It was mid-afternoon on a Wednesday when a call came in to Merrick House’s MomsFirst Community Health Worker. A pregnant Mom was struggling for breath. She had been pregnant before, but this time felt that something was just not right. As too often happens to women of color, her doctor had been dismissive of her symptoms, so she decided to drive herself to the hospital. After her car breaks down on the way, the Merrick House Community Health Worker sets out to help her get there and ensure she gets the care she needs. The Mom is doing much better, and we are now in the process of connecting her to a new doctor and doula to raise her level of care.
You may know Merrick House for its outstanding early childhood education, youth development or GED certification programs. What you might not know is that we serve close to 200 pregnant mothers per year with our MomsFirst program. Community Health Workers are here in response to a crisis in which the infant mortality rate in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County has been among the highest in the state, and almost double the national rate.
The contributing factors to infant mortality are complex, but we know that issues such as poverty, inadequate housing, and lack of quality education have an adverse effect on health outcomes. Our program addresses these issues by helping Moms access anything that they need, from housing assistance, to finding a job, to parenting classes, to providing essentials for baby like diapers and pack and play cribs via home visiting.
At Merrick House, we take a whole child, whole family approach – from before birth, through the important early childhood years, after-school programs, and high school diploma equivalency. Your year-end gift ensures that the whole family, especially the kids, are able to overcome some of the barriers to success.
This year, we are experiencing a budget cut which has created a need to raise $25,000 in year-end giving to meet our immediate needs and ensure that Merrick House can be a vibrant Cleveland neighborhood center where everyone from the curious child to the committed adult is enriched through active, lifelong learning. As the new Executive Director, I look forward to meeting you, and hope that you can step up to help us reach our goal by making a meaningful contribution to Merrick House this year at https://www.merrickhouse.org/donate.
With many thanks for your consideration and support,
Harriet Hadley
Executive Director
