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Random people, random topics, talking on random sidewalks in the City of Saginaw, Michigan.
That's a good thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Wasn't that wild? Those are days are wild. Like, what was that from the health department perspective, what was that like for you? Was it crazy?
Speaker 2:It was insane.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Like, absolutely insane. Like, things that you just you can't ever it's one of those experiences that, like, you you can't really explain it in words. And Yeah. During it was a little hard to even just, like, get people, like we wanted people to understand, like the stance where we were, it was obviously very controversial.
Speaker 1:There's a lot happening, but I was like, yeah, you can't experience it unless you've been through it.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, it's kinda like telling somebody who's never had a kid what it's like to
Speaker 2:have a kid. Yep.
Speaker 1:Like, absolutely. You can't do it until you experience
Speaker 2:it. Yeah. You can't put it into words. Mhmm. And that that this is all off the record, by the way.
Speaker 2:Like, that's that's the thing too is the general public did like, does not did not really recognize as, like, this is a first go around for everybody. So and, like, literally day by day, like, you're trying to trying to help people as fast as you can based on the information that you have, which is zero. Know? So so everybody's just kind of guessing and everybody's trying to do their best and
Speaker 1:yeah. Yeah. And you found yourself, like, in the middle a lot. So and then as things sort of get more divisive, like the longer the pandemic drew on, the more divisiveness. And I was like, I felt like we were in this, you know, everything's sort of that bell curve.
Speaker 1:Right? And it was like, you know, there was both sides that were just pressing, pressing, pressing on the middle. And I was like, we're in this like crazy time and we're trying to navigate that without information. It was really tough. Really, really tough.
Speaker 2:Well, you guys did a good job.
Speaker 1:Thanks. Yeah. We we definitely we fared a lot better than many other communities. I mean, my counterparts afterwards, there was a lot of well, one, like, eighty percent of health officers across the state of Michigan, are new post pandemic. Damn.
Speaker 2:I believe that. Like, yep. I'm I'm done. Yes. A lot of teachers did the same thing.
Speaker 2:A lot of my former teachers were like, yeah. I've got I'm supposed to have, like, four more years until I retire, but, like, this is not this is not it for me anymore. I'm out. You know? Especially, like, going remote and and doing all of that stuff.
Speaker 2:And and they're older, so they're 63 years old going, like, now you have to teach choir on Zoom. Like, no. I'm I am just gonna sit in my house. Thanks.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Like, I don't think this is what I signed up for. So yeah. A lot. A lot.
Speaker 1:And and some of them, like, they were like, we have no trust. We've our relationships are all broken. Yeah. And the cool thing about Saginaw is we were the complete opposite.
Speaker 2:Really?
Speaker 1:Complete opposite.
Speaker 2:In what way?
Speaker 1:So we had like so if you you talk to any, you know, like health system partners and like our partners in Be Well, they're all like the sense of collaboration that came out of the pandemic. And I think it was the lens that we chose to just look through the problems with.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:Wasn't about, like, right like, just as you said, like, we're all in this together and we're trying to figure it out. And are we all making everything right decisions all the time? No. Yeah. But we're doing the best that we can.
Speaker 1:And I think it was just like the right people at the right time that sort of understood that and had a little bit of grace, like we gave each other grace.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:And then we realized like when we work together, like stuff happens in a much better way than when we're all trying to be in our silos. Yeah. And it wasn't easy. Like, there were some things, you know, hard conversations that happened of like, you know, you're this isn't good partnership, or do you realize what you just did here? And so people were like, woah.
Speaker 1:Okay. Mhmm. We all need to be sort of lock and step with one another. And because of that, I think there was incredible collaboration and, like, the value of each of the organizations was built. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And and they were like, alright, health department, like, what are we doing next? And so that's how we, you know, got Be Well.
Speaker 2:So so much has to be said about, like, entering into communication with humility, like as soon as you establish it, like I am the expert and I am right and you are wrong and I am smarter and you are not, like now you have to try to like that's a bar that you set for yourself. Now you have to be right all of the time. Whereas, like, whether it's public communication or personal communication, whether if you enter, like, we're we're all just kinda trying our best and chances are we're gonna get things wrong and then we're gonna figure it out and we're gonna do better and then we're gonna do that again and I need you on my team. And now now it's like, oh, okay. Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's possible. So so Be Well was a product of the pandemic. It was. Wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah. It really was. So it was early twenty twenty two, and, we were kind of like, okay. The pandemic's coming down. Right?
Speaker 1:Numbers are down. We're not reporting. We're not doing all the same things. You know, vaccination efforts have been we're we're kinda getting to this sense of normalcy. And it was like, you know, we did some really cool stuff, and we have to continue to do that.
