Dear People of St. James’,
It is a great pleasure to announce that we have entered a new partnership with Healing Hands Community Birthing Project (CBP)! This weekend, our Healing Hands partners will be getting settled in to their new space in the Wellness Center area of Founders Hall. Their Executive Director Darline Turner and her Spanish-speaking colleague Christina Somolinos will join us at the 10:30 am service, during the 12-1 pm hour, and during the 1 pm service on this Sunday, May 17, so that they can meet the community and share about their work.
St. James’ and Healing Hands were drawn together through our common commitment to the human dignity and empowerment of BIPOC childbearing people and a desire to address birth outcome disparities, focus on lowering maternal morbidity and mortality, and to confront structural/institutionalized racism and anti-immigrant bias. Healing Hands provides birth support and birth worker training to uplift BIPOC communities and expand their access to care. Their birth-workers provide full-spectrum doula services starting as early as 16 gestational weeks through 18 months postpartum. Care includes: non-medical physical, emotional, and informational support during pregnancy; continuous pain management techniques, emotional support, and advocacy during childbirth; breastfeeding support, postpartum care, and supportive guidance through 18 months postpartum. Additionally, their doulas are certified Perinatal Community Health Workers who are registered to sign clients up for assistance programs like Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, and TANF through the Texas Community Partner Program. Healing Hands is also a part of the Maternal Health Equity Collaborative, which aims to make birth safer for Black and Brown families by building community and using our collective power to create lasting change rooted in birth justice and equity.
We are really excited about the ways that Healing Hands might partner with families in our own community, with Welcome Table, with Child Inc.’s Early Head Start program, and with some of our other neighbors like the Salvation Army, Norman-Sims, and the new Foundation Communities complex for families Norman Commons. This partnership starts small with a limited number of hours, but we hope that it will flourish and grow. You can help by assisting Healing Hands in connecting with partners and people who need care so that our wellness center is alive with activity.
Whenever we share our space in new ways, we adapt and try new things. In the coming months, we will be learning how to run simultaneous programming, how to welcome all who are seeking these new services, and how to collaborate while also respecting the independence of our new partner. The Vestry, the Welcome Table Board, and I are all excited about doing this work together, and we know some unexpected things will happen along the way. I am going to thank you ahead of time for being St. Jamesians, always determined to warmly welcome our neighbors and to wonder how we might do life together.
Please join us in welcoming the Healing Hands community to campus this weekend!
Rev. Eileen
