Neighbors Give Back to New Haven Healthy Start
Surprise Donation Kicks off Black Maternal Health Week
New Haven Healthy Start kicked off Black Maternal Health Week with a welcome surprise — a $1,500 donation from a tenant group called, “The Congregation.” With this year’s theme being “Healing Legacies: Strengthening Black Maternal Health through Collective Action and Advocacy," the serendipitous timing could not have been more perfect.
“The collective action says it all” said New Haven Healthy Start Director Natasha Ray. “We are so grateful that The Congregation chose us for this gift. It takes a village to do our work and we are super appreciative to have The Congregation be a part of our village.”
The Congregation’s gift will help pay for doula support, blood pressure cuffs to monitor hypertension, employment supports such as obtaining birth certificates for identification, and other services not covered by Healthy Start’s federal funding Ray said.
About two dozen neighbors make up The Congregation. The first tenants in a building constructed on the site of a former church, they established a group chat with each other shortly after moving in and began building a tight-knit community.
“The vibes are very collaborative,” said Shreya Mehta. “We had a Halloween party and so many people came out we said, ‘Why don’t we have a fundraiser?’ We care about the health of the people in New Haven, especially the community around us, and we wanted to be involved.”
Mehta’s neighbor Frank Amaefuna helped lead the organizing effort.
“We thought it would be really nice if we could give back to an organization in New Haven. We did some research and we liked the message and the mission of New Haven Health Start.”
About Black Maternal Health Week, April 11-17, 2025
Black Maternal Health Week is a national campaign for policies and programs that improve the health and well-being of Black mothers and their families. Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. Black Maternal Health Week highlights this issue and calls for action to address the underlying causes of these disparities, including systemic racism, lack of access to quality healthcare, and mental health challenges.
About NHHS: NHHS is a federally-funded urban health initiative to reduce infant mortality and eliminate perinatal disparities in birth outcomes. NHHS helps ensure the birth of healthy babies with a continuum of services to pregnant women, recent mothers, fathers and their infants. The program's 115 projects are located across 37 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, and funded by the federal grant (H49MC00095) from the Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Division of Perinatal Health Systems.