Speaker 1:Like, that that's why I think the lens of public health was like, wait a minute. Mhmm. You can't just, like I mean, ever as much as everyone wanted to, like, sit back and chill. So I was on a call with, like, all the other health departments and, the the state health department. I think it was our my the chief medical executive was like, we really wanna know, like, what's going on in communities right now?
Speaker 1:Like, what is the pulse? What's everybody saying? And what are you guys doing? And a lot of them were like, we just need to take a second. Like, which we all did.
Speaker 1:Like, totally. It was like, we just need this, like, step back. We wanna get back to, like, normal service delivery. I mean, like, we hadn't provided services in that entire time because my entire staff was, like, focused on COVID a 100%
Speaker 2:of the time.
Speaker 1:So a lot of health departments just wanted to get back to normal. And I was like, no. There's, there's a new normal now. And it means we have to keep pressing all the issues because COVID was bad, but we all like, this is where the collaboration like, if we truly wanna move health outcomes, we're truly trying to make our communities healthier, like, we all have to be all in.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:Like, businesses, schools, health care it's not just a health care problem. Like, it's an everybody problem.
Speaker 2:I think that's such a an important observation that you made because when you start to feel that collaboration and you see the potential for benefits beyond the immediate need, okay, it looks like we're coming out of this pandemic, but look at this group of people that are now collaborating, all of these important partners within Saginaw County Health. If you let off the gas pedal because you're like, Hey guys, this has been really great. It's also been really intense. Let's reconvene this group in twelve months to talk about how we're gonna work. Like, you know that it's not gonna happen.
Speaker 2:Like like that gap gets filled with all of the other million things that you're gonna do, and then it turns into, oh, man. We should have kept that going, and everybody loses. So I think that's such an important aspect to that.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And it it was it was hard. I mean, we're all tired, but we were like, we have we have to keep doing it. And now it's just moving to something else. And so, like, it kept like, we need to be, you know, reliable, responsible, and responsive.
Speaker 1:So like, what are the community's needs now? And that's what we just need to that's where we need to focus our efforts.
Speaker 2:And,
Speaker 1:you had really great leadership, right? Like both hospital systems coming together, both the CEOs of like, okay, we're gonna do this. Like, you know, that was like a monumental moment of having like Beth and Stephanie on a billboard I
Speaker 2:know. Wasn't that awesome? When I interviewed both Beth and Stephanie, I was just like, this is awesome. Like, you have two cross river, like, look, on the surface, like rivals, like hospitals. And then, like, they they were so collaborative, and they're such great human beings.
Speaker 2:And you ever like, you talk to them and, like, they're a 100% genuine. Like, this is not just a, like, a public PR. Like, look at us, and we're being collaborative. Like, it was very much, like, we are in this for the betterment of people and this is how we move forward and this is what we're gonna do.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That is so true. Because yeah, they're just good humans in that way to know, because we all have common ground. I think maybe that's what COVID taught us too, like, guess what? We all have the same goal and we all still have the same goal.
Speaker 1:So it's like, that's what we have to focus on. There's competition that exists. It's never gonna go away. But we have to strip that back to say, what's the common good? And how does it benefit, right, all the organizations?
Speaker 1:And so we focused a lot when we first pulled B Well Together was about, you know, partnership and, like you said, collaboration. Like, we've all been invited to tables, and you're like, I'm collaborating. Yeah. And you, like, use this slip like, I'm working with this organization. And they leave the meeting, and then nothing ever happens.
Speaker 1:But you just keep meeting in this space.
Speaker 2:Everybody knows that nothing is happening, and everybody knows that nothing is going to happen. And that's because the meeting isn't where the real collaboration happens.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Right?
Speaker 1:Exactly. So I was like, no, this is about authentic collaboration. Like, we have to find something to roll up our sleeves and actually do this work. Because we're we're all doing good work, like, in the public health space. Right?
Speaker 1:Like, there's lots of maternal child health programs, and everybody's wanting to see infant mortality rates go down, and everyone's like, we're sick and tired of, you know, being the highest in the state, and our babies are dying. We're saying, like, it's not okay. We're doing good stuff. We just weren't doing it together. Right?
Speaker 1:Like, leveraging resources, being impactful, speaking with one voice. And like, we know there's benefits to all those things. And I was like, we have to do this. We have to do it. And so it took a lot.
Speaker 1:I mean, it probably took a well over a year to sort of build that ground level framework based on trust
Speaker 2:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Speaker 1:To get us to where we are today, which is things like, you know, less babies die out of unsafe sleep because of ABCs of back to sleep. Yay. And, you know, RX kids. Like, it's amazing.
