The Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition leads a cooperative community effort to reduce infant mortality and improve the health of children, childbearing women and their families in Northeast Florida.
Established over 15 years ago, the Coalition addresses maternal and infant health by funding and providing services to mitigate individual risks and by leading community awareness, education and advocacy efforts. Special initiatives are directed at reducing health disparities and engaging communities that suffer disproportionately from poor birth outcomes.
Make a Noise! Make a Difference! is a grassroots education and awareness campaign to focus attention on the impact of infant mortality in the Black community and to encourage positive health behaviors and community advocacy. Support from the Chartrand Foundation will enable the Coalition to mount a sustained, grassroots education and advocacy effort in the community where babies are twice as likely to die as babies in other areas of the city. It will also enable the Coalition to build organizational capacity to diversify and grow its funding for needed community initiatives.
During its initial implementation, Make a Noise! Make a Difference. Prevent Infant Mortality successfully reached more than 900 individuals through one-on-one contact. An additional 1.5 million residents were exposed to campaign messages through mass media. Focus groups indicate the campaign successfully raised awareness about infant mortality, particularly among residents of childbearing age. There was an increase in knowledge about specific risks and behaviors that impact poor birth outcomes.
In its second year of implementation, the Make a Noise! Make a Difference! Campaign moved from community awareness and education to advocacy. Working with partner groups, including Barbers for Babies, the Coalition spread the word about the importance of good health and responsible childbearing. More than 40 residents were trained using a specially developed curriculum on infant mortality and its impact on the Black community. Participants were challenged to “Make a Noise!” about what they had learned by talking to ten people they know about infant mortality and how to prevent it. A new effort to train grassroots leaders was launched with the Make a Difference leadership academy. Nine budding community leaders, identified by the Azalea Project and other agencies, completed the eight week program. The group learned about leadership styles, community values, ethics, team building, problem solving and action planning. The program culminated with a field trip to a Jacksonville City Council budget meeting. Tonya Lewis Lee, national spokesperson for the Office of Minority Health, visited Jacksonville during Infant Mortality Awareness Month and helped focus attention on community progress and challenges to ensuring every baby gets a healthy start.
More than 150 babies die in Jacksonville each year before reaching their first birthdays.
Prematurity and sleep-related deaths are the leading causes of infant mortality.
The health of women before they get pregnant is a major factor contributing to poor birth outcomes.
The failure of our community to successfully address the longstanding issues of racism, poverty, and socio-economic disparities is killing our babies.
- Infant Mortality Study: A Report to the Community
Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. Spring, 2008
The Jacksonville community is largely uninformed about the magnitude, causes and consequences of the high infant mortality rate.
- Infant Mortality Study: A Report to the Community
Jacksonville Community Council, Inc. Spring, 2008
Before I leave this world – I want to make a difference. . .This has given me something to fight for again.
- Dale, graduate of the “Make a Difference" leadership academy pilot
Pass information to others in the community – it helped me, it might help someone else.
- Tia, community resident
