The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) acknowledges that long-standing systemic racism, including economic and environmental injustice, has created conditions that negatively affect marginalized communities, particularly people of color. These conditions, which limit opportunities for optimal health, are critical predictors of health outcomes, which is reflected in the significantly worse outcomes that occur for Indigenous, Black, or individual people of color, those with limited or low socio-economic means and educational opportunities, and those living in communities where structural and systemic inequalities (racial, social, economic, health, and environmental) have persisted. The Maternal Mortality Prevention Program aims to draw on the wisdom, strengths, resilience, and deep knowledge of the issues within communities to develop, implement, and evaluate programs and services.
Grantees selected for Community-led Solutions RFA #42001
Five organizations are funded to implement community-led solutions to decrease mortality and morbidity among pregnant and postpartum Coloradans. Thank you to the following organizations who have been selected for dedicating their expertise, time, and energy to improve perinatal health across the state of Colorado:
Center for African American Health (website)
The Center for African American Health (CAA Health) improves the health and wellness of Metro Denver’s Black community by helping individuals navigate systems that impact health. Their project proposal includes providing culturally competent and culturally reflective resource navigation to Black birthing people, including social support groups, behavioral health resources, and social determinants of health resources; this translates to warm connections to culturally-affirming physicians, therapists, doulas, and other community resources.
Early Childhood Partnership of Adams County (website)
The Early Childhood Partnership of Adams County (ECPAC) is the official Early Childhood Council serving Adams County. It seeks to enhance the systems serving prenatal-8 years and their families and caregivers by improving equitable access to affordable, high-quality services in early learning, health/mental health, and family support and education. Their project includes providing resource navigation to pregnant and postpartum families, parenting classes and support groups, and supporting pregnant and postpartum parents/guardians with access to culturally specific childbirth preparation and newborn care experiences.
Empowering Communities, Protecting Women (Elephant Circle) (website)
Empowering Communities, Protecting Women (ECPW) is a community organization comprising twenty-four trained, refugee-identifying women serving as Labor and Birth Doulas. ECPW’s mission is to provide culturally congruent care to newly arrived immigrants in Denver during their perinatal period. Their proposal includes continuing education for existing doulas, as well as training additional cohorts of diverse language-speaking women to build up doulas representing each spoken language in Denver, Colorado, and the surrounding areas.
La Cocina (website)
La Cocina is a Latine-founded, Latine-led, and Latine-serving nonprofit whose mission is to elevate Latine-centered knowledge that heals and transforms the lives and communities of those most impacted by inequity and trauma. Their project proposal includes community-centered codesign opportunities to identify the needs of Latine pregnant and parenting individuals, professional development training and workshops for Latine serving community-based organizations, and Liberation-Based Reflective Consultation (LiBRC) to teams and groups working with Latine families.
Mama Bird Inc. (website)
Mama Bird’s mission is to improve the outcomes for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) birthing persons with a specific emphasis on Black birthing persons and their families. This means all birthing persons should feel Safe, Seen, and Heard through high-quality, compassionate, and culturally responsive care. Their project proposal includes a doula mentorship program and support circles for birthing families.