Speaker 2:Yay. The I was gonna say something very profound, but I forgot about it. It was so it wasn't that profound. So talk to me about the as long as we're talking about Be give me the the one zero one. So obviously, hospitals are involved.
Speaker 2:Like like, who who all who's all the partners involved in Be Well?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So there's a lot of, like, just partnership across. And that's what we say. Like, if you're doing anything in the public health space, you're trying to, you know, you teach in a class on, you know, I don't know, health and wellness or you're a provider or you're a community health worker trying to get somebody food resources. Like, you're all public health system partners, and you're all part of Be Well.
Speaker 1:And that's the intentional design. And a little bit of that, like, the health department sort of led Be Well, but that's been my thing from the beginning. It's like, it's not a health department initiative. And some of our, like, close partners that sit on the board were like, oh, it's a health department. No.
Speaker 1:It's not a health department thing. This is a community thing. This is a Saginaw thing. And it it took a little while to, like, pull that out. Right?
Speaker 1:Like, Be Well is its own thing. So anybody can use the logo, be a partner. And so there's a lot of organizations Cool. Involved in that, like boots on the ground type stuff. Right?
Speaker 1:Whether it's sitting at a work group or it's doing things. But there's an advisory board of partners that said, we're gonna sign on the dotted line. We're gonna help fund and commit to this. Mhmm. Because it's really driven by our community health assessment.
Speaker 1:So we do a community health assessment every three years where we go out and we survey the community. We talk to partners. We talk to legislators. We talk to, go around and have town halls and fireside chats and things like that with our community to collect feedback. I'm like, what's important to you?
Speaker 1:Where do you think our health is? And then we look at, you know, all the data, right? So we look at all the, you know, secondary outcome data too. And we pull all that together and say, all right, what bubbles up to the surface? What can we tackle that gives us a direction?
Speaker 1:Right? So that's really just the framework to say, here's our strategic plan as a community around health. So we do that. And those partners help fund that process. And so the hospital system partners and then organizations like SVSU and the ISD and United Way and the Community Foundation, CMU Medical Education Partners, and of course, yes, the Covenant in MyMichigan and HealthSource Saginaw.
Speaker 1:And, there's a group of 12 of us that really, like, fund that, and that's the board that says, yeah, we're gonna roll up our sleeves. We're gonna put resources behind this work, and we're gonna do we're gonna each our small contributions to this. And so
Speaker 2:yeah. I I love that. I mean, in Saginaw, community with that that needs all of the resources it can have. Like like, we're just we're we're resource strapped community, with serious health needs. And how everybody loses is if all the health influential partners say, well, we're gonna play in this playground over here and over here and over here and over here.
Speaker 2:Having a having an advisory board of 12 different organizations all saying like, what what do we have to address and how are we gonna do it? And then also, like you said, signing on the dotted line with hard action. Like, it's it's not we just come together every quarter to talk about how we need to save more more babies. Like, we're actually gonna take steps to do that. And like you see the billboards all over the place.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Like the safe sleeping, I'm like, yeah, like every time I drive down Michigan or Washington or whatever, it's like, yeah, ABCs. I see it. I see it.
Speaker 1:I know. And that's and that was a small thing, and that was CMU. CMU said, okay. We feel like we gotta do something. We're in the mom and baby space.
Speaker 1:And at CMU Health, I've you know, doctor Sheehan was like, I have the resources, and so we're gonna put something together. And he he went to covenant. He gave him to the health department, and it was like, yeah, this is a be well. This is a be well thing, and we all need to speak with one voice. And so we got funding across multiple organizations, and everybody said, okay, we're gonna have one safe sleep message.
Speaker 1:It's gonna be the ABCs of safe sleep. And at first you're like, okay, just because we do, you know, some flyers and some billboards doesn't mean we're gonna like, are we really gonna be impactful? But we were like, no. Collectively. Right?
Speaker 1:We're gonna put it everywhere where we can think of. On the buses and on, you know, banners hanging from buildings and things like that. And the saturation has been enough that, like, yeah, like, we went from ten unsafe sleep deaths in 2024 to two in 2025. What? Wow.
Speaker 2:Dang.
Speaker 1:Right? It's impressive.
