More Wise Words from Florida's Leaders - Gloria McNair and Autumn Gaines

From Gloria McNair...

I’ve been a Community Outreach Health Educator for three years; however, I’ve been a member of the MCH Family Planning Team for six years. Prior to working at the Health Department, I was an Environmental Health Officer for the U.S. Navy where my specialty was Preventive Medicine. After retirement, I wanted to find a job that would provide the same level of satisfaction in serving the community.

In thinking about what I’m most excited about with my work, this is going to sound corny but I enjoy all aspects of the project. Our teens and young adults are the country’s future. That future can be so much brighter and filled with promise if they are allowed to make informed decisions regarding their health. Working with our Peer Health Advocates (PHA) gives me the opportunity to provide positive, factual and appropriate information to a community of at-risk young adults.

The biggest challenge ahead is that our PHAs are from the Faith-based community. Learning to speak openly about Sexual and Reproductive Health presented some challenges for the group as a whole. They have started to come out of their shells but I do know that they will need my continued mentoring.

As far as my favorite resources, honestly what has helped me the most is training from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the Diffusion of Evidence Based Interventions; especially the Popular Opinion Leader (POL)  intervention which we are now using in our project.

From Autumn Gaines...

I am a recent hire with the Florida Department of Health in Duval County under Maternal and Child Health Division as the Community Assistance Specialist for Every Woman Southeast.  In the process of completing my Bachelor of Science in Health degree I found myself in an unusual place.  I felt as if I was missing the hands-on training, the ability to put my knowledge and skills to the test.  Not long after I received a mass e-mail for a volunteer position with the former Duval County Health Department as an educator to adolescent males about sexual health, STDs, HIV/AIDS, etc. I have volunteered with the health department since December 2011.  Early May of this year, I received an e-mail for a current position as the Community Assistance Specialist. After a successful panel interview, within a week I received a phone call and later a letter in the mail congratulating me as a new member of the Florida Department of Health in Duval County team.

The most excitement I get from this job is being in the community speaking with individuals and groups on the importance of physical health, unplanned pregnancy prevention, and disease prevention.  When you are in the field trying to understand the community’s way of thinking, what provokes their actions (good or bad), you learn how to cater the message to their personal needs, which ultimately leads to one less person becoming a part of a negative health statistic. 

I believe my biggest challenge will be getting acclimated with the transition into taking a more lead role with the different churches of Every Woman Southeast Peer Education for the Soul.  Other than that, I am excited about working with the peer health advocates and influential leaders in the church.

Throughout the public health program at the University of North Florida I was exposed to many great resources. For instance, scholarly/peer-reviewed health journals (American Association for Health Education), websites (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, The National Program to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, and Healthy People), and research databases (CINAHL: Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health), which I definitely recommend to others. 

A Mother's Day Call to Action

It’s the season for soft greens, purples, blues and pink (lots of pink) balloons, cards, candy, and ribbons. Not only is it spring, but it is Mother’s Day along with Teacher Appreciation, Nurses Appreciation, Administrative Assistant Appreciation and Social Worker Appreciation. Aside from the observation that all of these traditionally female dominated, under-paid, over-worked careers are lumped together leading to a frenzy of card buying / giving by women for women … (I digress), I don’t think that the Founding Women of Mother’s Day would go for the colors.

Motherhood is a bold and fierce undertaking.  When I delivered my first baby I saw burnt orange…the power of the experience, the connection it gave me to women around the world, and my sense that I was a warrior woman was not a muted color. Nor was the feeling I had when I looked into my daughter’s eyes and my heart exploded into sparks of silver and gold. And as my heart came back together it was indigo as I knew that I would do anything for this child – offer my life to save hers in a second… without an instant’s hesitation. As I know my mother would for me.

Once my heart was split open to the universe, I began to see charcoal when I read about mothers losing children, children losing mothers, toddlers, teens and women being hurt, abused and broken. I see scarlet (almost every day of late) at the policies being perpetrated that keep women and children, particularly those who are poor and/or of color, behind, below and beyond reach of the resources and rights they need to reach their full potential for health, wealth and joy. What would Julia Ward Howe, suffragist, poet, pacifist and a Mother’s Day founder think about how we do or as more often the case do NOT use our collective voices as women to call attention to the issues that matter most?

