Success Stories

Healthy Start loves to honor and celebrate the successes of our families, staff, and community partners. The stories shared on this page come directly from our program and have been shared with permission.

If you’d like to connect with other Healthy Start participants and hear about more success stories throughout the year, head to our Facebook page.

Brennan’s Story

HCCSO supported my professional development to pursue becoming a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC). As a nutrition counselor for WIC, my CLC certification will allow me to better help our families with breastfeeding support and management. The course offered a foundation of knowledge to build upon and is current with evidence-based information. The knowledge that I gained by completing the certification will allow me to empower our WIC moms by sharing this information with them, offering support, and helping them build their confidence and autonomy.

-Brennan, UCAN WIC Nutrition Counselor

Sara’s Story

Being a Heathy Start Caseworker and WIC Certifier allows me more time to interact with clients on a regular basis and talk about healthy foods and nutrition, a subject I have always been excited and passionate about. I was delighted to learn from a momma about her farm-to-kitchen excursions and the way it influenced their lives. We’ll call her Maxine to protect their identity.

Maxine took an interest in nutrition once her son was born. She was very proactive in wanting to learn about super foods and recipes that she could create for her son to encourage healthy eating and his introduction to solid foods at 6 months. She also values family and wanted them to be included in her son’s life, so she went to work looking for recipes and ways to include the participation of her family safely. She and some of her family members went to farms and orchards where they picked fresh fruits (practicing social distancing of course) and used her farm direct coupons to go to local stands to get fresh vegetables. Then they united in their kitchens where together they made purees and prepared baby foods for their young babies and toddlers. This momma was thrilled about her experience and the community bond that was created over food and passion to feed their babies and young children. She continues sharing recipes and even had aspirations to create a cookbook.

This momma’s story is so inspiring and a wonderful example of the power of nutrition education and the positive influence it can have on families and bringing people together!

-Sara, Josephine County Healthy Start Caseworker & WIC Certifier

Jessica’s Story

My biggest drive for completing the Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC) training and exam was to be able to offer more complete wrap around support to the families I work with. When I establish relationships with families prenatally my goal is to be able to see them through pregnancy, birth and postpartum and provide tools, both practical and educational, that help them succeed in their goals as a family. Lactation and newborn feeding is a huge piece of of that puzzle.

So very thankful for the opportunity to complete this certification.

-Jess, Mama Told Me, Birth and Family Education

Mandy’s Story

I am working with a mother who was very anxious about breastfeeding and worried about not producing enough milk so her baby would gain weight. I wanted to make sure that this mom has the best breastfeeding experience possible so that she and her baby could thrive. I supported this mom with evidence-based information and realized she needed additional support to address her needs. I was able to refer her to a lactation consultant and am happy to share that she has been successfully breastfeeding now for 3 months and the baby is thriving and growing.

-Mandy, Siskiyou Community Health Center Home Visitor

Mariah’s Story

I’m a super busy mother of 6 with a new infant. I’ve made some special friends along this journey. I love going into the WIC office and seeing all their faces. They all are full of support. I’m so appreciative for all they have done for me and the community. We truly are so blessed to have such an amazing team always there to help in so many ways. I always thought WIC/Healthy Start was just help with food. It’s really SO much more than that! This life has so many turns, they all make it that much easier of a ride.

I learned about parenting classes from Healthy Start, and make it a high priority to take these amazing classes every time they are offered. Just for me. A small hour out of my day to refresh. Do I know a lot of the information? Sure. I’ve taken the classes several times. But it refreshes me. Reminds me. Gives me new ideas. Helps me be a better parent. From infant to teenager, every child is different and you may need new ideas on how to approach a situation with them. New information is always available and it’s great to stay on top of it. I always learn something new with each class (if you can believe it.)

I absolutely love every single staff person they have. Warm, non-judgemental, caring ladies that I admire so. You honestly have nothing to lose and so much to gain. That’s why I’m a Healthy Start mom.

– Mariah

Rachel’s Story

Rachel, our lead Healthy Start staff at Aviva has assisted families in our region this year by offering some of her time to COVID response. Rachel answered calls for the COVID Information Hotline and made sure families with additional needs knew about the community resources available and supported them with referrals. She and her dog Rogue also helped get diapers and wipes to families in need.

Lisa’s Story

I have had several families affected by COVID this past year, many lost jobs, their living arrangements were disrupted and financially ruined. Without the support from HCCSO many families would have not been able to get some supplies they needed.

I have a mom who was 5-months pregnant when I heard about the program and what supplies HCCSO can offer. This mom did not have any books to read to her baby. I was given some of the most beautiful and enriching books possible to offer to this family. The mom was excited and stated, “I’m so happy to receive such nice books, now I can read to my child while pregnant and after my baby is born.” The baby was born a few days ago and my mom received yet more items that she needed to have the best Breast-Feeding experience possible. We encourage our families to “Wear Baby” as much as possible and with having the Moby Wraps and Snuggettes the child can experience even more Bonding and Attachment with their parent.

Our program has some supplies in stock that were given to our program from HCCSO and we have many families in need. Our program supports families 0-3 years and the families we serve all have High Risks Factors. We know with the donations we receive will help families give them an opportunity to care for their child/children as best they could. Without your generous donations our family would not have as much peace and opportunity to be the best parent they can.

– Lisa, UCAN Healthy Families Home Visitor