Speaker 2:That is impressive. It is impressive. I think there's also a lesson here in that if you want to affect change, you have to have the scale of effort necessary to create that change. And so if if you're one person running around, one organization running around trying to save the world or do something like you can't do it by yourself because for for this reason, you don't have enough resources. You don't have the the megaphone of 12 different organizations all saying the same thing as opposed to just one.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And so I think that, like, there's a great lesson there. Like, if you are on a mission and you want to do something great, especially when it's local and community, like you gotta have more than just you at that table. Like you gotta have help. You gotta have people saying, I can fund that or I can do the marketing for that, or I can develop the communication for that, or whatever it is, like community.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And it doesn't have to be I think originally we were all thinking in our minds in order to have like collective impact, right, is what you're saying. Like, it's saying because everybody was doing, you know? I mean, covenant has always had, you gotta watch the you gotta watch a video, right? Mom before mom leaves.
Speaker 2:Watched that video. Yep. Exactly. I think there's like two or three of them. Yes.
Speaker 1:There's shaking baby. There's safe sleep. There's yeah. And so like they're doing all of that and they have been doing
Speaker 2:all of
Speaker 1:And and we have home visiting programs. There's seven across multiple organizations in this community, all working with moms to do the and so it's been there, but we haven't had the collective impact and that speaking with one voice. And before this, I think we would have said, oh my gosh, this is gonna take so much money. It's gonna take so much money. And honestly, doctor Shane was like, have $25,000.
Speaker 1:And so he was like, who else has $25,000? And so like, it was like a couple organizations that popped in, like, 25,000 to create this message in a campaign. And then when we did it, it was like like, really? Like, that really wasn't that much money. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, you it might seem like it, but in the effort of what we thought in order to go from 10 to two in one year, like, really, that's like pennies. Yeah. You know? And the return on investment of that, oh gosh. Mean, more babies are alive today.
Speaker 2:Yay. I love that. Speaking of babies.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:RX Kids, welcome to City of Saginaw. Woo
Speaker 1:hoo. Woo hoo.
Speaker 2:So all it was it's been really all over social media, RX Kids. And city of Saginaw put out some posts Yep. Describing it. You guys, presented in front of the city council. Tell me what is RX Kids?
Speaker 1:RX Kids is a cash assistance cash assistance programs for for moms and families. It is really intended to give empowerment for families to do what they need to do, which is take care of themselves and their babies.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:And so it was interesting. I was just doing another podcast earlier today, actually.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And it was like, oh, and I heard RX Kids, I thought you're giving, like is this, like, script assistance for children? And I was like, oh, yeah. No. No.
Speaker 1:Absolutely not.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:No. So this is like a one time cash stipend of $1,500 for every pregnant woman who lives in the city of Saginaw in Bridgeport and Buena Vista Townships.
Speaker 2:So
Speaker 1:there's three communities in Saginaw to spend what she needs to take care of herself prenatally. There's no strings attached. It's not based on income. It's not based on insurance. It's just about where you live, right?
Speaker 1:So you have to live in the city or Buena Vista or Bridgeport. It has to be one of those three. And you can get this if you're at least sixteen weeks pregnant and you go apply to RX Kids, you get that payment. And when the then when the baby's born, you can get $500 a month for the first six months of your child's life.
Speaker 2:Wild. Wild. There's so many things I love about this. I want to talk about like the fact that there there are no strings attached in that, like, you're not you're not dictating what people's needs are, You know? Like and there's so many programs, even if they're well intentioned, walk into this and say, well, we've got $1,500 to help pregnant moms, but you can only spend it on x y z and, you know, that mom is looking at like, oh, man, this could really help me get through the next two or three months of rent that I'm desperate that I desperately need, but I can't use it on that.
Speaker 2:I need to buy $1,500 worth of baby formula. Like, don't need that right now. I need I need rent.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I need to stay in my house so I have
Speaker 2:a place
Speaker 1:for my baby to live.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I and and what what this program really acknowledges is that, like, it's it's holistic in the fact, like, if we take care of mom in whatever needs mom has, that's gonna help baby. And for the program to come in and, like, dictate it, like, that that's the wrong approach. So so mom, we're gonna take care of you. Here's money that you can use however you want.
Speaker 2:Like, I think in the city council presentation, you said, like, it's based on trust. Like, we trust moms to, meet the needs that they have. And so we're gonna give them the money, and it's gonna work. And I love that.
Speaker 1:Exactly. And it it is so I know. And it it well, hey, I'm a, you know, a government. Like, I'm the government. I'm here to help.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. As a health department, right? I'm a county governmental employee. It's like governmental public health. So I totally get it.
Speaker 1:Like, I have programs.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:Like WIC. Okay. I give you WIC benefits, but you have to buy these things. And it gets so granular of like, you have to buy this bread and not this bread. Yep.
