News & Events: Highlights

Kraft Foods Foundation makes donation to help flood-ravaged communities in Brazil

INMED Brasil (August 24, 2010) — Following recent flooding in Brazil’s Pernambuco state, the Kraft Foods Foundation made a generous donation to support disaster relief and recovery efforts for families and schools in the communities of Chã de Alegria, Jaboatão dos Guararapes, Moreno, Recife and Vitória Santo Antão, all of which take part in INMED’s Health in Action program.

INMED Brasil has trained a cadre of nurses to instruct community health workers in their towns. These community health workers will in turn reach out to families with health education and easy-to-understand pictorial materials on how to prevent disease and maintain hygiene after the floods.

--Released August 24, 2010 Read more...

Getting Compton Children Ready for School

AT&T Pioneers Donate New Shoes, School Supplies to INMED Partnerships for Children’s Youth Participants

Los Angeles, CA (August 20, 2010) — In a special event at INMED Partnerships for Children’s California office, AT&T Pioneers, the volunteer arm of communications company AT&T, distributed 31 pairs of new shoes and backpacks filled with school supplies to children participating in INMED’s Embracing Our Youth mentoring program.

“For so many children in Compton, even basic necessities like school supplies are often out of their families’ reach,” said Joey Shanahan, INMED’s director of Los Angeles programs. “It really was heart-warming to see the excitement on each child’s face when they received their backpack and a brand-new pair of shoes.”

The 31 backpacks given out during the event represent just a portion of the nearly 500 donated by AT&T Pioneers for INMED to distribute to the most vulnerable children in the community. “We're very grateful to be partnering with the AT&T Pioneers to help these kids start the school year off right,” Shanahan said.

--Released August 20, 2010 Read more...

INMED’s MotherNet/Healthy Families Loudoun Program Awarded FACT Grant

Grant will Provide Support, Education for New Families

For any new parents, pregnancy and childrearing is a challenging time filled with questions and concerns—but even more so if they don’t know where to turn for answers and support to help them raise their child in a safe, healthy, nurturing environment.

Through INMED Partnerships for Children’s MotherNet/Healthy Families Loudoun program, approximately 60 pregnant women and new families will receive the help they need to give their children the healthiest possible start in life, thanks in part to a $10,000 grant from the Family and Children’s Trust Fund of Virginia.

--Released June 25, 2010 Read more...

INMED AND KRAFT FOODS FOUNDATION PARTNER TO ALLEVIATE MALNUTRITION IN BRAZIL

More than $2 Million Will Be Invested in Brazil’s Poorest Areas Benefiting Approximately 675,000 People

Celebrating World Health Day, INMED Partnerships for Children and the Kraft Foods Foundation are launching Health in Action (Ação Saudável), a school-based hunger and healthy lifestyles program designed to alleviate malnutrition in Brazil.

Children holding carrots The Kraft Foods Foundation is donating $2.25 million over three years to the project, its largest single contribution in Latin America. This is the foundation’s third major international community investment announced over the past year, following similar grants in Indonesia, Philippines and Russia, totaling $6.5 million.

Health in Action will launch in nine cities across Brazil, including Recife, Vitória do Santo Antão and four other towns in the state of Pernambuco, which, like most states of the North and Northeast regions, has substantially higher rates of poverty and lower standards of living than other states in the country. According to data from the Brazilian Census, about half of the families in Vitória do Santo Antão and Recife live in poverty. In addition, school lunches do not provide adequate, balanced nutrition, and there is a particular lack of fresh fruits and vegetables. Other cities participating in the project include Curitiba, Piracicaba and Bauru.

“Kids must be healthy to fully develop and reach their potential physically and mentally,” said Dr. Linda Pfeiffer, President, INMED Partnerships for Children. “It is INMED’s ultimate goal to rescue kids now from immediate, irreversible harm, and to prepare them to shape a brighter future for themselves and the next generation.”

--Released April 7, 2010 Read more...

Giving At-Risk Children a Healthy Start in Life

A program that works: independent evaluation proves MotherNet/Healthy Families Loudoun’s success

Across Loudoun County, hundreds of children in disadvantaged families can count on a brighter future thanks to their parents’ involvement in INMED’s MotherNet/Healthy Families Loudoun program. For the 11th consecutive year, an independent evaluation and statewide comparison among similar programs shows that MotherNet/Healthy Families Loudoun is among the best at it what it does: ensuring that families are stable and that parents are equipped with the knowledge, skills and confidence to give their children the healthiest possible start in life and to provide a safe, nurturing environment for their children’s optimal development.

MotherNet/Healthy Families Loudoun, an intensive, long-term perinatal home visiting and case management program for families who face a range of challenges that put their children at high risk for poor outcomes, recently received its annual independent evaluation report conducted by Lee Huntington with Huntington and Associates and Joe Galano with the Applied Social Psychology Research Institute at the College of William and Mary. This year’s evaluation is in “report card” format, but in alternating years, the program receives a detailed narrative report (see FY 2008 evaluation report).

Among the highlights of the most recent five-year cumulative evaluation:

94% of pregnant women and teens received adequate prenatal care.
96% of babies were born at healthy weights.
100% of children were connected to a medical home.
100% of children remained up-to-date on their immunizations.
100% of parents provided home environments that promote optimal child development.
No teen mothers had rapid repeat births (within 24 months of the first birth).
No families had founded cases of abuse or neglect.

--Released March 29, 2010 Read more...

Honoring Women Who Overcome Challenges to Make a Better Life for Their Families

Women’s History Month is upon us, and as we honor the accomplishments of trailblazer women from all walks of life whose passion and determination made it possible for present and future generations of women to succeed, we also celebrate the women who make history every day here in Compton. With passion and courage, the women of INMED L.A.’s Women’s Support Group band together in support of one another to overcome life’s barriers and foster empowerment.

Edith Guerrero came to INMED in January 2004 to participate in the Mommy and Me program, and has since participated in seven INMED training programs ranging from parenting education to computer skills classes. Initially described as “shy and quiet” by support group facilitator Olga Torres, Guerrero has found her voice as a very talented cake decorator.

Guerrero says she began attending the women’s support group out of curiosity. “I just wanted to see what it was about,” she says. After the first meeting, she felt she could relate to the stories of abuse and neglect being shared by the group, since she grew up in a household with an abusive father. Her history of abuse made her very defensive and always on guard, and also contributed to her low self-esteem.

Torres says, “She came to me near tears because she felt like she wasn’t good at anything. She lacked confidence in herself.”

--Released March 18, 2010 Read more...

INMED Helps Teen Moms Escape Abuse, Build a Brighter Future

February is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month

With the stress of the current economic climate, INMED Partnerships for Children is seeing an increase in reports of domestic violence in Compton and south Los Angeles County. In many areas throughout the state, reports of domestic violence have nearly doubled, and teen relationships are not immune from abuse.

Teen dating statistics show that one in three teenagers has experienced violence in a dating relationship. The ramifications of teen dating violence are hard to ignore – the issue affects the teen’s education, social life, self esteem, family environment, and community. National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month provides INMED with an opportunity to educate young people about healthy relationships.

Case manager Emily Flores has been a community leader, mentor and teacher to many teen moms and pregnant teens for nearly 11 years through INMED’s MotherNet L.A. perinatal home visitation program. For the last five years, Emily and the MotherNet L.A. program have partnered with the South LA Best Babies Collaborative, a network of local medical and social service providers working to promote healthier pregnancies, birth outcomes and care for women in high-risk communities who previously experienced an adverse birth outcome.

--Released February 18, 2010 Read more...