Dear Partners,
Happy New Year!
As we welcome 2025, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to each of you for your continued partnership and collaboration. Through your unwavering support, Okeechobee Healthy Start Coalition has served our community’s families for 31 years, achieving significant milestones, overcoming challenges, and improving the lives of mothers, fathers, and children in Okeechobee County.
Reflecting on our journey, we are inspired by the many accomplishments made possible by our collective efforts. However, as maternal and child health advocates, we recognize work still needs to be done.
Okeechobee remains a maternity care desert, and the recent closure of another delivery hospital in Martin County adds to the challenges our mothers and families face. With all of our local births occurring outside our county—in St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach and Highland Counties—access to critical maternal and child care services is increasingly limited and carries such risk with the distance between the time our mothers go into labor and the time they arrive at a hospital.
This year, we are intensifying our advocacy efforts. We will work closely with other Coalitions, local and coastal advocates to find innovative solutions that improve access to maternal and child health services for our residents. Together, we will continue striving for the best birth outcomes for every family in our community.
We invite you to follow us on this journey as we fight for the resources and care our families deserve. Thank you for standing with us in this mission.
Wishing you and your loved ones a prosperous, abundant, and fulfilling New Year. Together, let’s make 2025 a year of positive impact and meaningful progress.
Warm regards,
Andrea Medellin
Executive Director
Okeechobee Healthy Start Coalition
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