Speaker 1:Because of all the requirements that we just have to put into these programs. So like, I get it. I operate in those constraints and see our own clients going through those things. And when and it's funny because it's just a shift in how we think about how we solve some of those problems around assistance. Right?
Speaker 1:As doctor Mona would say, it's like reimagining the social contract.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:Because I think we if we all strip it back and go, does every mom wanna take care of her baby? Yeah. Mhmm. Does every person wanna take care of their self? Like, yes.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. But we have to have the means to do that, and we have to have the bandwidth to be able to do that. So it's like we know the conditions in which a lot of our moms and families are operating. It's tough. And so we don't need to further put these constraints on them.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. It's like the the we always talk about access, right, which access to, like, care means a lot of different things for different people. If it's, hey. I didn't you know, I couldn't get there in transportation. I had an access issue.
Speaker 1:Or you don't take my insurance. That's an access issue. So access means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. But we put programs out there, and then we build in barriers so people can access them.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:And it's like we need to break down that. We need to think about how we solve some of our problems, and that's why I love RxKids because this is truly transformative. In thinking about getting one to root causes, which poverty Mhmm. As many of them. Mhmm.
Speaker 1:And entrusting people and then empowering. And that's what we're seeing out of you know, Flint's been running Rx Kids for two years and the outcomes of what we're seeing, like, moms have the bandwidth to be able to do things that they've never been able to do before.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:And so they're seeing even engagement. Like, when we always talk about community engagement. Right? Like you wanna engage the community as much as possible. And some people just they don't have the bandwidth for it because I can't I can't get to that space.
Speaker 1:And this program is allowing them to do that. So they're seeing things like an increase in voter turnout, an increase in WIC enrollment, an increase in other programs and services because they actually can get there.
Speaker 2:Yeah. You know
Speaker 1:what I mean?
Speaker 2:Yeah. And that the fact that it's a $1,500 cash payment, and it's like a direct deposit or in the form of like a gift card. Is that how it
Speaker 1:comes? Okay. Mom can elect that during the application process. So if you want a direct deposit into your checking savings account, you can put the information in.
Speaker 2:Wild.
Speaker 1:But if it you're not comfortable with that for whatever reason Yeah. You can elect like a prepaid gift card that they would come and pick up at the health department. I
Speaker 2:mean, right like right there, like it it you see the philosophy of access. Like, like, if you if do you want? There's no paper check. There's you no have to go through here and you have to meet with an adviser who will qualify you over the course of four weeks. It's like you sign up and if you're in the zip code and you're sixteen weeks or more pregnant, you can say, I want it directly in my bank.
Speaker 2:And if you don't have a bank or you don't feel comfortable, you can get it in the form of a gift card. Like you see, like we have this thing that can help you and we want you to have it. We're not trying
Speaker 1:to like build
Speaker 2:gates around it that we can say we have this really great program that nobody can participate in.
Speaker 1:Right. We want you to have it and we want you to use it for what you need. Yes. For what you need.
Speaker 2:And then it continues, which is the part I really, really love. It says, we will help you before your baby is born. And then, like, speaking from experience with my three kids, like, those those first six months, like, you're you're in a daze, you're so tired. Like, all you want is somebody somewhere to to help you with the one thing. Just please help me with one thing.
Speaker 2:Make one thing easier. And then here comes RxKids saying, we will give you $500 every single month for the first six months.
Speaker 1:Isn't it amazing?
Speaker 2:Amazing.
Speaker 1:Amazing.
Speaker 2:It's amazing.
Speaker 1:And it's it's you know, that is based on science too. So it's not just like a frivolous, like, let's just give money away because obviously that makes people feel very uncomfortable. Yeah. Like the fact that you're saying like, there's no strings attached. I don't have to you're not forcing me makes some people like, oh, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:Really? We're just giving away money.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:What's happening here? And this idea, it's because it that's inherently where, I guess, maybe our brains wanna go. But we all know, like, as parents, like, the the the time when your child is born, like, yeah, there's usually a loss of income. I mean
Speaker 2:It's true.
Speaker 1:You experience it, time off of work. I mean, most people I never had, like, a 100% paid while you wanna stay home with your baby. Yep. Usually doesn't exist. I think we're getting closer to some of those things, but not really.
Speaker 1:And then increased expenses. And so, like, the science behind it shows that it takes people at least usually twelve months to get back up to income levels after the birth of a child, at least twelve. And then when you have probably double twins and triplets and other, it probably takes longer. Right?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Still not there. Yeah. Exactly.
Speaker 1:So and those things are like, that that's real. And so they they literally studied that over time because they were like, well, what what time of this intervention is important? So they figured that out. Also, the neurodevelopment. I mean, a baby's brain doubles in size in the first year.
