The program we recently launched helped many teens during pregnancy and parenting on Chicago’s West Side.

Social determinants of health, such as income, education, employment, housing, and access to food, contribute to overall health outcomes, but resources are often evenly distributed among communities in need. Not distributed.  In Chicago, 25% of black women do not receive adequate prenatal care, compared to 11% of white women. Black women who grew up in low-income areas of Cook County were more likely to have low birth weight babies over their lifetime than black women who lived in high-income areas.

Through ConnecTeen, local schools, hospitals, and others can contact the programme to learn about available services based on the teen’s needs and initiate referrals to appropriate home visit programmes for support. Home visits help expectant parents connect with their babies before birth, train parents in practical skills to start a family, and help their children be physically, socially, and emotionally healthy when they grow up. helps refer families to other needed services to help.” Liz Gonzalez, ConnecTeen Program Coordinator, said, “It’s always a pleasure for me to see schools and hospitals become a go-to resource for helping her teen mom or dad find the right programme for them.”

However, it can take weeks or months to provide that support, and ConnectTeen wanted to fill that gap.

Therauplex offered her a one-year grant to the Connect Teen programme. This is related to the company’s Activating Change Today (ACT) initiative to advance racial justice. The funding allowed the Connect Teen programme to add home visitors to its staff to provide short-term support before families enroll in long-term programmes. A home visitor is someone who has been specially trained to come to a teen’s home and provide education and support to the young family.

We are delighted to add a new home visitor to our team to help reach out to additional Chicago families in need,” ConnecTeen’s programme director Katelyn Kanwischer said.

The ConnectTeen programme not only matches teens to the program but also provides opportunities for partner organisations to support each other.