GRANT ANNOUNCEMENT
bi3 fuels Black Maternal Health Week through $55,000 in grants
Black women are three times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than White women, according to the CDC.
bi3 recently awarded $55,000 in funding to 11 local organizations to support events during Black Maternal Health Week. Held annually from April 11–17, Black Maternal Health Week (BMHW) events are focused on amplifying Black women’s voices, perspectives, and lived experiences on the path toward improving and advancing Black maternal health.
PARTNER UPDATES
Mama Certified launches to provide transparency in Black maternal healthcare
bi3’s Jill Miller and Kiana Trabue spoke at the Mama Certified event on February 29. TriHealth President & CEO Mark Clement joined the community and project leaders in celebrating the launch.
Fueled by bi3 and led by Cradle Cincinnati and Queens Village, Mama Certified launched in the Greater Cincinnati community, promising expectant parents more information than ever when choosing a birthing hospital. As a co-creator, The Health Collaborative is playing a key role in collecting and sharing data.
The initiative is designed to provide Black parents-to-be with a meaningful way to assess and understand the maternal-related initiatives of Hamilton County’s hospitals, including The Christ Hospital Health Network, Mercy Health, TriHealth, and UC Health.
Under Mama Certified, hospital systems are assessed and earn badges annually for their efforts across four areas: maternal care, infant care, staff care and community care.
Families can visit www.mamacertified.org to review each hospital’s report and their initiatives to improve care for Black birthing people.
54 Greater Cincinnati area schools celebrate World Teen Mental Wellness Day
bi3, along with The Joe Burrow Foundation and Interact for Heath, awarded funding to 54 area schools to engage students to develop and participate in activities commemorating World Teen Mental Wellness Day, observed March 1 this year.
Schools applied for and received $500 to conduct activities such as planning wellness fairs, hosting speakers, and promoting awareness of resources like the National 988 Suicide and Crisis Hotline.
Hospice of Cincinnati Navigators
fosters a more diverse, equitable & inclusive culture
A 2022 one-year, $500,000 bi3 grant helped Hospice of Cincinnati (HOC) Navigators build the cultural competency of staff and create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture, ultimately providing better care to the entire community. Results include training 96% (523) of team members on “Compassionate Care: Culturally Competent Transitions” and increasing the Black patient population.
HOC Navigators is committed to improving access to advanced illness and end-of-life care. Moving forward, they will continue to build relationships with area health organizations, educate community members through a partnership with Cincinnati Herald, and build diversity internally.
For more updates on the work of bi3 and our funded partners, be sure to follow us on social media!