Whether the focus is a child, a partner, a best friend or an important cause, mothering takes courage, persistence, unbending love, and the willingness to get really messy. I see flames of fushia and cerulean blue. It requires self-reflection, a sense of humor, and the energy to hold center in the middle of the storm. Motherhood calls us to practice deep compassion. Forest green…midnight blue.

There is nothing pastel about listening to the soul deep pain of someone who has been hurt, teaching someone to read and think for themselves, waking up night after night to care for a crying baby, comforting a friend or partner who has lost a job or hope, and watching someone you love learn hard lessons, grow up and move away. Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker who organized Mother’s Work Days to avert deaths from disease-bearing insects living in neighborhood polluted water, and in 1868 took the initiative to heal the bitter rifts between her Confederate and Union neighbors, could likely relate to the crimson and golden rod hue of civic engagement and just getting things done. As could her daughter who got the President to make Mother’s Day official.

Let’s take back this day and lift up our voices in a BOLD kaleidoscope of deep and strong colors. We need to raise the Mothers’ call for peace to include the many wars that are waged every day – in our homes, in our streets, in boardrooms and politician offices. As Julia Howe said, “why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters to prevent the waste of that human life of which they alone bear and know the cost?”  Mothers are rising in the South in a blaze of magenta. Join us!

Joan Wightkin - Making Waves in Louisiana

What brought you to the organization and your current work?


I have been in this position (Interpregnancy Care coordinator in the Birth Outcomes Initiative, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals) for almost 2 years. I had the fortunate opportunity to work with New Orleans area community health and social service agencies, to help build a system for high risk women based on the successful interconception intervention at Grady Memorial Hospital.

What are you most excited about or what is your favorite aspect of your project on reproductive life planning?

I’m most excited about working with a talented and uniquely qualified advisory board to guide our project on reproductive life planning. The board consists of experts in social marketing, health education, literacy, African American fatherhood issues, social services, film, website development, and women’s health. Consumers guided the development of our 2 commercials that are now being aired.

What do you anticipate will be the biggest challenge with this project?

The biggest challenges are the barriers to women seeking and/or accessing family planning services. Over half of the births in Louisiana are unintended and only 13% of women enrolled in Louisiana’s Family Planning Waiver the first year after delivering a baby, actually access these contraceptive services.

Can you share any books, articles, websites that help with your work?

Our NEW website GreatPlan.Net includes websites that offer good information about STI, Family Planning, Primary Care and other resources available in local communities across the US. We also included the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals’ Method Match tool that helps women choose a birth control method that fits their lifestyle and personal preference.

Kim Williams - Leading Change in New Orleans

What brought you to the organization and your current work?


I have been working as the Director for Healthy Start New Orleans for 9 months and I think we are on the path to a healthy new baby! I have been working in maternal and child health with social marketing and with the Nurse-Family Partnership National Service Office for seven years and love the world of maternal and child health. It’s been my life dream to improve outcomes for African Americans in what I consider my home state of Louisiana while trying to build on the beautiful culture and history of the state. I came to Healthy Start because it provides an opportunity for us to touch clients directly in their communities and we have a unique role in hearing the community voice to define their own resources, challenges, and asking for our clients help in defining services that work for them. I’m so excited about leading our Best Babies Zone work because it’s a “lab” for taking policy to practice to see if we can change birth outcomes by making community change.

What are you most excited about or what is your favorite aspect of your project on reproductive life planning?

I’m excited to be part of an effort to get women in my community and my state to start thinking about their reproductive health and planning for their future. For so many women here, pregnancy “just happens”. I hope that families can use our tools and services to reflect more about their goals, dreams, and their bodies and use the Life Map we provide to begin thinking about how they want their family to be shaped.

What do you anticipate will be the biggest challenge with this project?

