Leadership in the Mississippi Delta - Arletha Howard

Pictured left to right are: Braxton Stowe, Quitman County High School, Adminstrator, Reverand Bernard Handy, Valley Queen Mississionary Baptist Church, Larry Stevenson, Quitman County Middle School, Coach/Teacher, Officer Terry Williams, Quitman County Sheriff Department, DeJuan Watts, Male Involvement, Tougaloo College/Delta HealthPartners Healthy Start, and seated Arletha Howard, Project Director, Tougaloo College/Delta HealthPartners Healthy Start

From Arletha - I have been the Project Director for Tougaloo College/Delta HealthPartners for almost two years. However, I have been a part of Healthy Start since 1999 as a nurse case manager. I was attracted to Healthy Start because of the holistic approach of service to moms, babies, fathers, and communities through a home visiting model.

As far as what I enjoy about my work, I am very excited about the aspect of focusing on men and their important role as parents or future parents. For many years, programs and emphasis has been on moms and babies with little to no attention given to fathers. Studies have validated the importance of fathers in the life of a child attributes to their development and well-being.

The biggest challenge that we are encountering is limiting the participation of the Life Course and Reproductive Health trainings to one county. There is a keen interest from numerous organization and agencies throughout our catchment area in the Mississippi Delta and who want to be a part of the trainings, and numerous inquiries about when this project will come to their areas.