter of low-income families in Bridgeport receive little or no prenatal care.

The aim is to reduce that number and also provide those families with services once the baby is born through age 3.

“(We want them to) have access to an ecosystem of supports and services,” said Allison Logan, executive director of Bridgeport Prospers, which is funded by the United Way.

Up to three-quarters of the city’s 3-year-olds don’t meet all age-expected development milestones, Logan added.

The funding will help support wellness screenings through Bridgeport Hospital, a partnership with the Yale New Haven Health System’s maternal mental health and wellness program, early literacy support, home visits, more parenting resources and a boost in licensed family childcare programs.

“We want every mom to have access to this,” Logan said.

“This helps pull our safety net just a little bit tighter,” Mollie Melbourne, president of Southwest Community Health said of the collaboration. Southwest sees about 600 prenatal patients a year.

Jeff Kimball, chief executive officer of the United Way of Coastal Fairfield County, called the program an early investment that will reap a big return in terms of child development and the economy when those children grow into healthy, productive adults.

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, who also participated in the announcement said the initiative will transform a lot of lives in Bridgeport and beyond if it is copied elsewhere.

“I am impressed by (its) holistic approach,” Blumenthal said.

Logan said COVID may initially change how some of the Baby Bundle initiatives are delivered — like virtual home visits instead of in person — but will not stop it.

“COVID has brought to light disparities we knew already existed in health justice,” Logan said.