About Us
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The Healthy Start Program was created in 1991 by Governor Lawton Chiles on the premise every child deserved a healthy start in life. He and his wife challenged local leaders to establish local coalitions to provide quality prenatal care for all women.
Healthy Start of Jefferson, Madison and Taylor Counties was created in 1993 to serve a predominantly rural, tri-county population. The primary focus of the Coalition is to ensure the health and well-being of pregnant women and their babies and to reduce infant mortality.
The Coalition has partnered with over 30 community agencies to identity and provide support for a variety of community based needs that ultimately effect the lives of pregnant women and their children. Healthy Start services include a variety support services that help produce positive birth outcomes. Services include care coordination, home visits, smoking cessation, car seat classes, breastfeeding education and support, parenting education, nutritional education, childbirth education and psychosocial counseling.
The Coalition contracts with the County Health Departments in each county to provide these services, the Health Departments are also the primary providers of prenatal care. The Coalition is also pleased to be a part of implementing group prenatal programs in all three counties and Women’s Health initiatives in all three counties.
Our Board Members
Jefferson County
Madison County
Mellissa Morgan
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Tracy Gallon
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Willie Ann Dickey
Linda Jones
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Brenda Newman
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Margie Evans
Brenda Carlton
Taylor County
Governor Lawton Chiles:
"To be a successful state we must nurture successful children."
Supporting Our Community
Home Visiting Programs
Smoking Cessation
Mental
Health
Breastfeeding Education
Parenting Education
Nutritional Education
Healthy Start is a free, voluntary home visiting program for pregnant women and children from birth up to age 3. Participants can get one-on-one support, education, and help in getting the care needed for their babies to have a healthy start to life. Healthy Start aims to assist women in having a healthy pregnancy and delivering a healthy baby through the means of early intervention, with the end goal of reducing infant mortality.
Healthy Families Seven Rivers is a free, community-based, voluntary home-visiting program designed to support and educate parents through the first years of their child’s life. The first five years of a child’s life sets the foundation for the type of adult he or she will become, so the role of Healthy Families Seven Rivers is to educate parents on healthy parenting options and to support them through this important, and sometimes stressful, time.
T.E.A.M. DAD is a free program open to fathers in Jefferson, Madison, and Taylor Counties who have a child aged 3 and under. T.E.A.M. Dad utilizes the 24/7 Dad® curriculum created by the National Fatherhood Initiative. Fathers in the program learn how to interact with their children in healthy, productive ways. T.E.A.M. Dad combines case management with mental health and support services to break down those barriers which keep fathers from being the fathers they WANT to be!
