Youth Community Agency Awarded 2024 Advancing Healthy Births Grant to Support Metro Detroit Mothers

2024 | Youth Community Agency News & Impact Youth Community Agency (YCA) is proud to be recognized as a 2024 Advancing Healthy Births Grant Recipient through the Southeast Michigan Perinatal Quality Improvement Coalition (SEMPQIC). This investment represents an important milestone in YCA’s continued commitment to supporting pregnant and parenting mothers and families throughout Metro Detroit. For more than a decade, YCA has worked alongside teen mothers, young women and low-income families to address barriers that can affect their ability to build healthy and stable futures. Through our work, we recognize that the health of mothers and babies is connected to much more than what happens inside a doctor’s office. Transportation, access to trusted information, housing stability, food access, parenting support and connections to community resources can all play an important role in the well-being of a mother and her family. The Advancing Healthy Births funding allows YCA to strengthen our growing maternal and infant health work while providing community-based education, resources and support to families who may experience barriers to accessing care and essential services. This work also supports the continued development of YCA Nurture & Thrive: Maternal Health and Wellness Project, our initiative focused on creating a more connected system of support for teen and young mothers throughout pregnancy, postpartum and early parenthood. Through Nurture & Thrive and our broader family-support programs, YCA is working to connect mothers with maternal health education, breastfeeding and safe-sleep information, supportive resources, community partners and services that promote healthier mothers, healthier babies and stronger families. We are particularly committed to ensuring African American teen and young mothers have access to culturally responsive resources, trusted community support and opportunities to advocate for their own health and the health of their children. Being selected for this investment reinforces an important part of YCA’s vision: healthy families require healthy communities and strong systems of support. As we continue growing our maternal health work, we look forward to strengthening partnerships throughout Metro Detroit and creating pathways that help mothers feel informed, supported and connected during one of the most important periods of their lives. We are grateful to the Southeast Michigan Perinatal Quality Improvement Coalition (SEMPQIC) and its partners for investing in community-based organizations working to improve maternal and infant health outcomes across Southeast Michigan. Together, we are nurturing healthier beginnings and helping families thrive.