Supporting Healthy Starts and Caregiver Well-Being
The AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation supports community-based programs that help caregivers feel more confident, strengthen family relationships, and expand access to care and resources. Children do best when the adults caring for them are supported, connected, and able to meet their needs. That support starts before birth and continues through early childhood. Maternal health, positive parenting, and responsive care can help families build stability and give children a healthier start. When caregivers have what they need in the beginning, the children they care for can grow, thrive, and stay well over time.
2024 grantee spotlights
- Children’s Trust of South Carolina
- Greater Philadelphia YMCA
- WakeMed Foundation
Children’s Trust of South Carolina, AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation, and Select Health of South Carolina leadership at a 2024 grant presentation in Columbia, South Carolina.
Children’s Trust of South Carolina
Strengthening parental confidence through Triple P Online
Children’s Trust of South Carolina advances healthy starts by strengthening caregiver well-being through statewide, evidence-based prevention strategies. As the state’s lead prevention agency, the organization equips caregivers with the tools, confidence, and connections needed to support positive childhood experiences and strong family relationships. With support from the AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation, Children’s Trust expanded access to Triple P Online (TPOL), a flexible parenting program designed to improve caregiver confidence and promote safe, stable, and nurturing environments for children.
“I am learning new skills to be a happier mother to my children."
—Parent participant
The initiative focused on reaching families in counties identified with high rates of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), lower child well-being rankings, and rural or underserved conditions. The pilot focus included Aiken, Berkeley, Colleton, Dorchester, Horry, Jasper, Orangeburg, and Richland counties. Its reach grew beyond this initial footprint through strong community partnerships and referral pathways.
During the grant period, 176 caregivers were referred and 140 enrolled, representing 161 families and supporting 316 children. By completing the program, caregivers gained knowledge and practical skills to better understand child behavior, strengthen positive parenting practices, and build confidence. Caregivers reported stronger parenting skills and significant gains in self-efficacy, with 98% saying the support was helpful and 96% saying they would return to the program.
A defining feature of this work was its caregiver-centered approach, combining accessible online learning with personalized support. Children’s Trust provided 256 hours of case management and caregiver support, including direct outreach, guidance, and encouragement to help caregivers engage with and complete the program. This support model reinforced participation and strengthened outcomes, with nearly half of enrolled caregivers completing all modules.
Children’s Trust of South Carolina connected with caregivers at Select Health community baby showers, which served as welcoming entry points and strong referral sources that boosted program awareness and participation.
“Thank you for calling and checking in and just being there if I needed help.”
—Parent participant
Beyond the core program, the initiative connected families to additional supports, including child care, education, health services, nutrition, housing, and other community resources — helping to strengthen overall family stability and well-being. Trusted partnerships with organizations such as Epworth Children’s Home, Windwood Family Services, and Select Health expanded access and ensured families received coordinated, community-based support.
As one caregiver noted, “The program is really helping me relate to and understand my children better,” while another shared, “I am learning new skills to be a happier mother to my children.” By pairing evidence-based parenting support with trusted community partnerships and personalized guidance, Children’s Trust is helping caregivers build stronger, more supportive family environments, creating a foundation for healthier starts and long-term well-being for children across South Carolina.
Greater Philadelphia YMCA
Creating a pathway for maternal wellness
The Greater Philadelphia YMCA is advancing healthy starts by strengthening maternal health and caregiver well-being through its Maternal Wellness Initiative (MWI). Designed to support women during pregnancy and the postpartum period, the initiative provides a holistic, community-based model that combines physical health, mental wellness, and social connection. With support from the AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation and the Independence Blue Cross Foundation, the YMCA launched MWI as a new program to address gaps in accessible maternal health resources.
The program provides free YMCA membership, fitness, nutrition education, mental health support, peer connection, and on-site child care to support expectant and new mothers during prenatal, postpartum, and early childhood periods, which is crucial for their health and the well-being of their children.
In its first year, the Maternal Wellness Initiative successfully launched across six YMCA branches in the Greater Philadelphia region, serving 100 expectant mothers across two groups, with a vision to scale across all 15 YMCA locations in the region. Participants reflected strong engagement and early positive trends in an early independent evaluation:
- Loneliness reduced by half (52% to 26%).
- Seventy-eight percent of participants rated their health good or excellent after the program.
- One hundred percent participation and retention in the first group, demonstrating strong engagement and sustained involvement in the first year of the program.
