Believing that personal and public health is a fundamental aspect of family prosperity, Families Forward Resource Center (FFRC) provides community health services for our families. Health advocacy services include health coverage, nutrition and cooking classes and developmental screening services. FFRC staff work within the northeast Denver and Aurora communities to provide these health services and increase positive public health outcomes for our clients.
HEALTHY BABIES, STRONG FAMILIES
Recognizing that African American families experience exponentially higher rates of infant mortality that any other culture, Families Forward Resource Center has expanded our programming to include Healthy Start. Healthy Start aims to provide families with access to resources to ensure African American babies and families are healthy and thriving. Participants are assigned an advocate who works with families to provide resource referrals, assistance in accessing health care, parenting education and support, and family advocacy. HEALTHY START – CALL 720.837.8950 FOR ASSISTANCE OR REQUEST TO LEARN MORE
FFRC’s Healthy Babies, Strong Families program will address infant mortality by providing direct support to African American families experiencing family planning, prenatal care, and pediatric care. Services include family advocacy, home visitation, and health education to help pregnant families get the help they need to have healthy babies. Listed below are some of the services we offer.
INFANT MORTALITY IS REAL
African American families are 3-5 times more likely to experience infant mortality than any other culture.
Infant mortality can happen to your family regardless of income level, educational achievements, social status, and physical appearance including weight, age, and fitness level.
EXERCISE GROUPS AND CLASSES
Exercise is vital to the health of individuals and communities, but sometimes it’s not easy to do it alone. Families Forward Resource Center is helping to facilitate groups so that people are able to exercise in a supportive and encouraging environment.
FAMILIES FORWARD RESOURCE CENTER FACILITATES EXERCISE CLASSES AND GROUPS
Zumba dance classes. Zumba provides a total body workout, which has been proven to effectively burn calories, work multiple muscles and also provide cardio exercise. As well, the exercise benefits its participants by relieving stress, improving both physical and mental health.
Yoga and a Women’s Walking Group. FFRC is always looking for new and creative ways to engage the community in a healthy, active lifestyle.
COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK
The Far Northeast Denver Community Collaborative is a membership led group of local individuals, businesses, community groups, government groups, and other organizations. The goal of the Collaborative is to network and create strong ties between all of these groups, to enable improved cooperation to create stronger, more viable, and healthy communities in northeast Denver and north Aurora, CO.
The Community Action Network (CAN) is a collaborative network focused on leveraging expertise and community assets to inform community conversations, identify areas of opportunity, and programs and activities that work to eliminate infant mortality with the African American/Black communities in northeast Denver and north Aurora. The CAN is comprised of over 50 people representing a variety of organizational backgrounds, content expertise, and lived experience.
The CAN utilizes the model of community organizing known as Assets Based Community Development, which asserts that building and strengthening communities requires utilizing the current and potential assets of the community, rather than focusing on needs and deficits. This strengths-based strategy emphasizes partnerships and associations, focuses on community, and believes that people are the answer to difficult issues communities may face. Partnerships and members of the CAN include:
- Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
- Denver Public Health Department
- Tri-County Healthy Department
- Children’s Hospital Colorado
- University of Colorado School of Public Health and the Center for Public Health Practice
- City of Aurora
- City and County of Denver