Our public health programs and initiatives improve birth outcomes, maternal, child and adolescent health, parenting capacity, and overall family well-being and self-sufficiency among high-risk, low-income families in Delaware County.
In integrated fashion, they meet the needs of individuals and families, so they can thrive and become self-sufficient. Learn more about our community programs, initiatives, and projects below. Explore how our public health programs work complement each other to enhance the lives of our current clients and drive Delaware County forward below.
For those seeking assistance, we invite you to learn more about how to apply for the WIC Program, Healthy Start, and Nurse-Family Partnership. If you are interested in offering financial support for a specific program or priority area, visit our donation page.
Healthy Start care coordinators and case managers work with pregnant people to ensure full-term and healthy pregnancies, support breastfeeding and infant care, provide parenting and child development education, and connect moms with in-house counseling and health education programs. For more than 20 years, the Healthy Start home-visiting program has worked to reduce the infant mortality rate and improved maternal and birth outcomes.
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Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is a national evidence-based, home-visiting program with deep roots in Pennsylvania. It is dedicated to supporting pregnant individuals by promoting healthy pregnancies and birth outcomes, improving children’s health and development, and building families’ economic self-sufficiency. NFP home visitors develop significant relationships and support for the parents whom they serve during the nearly two-and-a-half-year period that families are enrolled.
For 45 years the Delaware County Women, Infants and Children’s Program (WIC) has provided valuable nutrition counseling, breastfeeding support, nutritious foods and referrals to thousands of women, families and young children.
Recognizing that there is an inextricable connection between housing, health, and opportunity, the foundation has expanded our focus on the need for stable, affordable, and habitable permanent housing affecting for participants’ in our programs. The HOPE program includes housing placement, advocacy, case management, tenancy and financial education, referral services, and direct financial relief.
El Centro was developed in response to the largely unmet needs of Spanish-speaking individuals in the Chester community. Its mission is to help Delaware County’s Spanish speaking residents learn about and navigate access to the resources in their communities. The Center for Hispanic Resources is a one-stop-shop that connects program participants and other individuals with a wide range of services.
Often high school students in the Chester Upland School District need guidance on having a healthy relationship, preventing an unwanted pregnancy, avoiding risky sexual behaviors, or understanding their sexual identity. The foundation’s Health Resource Center, a confidential in-school drop-in center located at Chester High School, gives students a place to receive information on a variety of critical topics.
Our Healthy Start program offers birth doulas to home-visiting participants to provide added support for families residing in Chester. Doulas work with birthing individuals in pregnancy, during labor and delivery, and immediately after birth providing education, emotional support, and physical care.
The Fatherhood Program is just for Dads & partners or parents-to-be! Programming includes casual gatherings, support groups, special events, and one-on-one sessions with the foundation’s fatherhood coordinator.
The Health, Education and Legal assistance Project: A Medical-Legal Partnership (HELP: MLP) is a civil legal aid program in partnership with Widener University. This unique partnership allows HELP: MLP to provide free legal services to clients of Healthy Start and Nurse-Family Partnership to address unmet civil legal needs.
Stork’s Nest is a 40-year collaborative project of the March of Dimes Foundation and the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. In our area, it is offered through the sorority’s Chester chapter, Rho Chi Zeta. Stork’s Nest is focused on increasing the number of women receiving early and regular prenatal care to prevent cases of low birthweight, premature births and infant death.
Cribs for Kids® is a safe-sleep education program for low-income parents. It helps reduce the risk of injury and death to infants by sharing easy and safe sleep messaging to parents, caregivers and community partners. For the last 15 years, our staff has educated families about how to keep their infants safe by promoting the A-B-Cs of Safe Sleep and providing safe cribs to those most in need in Delaware County.
Moving Beyond Depression is an in-home treatment program for clients with Major Depressive Disorder. It is the only evidence-based program specifically for expectant people in home-visiting programs.
Parent Cafés create a safe space for parents impacted in some way by substance use disorder. Parents join together for weekly virtual gatherings (in-person when possible) to share and support one another with structure and focus on building resiliency and community.
