Open Arms wins Seattle Human Services Coalition Award

We at Open Arms are thrilled to have received the Seattle Human Services Coalition award for Innovative Program!

The winners were announced today:

18th Annual Human Services Awards

The award recognizes Open Arms for its "response to an existing need in a new way, its ability to build upon an outstanding program model, its creativity in leveraging resources, and its positive program results."

I'm thrilled about this award. Today I had a wonderfully stimulating and energizing conversation with one of our current board members and a potential board member and left that conversation feeling so excited about the work we do at Open Arms, as I often do when I have a chance to step back and really look at Open Arms with fresh eyes. Our programs are innovative - and I'm pleased to see that recognized through this award.

Open Arms is a community-based organization, and all of our programs are deeply committed to working within the cultures and communities we serve - not imposing structure from the outside. Open Arms Programs - our regional birth doula services program and our White Center Early Learning Initiative (WCELI) birth doula and outreach doula programs - show results and are cost-effective.

Our clients - low-income women, refugees, immigrants and others - struggle in many ways, but one of the ways that is most apparent is in the area of health disparities. Issues such as postpartum depression, preterm birth and infant mortality disproportionally affect our clients. By removing barriers to service, increasing awareness and personal advocacy, providing education about pregnancy, birth options, breastfeeding and positive early parenting, and reducing medical interventions and the costs of perinatal care, Open Arms programs are able to fill in the gaps that are left in perinatal care and give families a healthier start - which has a great impact in terms of health care costs, early learning and future success of families.... and that affects us all.