A healthy beginning
changes everything.
The First 1,000 Days
from pregnancy through age 2 are the most crucial time to build a foundation for lifelong health and well-being.
Investing in the earliest years pays off for children, families, and communities:
improving health, lowering costs, creating a robust workforce, and strengthening the economy.
At the Burke Foundation, we believe every family should have a healthy beginning.
By the Numbers
90%
Amount of brain growth that happens in the first 5 years of life
<1% of GDP
What the nation spends on development in children’s earliest years
$111B
What the United States spends on maternal health per year, double that of most other high-income countries
Yet, American women are more likely to die from child birth complications than women of any other high-income country
$700M
What New Jersey loses every year on preterm births, which refers to when a baby is born before 37 weeks of pregnancy.
Doula support helps prevent preterm births and reduce complications.
By lowering C-section rates and improving birth outcomes,
doulas can save thousands per birth — and millions for the state.
Up to $13 return on investment
What we get back on each dollar invested in early childhood through improved outcomes in education, health, and employment.
Who We Support
The Burke Foundation’s portfolio focuses our resources on work that strengthens nurturing, respectful, trusting relationships between individuals and care providers:
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Click to read more: Family Connects NJ
Family Connects NJ
A nurse visit for every new baby
Through this groundbreaking program, New Jersey families receive a free visit from a nurse within a few weeks of welcoming a new baby.
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Click to read more: HealthySteps
HealthySteps
A child development expert in every pediatric team
HealthySteps transforms primary pediatric care by integrating a child development expert into primary pediatric teams for children’s well visits.
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Click to read more: Start Strong NJ
Start Strong NJ
Affordable Child Care for All
Start Strong NJ is a campaign to make child care affordable for New Jersey families – boosting New Jersey’s economy and reducing stress for families.
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Click to read more: Community Doula Portfolio
Community Doula Portfolio
A trusted guide for every new parent.
To address the maternal mortality crisis in New Jersey, the Burke Foundation supports community doulas who improve the health of mothers, babies and families.
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Click to read more: Centering
Centering
Relationship-based group care to improve health of mothers, babies, and families
CenteringPregnancy and CenteringParenting expand healthcare visits to include parental learning and connection.
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Click to read more: All Our Kin
All Our Kin
Enhancing family child care in Trenton
All Our Kin and Children’s Futures are partnering to make child care available to more families in Trenton, NJ, by strengthening family child care businesses.
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Click to read more: AMAR Community Doulas
AMAR Community Doulas
Supporting community doulas in Trenton
The AMAR Community Doula program uses an evidence-backed model to advance equitable, community-based, peer-to-peer support for pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and early parenting.
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Click to read more: South Ward Healthy Beginnings
South Ward Healthy Beginnings
Enhancing career pathways for community doulas in Newark
South Ward Healthy Beginnings provides accessible, quality maternity care in Newark, NJ; creates career pathways in maternal health; and helps families prepare their children for kindergarten.
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Click to read more: Reach Out and Read New Jersey
Reach Out and Read New Jersey
Strengthening parent-child relationships at pediatric visits
Reach Out and Read incorporates the importance of early relational health by distributing books during pediatric care visits and encouraging families to read aloud together.
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Click to read more: Doula Business Support
Doula Business Support
Strengthening doulas’ business acumen in New Jersey
Civitas Strategies is strengthening doula business success by providing doula-specific training, resources, business coaching, technical assistance, and evaluation services.
At the Burke Foundation, we know we can’t do it alone.
The initiatives we support are the product of deep partnerships with communities, grantees, and co-funders who work with us to make lasting change.
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The Burke Foundation’s newsletter examines key issues affecting children and families.
Our goal is to increase understanding of root causes and to highlight proven solutions and tools.