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Congratulations to Marcela Metcalf, Lead Community Health Worker, who received her Medical Interpreting Certification from Truman Medical Centers. She dedicated 60 hours during her weekends to receive this certification — all to benefit the families she serves through Nurture KC’s Healthy Start program.

“I have been interpreting for families for a while, but I wanted to get certified. I put the training to use immediately when one on my participants was having a miscarriage. I was able to interpret over the phone while she was at the ER,” Marcela says. “Many hospitals offer interpretation services, but having a trusted person to help is much better and provides my moms with peace of mind. I interpret for families for various reasons, including children’s schools, WIC, clinics, hospitals, other nonprofits, jobs, Medicaid and sometimes quick court appearances online.”

It was a busy month at Nurture KC! Check out our July Newsletter, which includes our:
✅ Annual event recap and photos
✅ Interview on KCUR 89.3
✅ Healthy Start Program being featured by the Missouri Hospital Association
✅ New members (lots of them!)
✅ And more!

KCUR 89.3 interviewed our Executive Director, Tracy Russell, about improving local maternal outcomes and addressing racial disparities in health care. The interview was a result from Nurture KC’s annual event and newly released Maternal Morbidity Report (available to members at https://nurturekc.org/members/).

Listen to the interview at: Black Mothers More Likely To Die From Pregnancy-Related Causes | KCUR 89.3 – NPR in Kansas City. Local news, entertainment and podcasts.

Thanks to everyone who attended our annual event on how to improve local maternal outcomes. We appreciate Daysha Lewis (pictured with her kids) sharing her personal traumatic birth story and all our other speakers, including:
– Dr. Karen Florio with Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City
– Dr. Tamela Ross with The Healing Corner KC
– Samantha Collinson, APRN with Truman Medical Centers
– Hakima Payne, RN with Uzazi Village
– Darcie Mendenhall, RN with Dreaming Tree Women’s Care
– Ashley Haden-Peaches, CD with Rodgers Health
– Tracy Russell, Executive Director of Nurture KC
Together, we can help more moms be healthy and safe through their pregnancies, deliveries and postpartum periods.

Register to attend Nurture KC’s annual event on July 21 at https://nurturekc.org/annual-meeting-july-21-2021/. Our keynote speaker is Dr. Karen Florio. She will be discussing the HOPE Registry at St. Luke’s, implicit bias and how clinicians can push for culture change among their peers. You don’t want to miss this enlightening event! Anyone is welcome — community members, health care providers, case managers, policy makers and more.

What have we been up to this month? Check out our annual event news and registration + improving maternal heath, growing team and much more. See the latest in our June Update. 

We are excited to welcome Anna Gordon as our newest Community Health Worker, supporting families in our Healthy Start program. Anna has a passion to serve others. Learn more about her at https://nurturekc.org/team/anna-gordon/. (Click on image to enlarge.)

It’s Nurse Appreciation Week. Did you know Nurture KC has 2 nurses on staff?

Raechel Blades, MSN, RNC–OB, helps moms in our Healthy Start program who need more specialized care to overcome barriers. Raechel operates out of Truman Medical Centers. Learn more about Healthy Start at https://nurturekc.org/solutions/.

Katherine Campbell, BSN, is our Fetal Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) Program Coordinator. She leads a case review team to improve health delivery systems and save babies’ lives. Learn more about FIMR at https://nurturekc.org/issues/infant-mortality/.

Thank you, Raechel and Katherine, for all you both do!

April has been a flurry of activity! Nurture KC has been featured across KC news stations for our COVID vaccine clinics, Black Maternal Health Week and education on safe sleep for baby. Check out this news coverage + meet our new Administrative Assistant + see where we’re at with key legislative priorities in KS and MO + more — all in our April 2021 Update. As always, thank you for supporting our efforts!