Speaker 1:So we know how critical of a time that is. So when you've got stressful conditions of moms and babies Yep. We do things like because we all do like, it's like the unsafe sleep message. You know, you talk to any parent and you start to talk about I'm like, okay. You know, y'all did it once or twice.
Speaker 2:Baby fell asleep on me on the couch. Yes.
Speaker 1:Yes. I mean, you're exhausted. You're there's so many things playing into that.
Speaker 2:I haven't slept in fourteen Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. Zero sleep at all. Because one sleeps, one's up. Right?
Speaker 2:Uh-huh.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Like, so all of those, that's important time. Yeah. And so if we can start off on the right foot, if we can give families that extra breathing room, if mom doesn't have to like, literally, am I buying formula today Mhmm. Or diapers, or am I paying my electric bill?
Speaker 1:I mean, like and that's real situations. And, like and that's why we're targeting the communities that we are because the moms and families live in like, those are this is real everyday challenges.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:And and that's why, you know, because that that's the other question I had. It's like, why not everywhere? And so I mean, the goal is everywhere for sure. Mhmm. But we've gotta we've gotta focus on efforts where it's like the greatest impact right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I was thinking about that that scale of impact too because because it would be easy to look at payments like this and say, well, this is this is the icing on the cake for, you know, when they wanna go, like, you know, it'd be easy to minimize it. Yeah. But serving the folks that this is gonna serve, I mean, that $500 could be life changing in these situations. Like, thinking about we were talking about the the neurodevelopment.
Speaker 2:It was a part that really connected with me. Think thinking about after our kids were born, you you go through the first couple weeks or so, and then you start to really you start to become more aware of the world and say, I've gotta go back to work. Like, we need money, and we've got to go back to work. And so now you're starting to almost like rush back to work at this, like you said, most important time of the baby's life. And so having assistance like this during that time, I mean, like, look at the benefits that stack up.
Speaker 2:Mom or dad don't have to rush back to work or they don't they work less and spend more time with the baby. Mhmm. They're happier. They're healthier. The baby is happier.
Speaker 2:The baby is healthier. Mean, that's generational effect
Speaker 1:that
Speaker 2:you're talking about as opposed to being like, yep, baby's three weeks old. Like, we've got to go back to work. Otherwise, we're not gonna make rent. And now you you could be in a in a worse situation. So I just like, the scale of impact of this is huge.
Speaker 1:Yeah. It is. And I and I think we're gonna see that. Like, we're seeing such amazing immediate impacts of this. Like I said, like studying Flint and what they've been it just it's astronomical from the idea that, you know, here here's one of them when we we talk about so mom's gotta prove that she's pregnant.
Speaker 1:Right? So there there is some documentation that moms have to, you know, they have upload. You have to prove that you live in the city. It has to be a physical address. The company that, they apply through, which is called GiveDirectly, they're a company that does global assistance payments, like worldwide.
Speaker 1:And so they they have an infrastructure for this.
Speaker 2:I I love that you're pointing that out because when I made the post on the city of Saginaw government page Mhmm. That was one of the questions like, like, how do you how are you like, are you vetting this? Or is it just 20,000 people all saying like like, we need that check. Like, no, we're we're trying to serve pregnant women, mothers. So that's what you gotta prove.
Speaker 1:Right. You gotta prove it. So you gotta prove that you live in that geography. And so one is, whether it's your, you know, driver's license or it's a utility bill with your name on it, you know, there's there's certain required documentation that you have to upload. So you upload that.
Speaker 1:If you're pregnant, you have to prove you're pregnant. This isn't a Mhmm. As we said, you can't take a selfie with a with your pregnancy stick and be like, okay. It's like, I'm pregnant.
Speaker 2:Phil. Yeah. Give me my check. So I love that this was retroactive, man. I like this.
Speaker 1:I know. Right? Yeah. So, you gotta prove you gotta prove that. And so it's through an ultrasound or an after visit summary.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And so one, this incentivizes our moms to get into care.
Speaker 2:True. True.
Speaker 1:So we we, you know, statistically, again, as we look at outcomes, far too many moms, like, late entry into prenatal care
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:Or no prenatal care. Yep. I mean, there are babies being born over at Covenant, they're showing up, and they've never had prenatal care before. And so we know that there's a direct correlation between prenatal care and better health outcomes, right? That exists.
Speaker 1:So moms are gonna get in. They're gonna get in a little earlier, hopefully, because the earlier entry, the better. And so then they can upload that ultrasound that's got, you know, their name and their week's gestation and all of those things to prove that. And that GiveDirectly company does all of that. And so that's a great thing about the ability to do that and the extra benefits that we're seeing.