Throughout the world of maternal and child health, we need to do a better job of listening to the families we serve. Our clients tell us what their families need and oftentimes our maternal and child health priorities are not aligned with our families’ priorities. In a city with tremendous violence and a state with persistent poverty, health is not on the top of people’s lists of concerns. We have to use the tools we have and put them into context for why health matters, how it impacts all areas of your life, and how having a healthy pregnancy and baby can set your child up for a way out of poverty and violence.

Can you share any books, articles, websites that help you with your work?

Required reading for all my staff includes “The Gardener’s Tale” by Camara Jones, “Cultural Humility” by Melanie Tervalon, “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Birth Outcomes: A Life-Course Perspective” by Dr. Lu.
Books That Inspire me include: Good to Great, Adaptive Leadership, The Social Entrepreneurs Handbook and Seven Tribes of Hattie- A fictional tale that tells the story of a mother from the Deep South after migrating north and a challenging life trajectory due to infant mortality

Run On

I was not athletic during the first few decades of my life. However, as I embraced my fourth decade I discovered that I love to run. It helps get rid of stress, gets me outside, gives me time to think and keeps me healthy. Over the past year, I've worked on running faster and further. In that process, I have learned that what I love most about this sport is running with other people. For a sport that is often perceived as solitary, there is actually a lot of solidarity and community among runners. Whether you are a beginner runner working up to a 10 minute jog or someone who can run for hours, we are all more likely to put on those sneakers if we have a friend waiting to go with us. My world has wonderfully expanded to include the amazing women I've met on this journey. This support is magnified during races - from one mile fun runs to full marathons - fans made up of family, friends and kind strangers create the adreneline to push oneself beyond expectations. Really, how many times in life do you have people clapping for you, cheering and telling you "You Have This....Looking Strong!"? As I, like so many others, have struggled to understand what happened in Boston earlier this week, I've decided that the message that I want to perpetuate is that of community. Belonging is essential. Being together is necessary. Finding our common hopes and dreams creates understanding. Having gratitude for those who cheer us on and bring water to keep us safe is a blessing. Running...is beautiful.   **  Sarah Verbiest

My "Cape Girls" Running Group Finishing our 200th Mile of the Palmetto200 in South Carolina.

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.

Pilot Project Leaders: Jennifer Pepper of CHOICES

For March we’re featuring our Pilot Project from Tennessee, CHOICES - Memphis Center for Reproductive Health and their featured leader is Assistant Director, Jennifer Pepper.

1. How long have you been in your current position? What brought you to the organization and your current work?

I have been with Choices, formerly the Memphis Center for Reproductive Health, since 2006. I came to the organization to serve as their Community Outreach Coordinator, and in 2010, I become Assistant Director. My path as a women’s health educator and advocate began when I was a young adolescent. My mom was the cool mom. She was open and honest about sexual and reproductive health from an early age with me, my brother, and our friends. It drove me crazy as a teenager, but today, my appreciation for her is immeasurable.

2. What are you most excited about or what is your favorite aspect of Choices’ project that provides reproductive life planning and warm referrals in a post-abortion care setting?

Choices is committed to providing comprehensive reproductive health care, and this project is a natural fit with our mission and vision for a healthier Memphis. Women’s reproductive lives are long, complex, and inter-related with many other needs. Everyone at Choices is excited to help women develop goals related to their reproductive live. Our patient educators are also excited to network with other local providers, so we can connect patients to other resources in the community. Providing birth control is just one piece of helping women realize their goals.

3. What do you anticipate will be the biggest challenge with this project?

This project is a major shift in patient education at our organization. Instead of asking women, “what type of birth control would you like?” We are asking, “What are your goals? When do you want to have kids?” Any large change takes time, and our staff is up for the challenge.

4. Can you share any books, articles, websites (or any great resource you've found) that helps with your work?

In designing our pilot project, the National Preconception Curriculum and Resources Guide for Clinicians was very helpful, and we recommend it to other clinicians interested in starting this work. We’ve also found a number of great reproductive life planning tools from other fellow reproductive health care providers. Here are just a few we really liked:

• Reproductive Life Plan from Emblem Health
• Set Your Mind. Set Your Goals from Delaware
• Are You Ready? Sex and Your Future from North Carolina
• You’re a Busy Women from Utah