Programming that makes a difference

The MS ACE Project aims to contribute to healthy infants and mothers by providing access to services, building capacity, and providing education regarding doulas and breastfeeding. The project also aims to be a part of a coordinated effort to provide data to support overall policy and systems level change that will decrease barriers of access to and increase quality of care for Black mothers and their families. The project will provide a) valuable and reliable data to support a state recognized doula registry; b) evidence to support doulas as a trusted part of a woman’s medical team; and c) widespread messaging to normalize and support breastfeeding mothers. Program Contact: Asia McCoy, Program Manager, amccoy@advancingminorityhealth.org.

This project’s community-based approach provides an alternative to traditional models that tend to separate health outcomes from its context. The community-based model recognizes the importance of treating members of a community as active and equal participants in all phases of the process, if the process is to be a means of facilitating change.To address health equity, we will work with organizations and coalitions engaged in MS anti-smoking advocacy efforts. Simultaneously, we will ignite the potential in African American men impacted by smoking and community-based organizations that have the power of organizing but are not traditionally engaged in tobacco cessation work. We will build capacity of local organizations to strategically approach this work and will empower them to utilize the skills, lived experience, and passion of African American men most impacted by tobacco.The strategic advocacy campaign will be spearheaded with an aggressive community led communications campaign. Created by organizations and advocates, the communications campaign will allow the community to create their own narrative and use their voice to create change.The specific aims of this project are to implement a culturally specific tobacco cessation program targeting African American males ages 12 and older in the Mississippi Delta River Region of Mississippi.  The project will be composed of six (6) key components: 1.) Planning and Coordination; 2.) Community Assessment; 3.) Community Organizing and Engagement; 4.) Capacity Building; 5.) Community Led Communications Campaign; 6.) Dissemination. Although this is an aggressive work plan and timeline, these components will occur simultaneously throughout the two-year project period.The target area for this project consists of Adams, Bolivar, Carroll, Coahoma, Claiborne Desoto, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Jefferson, Leflore, Panola, Quitman, Sharkey, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tunica, Warren, Washington, and Yazoo counties. Program Contact: Kendria Barnes, tbarnes@advancingminorityhealth.org