Speaker 1:So now in Flint, we're seeing, oh, guess what? Better first trimester prenatal care outcomes, So better birth we're seeing moms deliver at greater gestational age, right? So less preterm births, which leads to increased birth weights. And those are all huge indicators when we look at infant mortality. Low birth weight, very low birth weight, preterm births, number one causes of infant death.
Speaker 1:Wild. Wild.
Speaker 2:Wild. I this there's so much talk in community health in that community health is directly tied to poverty, financial burdens, and things like that. And and the thing that I love about this program is that it directly acknowledges that. It says, you know, if if you are struggling financially, your health is gonna be less. The health of your children is gonna be less.
Speaker 2:And so we're gonna help help you address that problem directly. Like you can, and and it is important, like financial literacy and all of those things like very important. But when rubber meets the road, you're have have more coming in or, enough money coming in or a box to check. Like I've I know I can afford formula this month because of that. And and and it directly says this is a problem and we're gonna meet this problem.
Speaker 2:I'm immediately thinking of so many like community groups that would, could just be so instrumental in like knocking on doors and saying like, here, like, here's how you sign up for RX Kids. You like, you might be pregnant now. You might be pregnant in the future. And if you are, please apply to this program because they're also thinking like, how do we adjust poverty in Saginaw? How do we address health in Saginaw?
Speaker 2:And their boots on the ground, man, this is awesome. Where where does the money come from?
Speaker 1:So, good question. It's been a multitude of things. And so how it all started with doctor Mona, she has been advocating since the beginning of, like, state level funding.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:So some people are familiar with TANF, which is temporary assistance for needy family funding, and that's at the state level. So, as they started to talk to legislators and got some, good support, it was like, where can we pull funding from? Again, originally to pilot it in Flint. Yeah. Where could we get dollars from?
Speaker 1:And so the she got early on temporary assistance for needy family funding, which really had to be, again, all the government bureaucracy directed towards, okay, Medicaid births. Right? So we know that those moms on Medicaid who are delivering, again, looking at the city of Flint, we can direct some of those dollars there. But Mona was smart in saying, we need this, like, targeted universalism. This isn't about income.
Speaker 1:This shouldn't be about insurance.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:Like, at the end of the day, could every person could use this. Right?
Speaker 2:I'm thinking like Alice population too that
Speaker 1:are the donut hole.
Speaker 2:Right? Yeah. Like, the benefits cliff and like, well, I make more than a I I can't qualify for that kind of assistance. So I'm in this purgatory of need. And so like this universal, was like, well, we gotta help those people.
Speaker 1:Correct. We have to help everybody. Yeah. Because you know, place matters. Right?
Speaker 1:So when you start to live in communities, like literally the where your place that you live can predict how long you'll live.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's that's code. Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's like it's remarkable findings. And so she said, we're gonna target universalism month. And she was like, alright. We're gonna go out and get dollars. And so she got philanthropic support.
Speaker 1:And they were like, okay. Let's look at the numbers in the city of Flint. What do we need? How do we, go out and raise money for it? So she did.
Speaker 1:So that's how they launched in Flint. And so from that time period, again, she had good legislative support. So, it was like, okay. What are other target communities in Saginaw or in Michigan? Of course, Saginaw is on the list for various reasons.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And, so she came to us, and this was like, I don't know, maybe four or five months into RX Kids. And so we hadn't seen any outcome data yet, but she came and came to Saginaw, talked about the program, and was like, you know, we want you guys to do this. We want you guys to be, you know, your neighbors of your high need community, your neighbors of Flint. And so we were like, okay.
Speaker 1:Like, this makes sense. BOL, again, BOL partners to support this initiative. And so once she starts going down the evaluation of the program and the things we're gonna see and all this stuff, it was like we all got excited because, again Yeah. Collective impact. Uh-huh.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh. So we've kind of been behind the scenes, like, raising money, and going to various groups. And, of course, you know, there's we were at Delmono. Like, we don't there aren't the deep pockets, like, in Flint of you know, like, from the Flint Water Crisis and the, you know, big foundations like mine.
Speaker 2:Big foundations. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Right? So we're like, we're a smaller community, and so we've don't have, like, that deep of pockets, but there are pockets out there. And so let's just start to go after them. So that's what we started doing. But Mona has been continuing to advocate.
Speaker 1:Like I said, her goal is every baby born in the state of Michigan. Like, every pregnant mama, every baby. That's the goal. And so I think as of today, we're, like, I don't know, 26 or 28 communities across Michigan. Yeah.
Speaker 1:So, like, we're on our way for And so but it's it's definitely a public private partnership on the funding side. So not only do we have TANF dollars dedicated, but also through her advocacy and her team, general fund dollars. And so the the awesome thing about this is that there's good bipartisan support. Yeah. And so this year in fiscal year twenty six, with all the craziness going on with all the budgets, the federal and the state level, they approved $250,000,000 of general fund Whoo.
Speaker 1:In the state of Michigan to expand RxKids.
Speaker 2:Yay for babies.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yay for babies. Right? And so Mona reached out and was like, alright, Saginaw, where are you at? And we were like, okay.
Speaker 1:And we had raised about, I don't know, I'll just say like 750,000, I think, or so. Wow. So like
Speaker 2:Way to go, Saginaw. Know, right? Like
Speaker 1:and we've had some amazing partnerships. And so, like, the community foundation is our local fiduciary. So all the funds through philanthropic are being collected at this Saginaw Community Foundation. There's a donor advised fund there that was like, yes. We wanna help support this.
Speaker 1:So they gave a large donation. And then, actually, our friends at the TriStar Trust Foundation, like, amazing. Talking to them, you know, Jack and Kristen, it was like, they're like, wow. This is we get it. Like, we get the transformation.
Speaker 1:We get this addresses root causes. We get what this program is gonna do. So we've had support from them. And honestly, like, other private donors through connections of, like, realizing, like, this is a smart thing to do. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And so everything from, like, $500 to $500,000. Like, we've had everything in between. And so it's been amazing. Brilliant. We still need to raise about $400,000 because the dollars that the state has secured is for three years.
Speaker 1:So we're running this program for twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight. And so we've got that it it costs us, the philanthropic support, about 400,000 each year.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:So we've gotta raise about 400,000 to get us to the three years.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Yeah. Awesome. I I'm so happy. I'm I'm so happy that this program is here.
Speaker 2:Now it just becomes getting getting the word out and having making sure people take advantage of this. So we we if people are listening to this or if they're watching this and they say, I I know five people right now that could benefit or I could benefit. How where do they go to apply?
Speaker 1:Rxkids.org.
Speaker 2:Rxkids.org. Have proof of pregnancy ready? Proof of residency ready, and then you're good?
Speaker 1:Yes. As a pregnant. And then if, obviously, birth certificates. Right? So if it's child.
Speaker 1:So good thing about it, so you have to be so pregnant at least sixteen weeks. So if mom finds out she's pregnant eight weeks, you know, you you could apply, but you have to go back in. It has to be, like, at least sixteen weeks. Right? Which is about the time usually ultrasounds and stuff happen.
Speaker 1:That's true. And so once they're there, then they can go in, apply with those two pieces. It literally we've we have a home visiting program, nurse family partnership. So one of the moms that came and talked at our press conference was a city of Saginaw mom, like, soon to be expected and of And in case we were like, okay. As soon as January 12 hits, we need you to apply because you have to be pregnant.
Speaker 1:So if you wait until after the baby's born, you don't get that $1,500.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:You have to be pregnant at the time you fill out the application. But our moms are it takes you if you have the proper documentation, probably takes you ten minutes to do it. Mhmm. We've already gotten feedback from moms that in less than a week, they were approved. And so is waiting
Speaker 2:the quickest money that you're gonna make ever.
Speaker 1:I know. So I don't I am waiting to hear, like, how from that approval to when it gets deposited. That part, don't oops. That part, I don't know about yet.
Speaker 2:But Yeah.
Speaker 1:It's been yeah. It's move moving along. And then once the baby's born, right, they go back in, they apply, they bursert. Right?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then the $500 a month.
Speaker 2:Wild. Well, Chris Harrington, alright. I wanna thank you for your work at the health department. I wanna thank all the Be Well folks for, obviously, this program, but all of all of the stuff that you do. There's a there's a such a such an important, asset for the city of Saginaw.
Speaker 2:I don't use the word transformational lightly, but this is this is one. Like, this is this is one. Like, when we're thinking and kids and the future of kids, such an important part of the culture of of Saginaw. Like, Saginaw, we love our kids. And we and, like, we're we're trying to build a better future for the kids.
Speaker 2:And this is this is one of those programs that that every single person who this is available to, like, you have to take advantage of this. So rxkids.org is where you go. Yes. Awesome. Chris Hennington, thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Thanks, Phil. Appreciate it.
Speaker 2:You're awesome. This is awesome. Thank you. I'm team RX Kids all the way. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I know. It's exciting, isn't it? It's it literally is, like.