Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity Awards $1.3 Million to Organizations Focused on Maternal Health

Direct Relief today announced more than $1.3 million from the organization’s Fund for Health Equity will be disbursed to groups focused on improving maternal health outcomes in underserved areas.

The grants, awarded to the Southern Birth Justice Network and the University of Florida Mobile Outreach Clinic, were made possible by a generous donation from the CVS Health Foundation, the independent, philanthropic arm of CVS Health.

“Direct Relief is privileged to support these organizations that work tirelessly to support their communities every day, and that will now be able to expand their services to even more patients,” said Dr. Byron Scott, Direct Relief COO and Co-Chair of the Fund for Health Equity. “We are deeply grateful to the CVS Health Foundation and their leadership, which acts as a powerful force multiplier, allowing more of this essential work to take place for people who need it most.”

The Southern Birth Justice Network based in Miami, Florida, works to expand access to midwifery and doula care for Black, Brown, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, low-income, and other marginalized communities. The organization established the National Black Midwives Alliance, a professional group that represents Black midwives across the U.S., in 2018.

Direct Relief’s grant will support the National Black Midwives Alliance in establishing itself as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and in implementing programs connected to midwives’ and doulas’ work across the country.

In north central Florida, the University of Florida Mobile Outreach Clinic offers primary care to all patients regardless of location, health insurance, immigration status, or income — the only such service in the area.

The grant from Direct Relief’s Fund for Health Equity will help to establish a new perinatal mobile health clinic, providing clinical services to rural women who are at high risk of poor birth outcomes, many of whom are ineligible for public insurance. The clinic will also offer mental health, pregnancy, postpartum, and lactation support for patients. Training lay community members to become perinatal community health workers, lactation counselors, and doulas will be another focus.

In particular, the purchase of a mobile medical unit and ultrasound machines, and the hiring and training of community members from underrepresented groups in the area, will be funded by the grant.

Since the start of the Fund in 2021, more than $50 million has been provided to support 163 organizations across the U.S.

The awardees were selected by the Fund for Health Equity’s Advisory Council, which includes the following members:

• Co-Chair Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA, 18th US Surgeon General of the United States, Founder Bayou Clinic, Inc.
• Co-Chair Byron Scott, MD, MBA, Direct Relief COO
• Martha Dawson, DNP, MSN, RN, FACHE, President and CEO President of the National Black Nurses Association, Associate Professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Jane Delgado, Ph.D., MS, President and CEO of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health
• Gail Small, JD, Head Chief Woman, a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe