For Hometown News
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY - The Indian River County Healthy Start Coalition has moved to a new location. It invites interested members of the community to join an open house slated for Sept. 12 from 5-8 p.m.
Healthy Start is now located at 333 17th St., just west of the intersection of Indian River Drive and the Alma Lee Loy Bridge. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at 5:30 p.m. recognizing the official opening of classroom space.
Attendees will enjoy wine and tapas, as well as cookies and lemonade as they tour the two-story office complex, including program classrooms and new space allocated for Healthy Families IRC.
Staff will be on hand to discuss the organization's mission, as well as offering an introduction to their other free programs.
The mission of the organization is to establish a system that guarantees all women access to prenatal care and all infants access to services that promote normal growth and development.
Healthy Families Indian River County is a free, voluntary home-visiting program proven to prevent child abuse and neglect before it starts. Services begin when mom is pregnant and can last until the child is 5. The program equips families with the knowledge and skills they need to create a stable home environment.
Community-wide issues the organization and its five funded programs are addressing across the board are: reducing the percentage of women who report smoking during pregnancy, increasing the percentage of women entering prenatal care in their first trimester and decreasing the percentage of repeat births to teens.
For more information, call (772) 563-9118 or visit www.irchealthystart.org