Highmark Foundation Awards $71,000 to EHCA's Project First Step

Unique in its offerings, Project First Step, run by Erie Homes for Children and Adults (EHCA), is a multi-service program that supports families in the community dealing with disabilities so they can deliver healthy babies and raise healthy families.  With a long waiting list of people hoping to receive services, the Highmark Foundation has stepped in to ensure EHCA can help more families with a $35,000 award in 2010 and another $36,000 in 2011. Many of the families receiving EHCA services fall beneath the poverty line.

"With this grant from the Highmark Foundation, Project First Step staff will be able to provide more families with services. This is very exciting for the Foundation and EHCA, and we are eager to assist mothers and their children with the help they not only need, but also want,” said Yvonne Cook, president of the Highmark Foundation.

The grant will fund two services:  Project First Step/doula and Project First Step/family engagement. Project First Step/doula is designed to match an expectant mother with a doula or trained birthing assistant. Mothers using this service are at higher risk to deliver prematurely or have a baby with a birth defect. Oftentimes the mother has a disability herself and requires hands-on support and a flexible staff to tailor the services to fit her unique circumstances. The doula works with the mother to address any challenges she may have to face before the baby’s arrival, including: knowing which community resources are needed and how to utilize them, finding safe and appropriate housing, teaching basic life skills and developing responsible parenting skills, reviewing medication and nutrition information, and budgeting. The doula provides both emotional and physical support, and after the mother delivers her baby, makes sure that the baby is safely cared for and is bonding with the family.

Project First Step/family engagement provides comprehensive, family-centered support to at-risk parents with disabilities and their children. These parents are usually referred by the Office of Children and Youth and have mental health concerns, autism, physical impairments, or are taking care of a medically fragile child. Family engagement staff link the family to the critical community-based services necessary to address their disabilities, assist with meeting any and all court-ordered and caseworker recommendations, provide transportation to any medical appointments, advocate for the family in a variety of settings, and educate the parents on life skills.

“Due to their environmental situations and poor role models in their lives, most of our clients have inadequate housing, nutrition, education and employment opportunities,” says Tina Ferraro, EHCA program specialist. “Project First Step aims to turn these circumstances around by showing the families the steps they need to take to get out of bad situations they may find themselves in. We don’t just carry them; they work to get ahead on their own. When they conclude their services with us, we know they have the skills necessary to continue making good decisions for their entire family.”

Project First Step has a history of success and was recently the topic of a research study conducted by Dr. Sara Lichtenwalter, Ph. D., LSW, of Gannon University.  Her findings showed that 93% of the women receiving doula services delivered a full-term, healthy baby – a figure that is better than that of the general population.

A special presentation and reception will take place at 2 p.m. on Monday, August 30, in the Memorial Garden at EHCA to accept this grant.