“The Maternal Wellness program helped me meet people — expecting moms who are going through the same experience I am… I don’t think we would have met without it.”
—Program participant
50%
reduction in loneliness
78%
rated their health good or excellent after the program
100%
participation and retention in the first cohort
A defining element of the initiative is its focus on fostering connection and community among participants. Through weekly in-person sessions, group activities, and peer engagement, mothers build supportive networks that extend beyond the program itself. Participant feedback reinforced the importance of these connections, with many expressing a preference for in-person interaction and shared experiences with other expectant mothers. This led the YMCA to expand offerings such as walking groups and additional group-based activities.
By combining accessible wellness programming, peer connection, and family-centered supports, MWI is helping mothers build strong foundations for their own health and their children’s future. This work reflects a growing recognition that supporting caregiver well-being during pregnancy and early parenthood is a critical pathway to improving long-term outcomes for children, families, and communities.
“Supporting mothers means building systems that give support and help people learn and navigate every step together. The Maternal Wellness Initiative is bringing that space and safety that mothers deserve, building community that is helping mothers and children thrive together.”
–Val Arkoosh, Pennsylvania DHS Secretary
WakeMed Foundation
Building healthy starts through family support
The WakeMed Children's — Pediatrics Primary Care Family Support Team, led by Dr. Carrie Dow-Smith, equips parents and caregivers with knowledge, coaching, and calming tools that support healthy child development. Through its Family-Centered Medical Home model, Project LAUNCH, and the evidence-based Promoting First Relationships (PFR) home visiting program, WakeMed Children’s supports families undergoing stress related to trauma, mental health challenges, chronic medical conditions, or lack of access to the social determinants of health. These interventions help caregivers build confidence, strengthen attachment, and better respond to children’s cues.
With funding from the AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation, WakeMed Children's launched LIFT financial coaching as a medical-financial partnership to help parents set and achieve goals related to education, employment, debt, credit, and financial stability. The model combines one-on-one coaching with trauma-informed skill building. By late 2025, WakeMed Children's trained 15 staff members and begun implementation with support from a North Carolina State University MSW student embedded in the practice.
“As a parent, I can understand how uncomfortable it is to be vulnerable about challenges that you face dealing with your children. I love [Promoting First Relationships (PFR), using it and providing it to parents, because it really normalizes the challenges we face as parents. But it also teaches us that we all have needs, parents and children."
–Chioma Pitts, MS
WakeMed Children’s also introduced Mindful Moments in the waiting room, which reached over 180 parents, grandparents, primary caregivers, and children in its first few months. The program introduces caregivers and children to breathwork and gentle movement that promote calm, connection, and emotional regulation that they could use at home. The results already demonstrate strong family engagement: WakeMed Children’s enrolled 73 mother-child pairs in the National Institutes of Health-funded Growing Together study to understand the biological effects of these interventions, completed 229 home visits using the Promoting First Relationships curriculum, made 139 warm handoffs to family support caoches, served 2,020 families, and made 2,600 referrals for social drivers of health needs.
Together, WakeMed’s model shows how investing in parental knowledge, emotional regulation, and economic stability in a child’s earliest days can help families build a healthy start, strengthen caregiver wellbeing, and support overall household health.
2025 grantees
In 2025, the Foundation awarded grants to several organizations that are working to support healthy starts and caregiver well-being. Together, they show what can happen when families have practical resources, trusted relationships, and support early on. Caregivers feel more supported, families gain stability, and children have stronger starts.
- Coös Coalition for Young Children and Families
- Generations Ahead
- The Shalom Project
Coös Coalition for Young Children and Families
Gorham, New Hampshire
The Coös Coalition for Young Children and Families supports children from birth to age 8 in rural northern New Hampshire by helping the families and local systems around them. Foundation funding will help the coalition expand community-based behavioral health support beyond the clinical system. It will also support its Raising Strong Families initiative, which connects families to parenting classes, support groups, and everyday essentials like food and transportation.
Generations Ahead
Traverse City, Michigan
Generations Ahead helps young parents build strong relationships, create more stability at home, and raise healthy children. Foundation funding will help the organization reach young families in surrounding rural counties with case management, support for school and work, mental health resources, parenting and life skills support, and help with housing, transportation, and other basic needs.
The Shalom Project
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
The Shalom Project supports women living with limited income in North Carolina’s Triad region. With Foundation support, the organization is expanding its Flourish program to help strengthen the financial and mental well-being of mothers younger than age 20 and young mothers with infants.