2023 Community Champion: Juwana Montgomery

“They know, without a doubt, I’m going to love them and their babies.”
– Juwana Montgomery, Assistant Director, South Ward Healthy Beginnings

What accomplishment makes you most proud?

Knowing that I’ve been able to get some of the moms I work with “to and through;” knowing that they’ve used the additional services we provide. But, most importantly, we do focus on breastfeeding as well and knowing that we’ve been very successful with our teen moms as they continue to breastfeed up until their child is at least 18 months old.

At the Burke Foundation, we focus on supporting families during the first 1000 days from pregnancy through age two — what do you see as the biggest challenge for families during that time period? How do you address that challenge?

Social determinants. We’re talking about housing, food, employment — all of that plays a big part for all — but definitely when it comes to a family expecting a child. We’ve combatted that in South Ward by making sure the people we serve are plugged into 30-plus partners. If we can’t provide it, we connect to a partner who can help us fulfill the needs.

When we look at the food desert in the north section, moms can go to a bodega, but that bodega is very expensive. They’re not necessarily eating the right foods. So that’s one of the issues.

Another issue is proper and adequate respect when it comes to prenatal care. As much as we talk about maternal mortality and infant mortality and morbidity, the numbers have improved — but not improved for Black and brown women. That report card doesn’t reflect the issues we face. Having moms trying to get appointments, that can be difficult for them. Just receiving proper respect. Those are some of the challenges we face.

What gives you hope in what you are seeing in the early childhood / maternal health space?

When I first started this work, we were running up against brick walls. Getting into the high schools was difficult. Even meeting with some of the families was kind of hard because they didn’t trust us. Their biggest fear is that we’re social services, not a community-based organization. But then, as we started to grow, and we continued to knock on those doors, and we wouldn’t turn away from them, our reputation started growing.

We were fortunate enough to be able to build our reputation to where people knew they could trust us. I’m a woman of a certain age, and to be able to have teens share their deepest and darkest secrets with me, that’s not an easy feat. But they trust me enough to be able to do it. And they know, without a doubt, I’m going to love them and their babies.

What is the secret to a great partnership — either with government, community or individuals?

Building trust and walking the walk. You can’t say you’re going to do something, and that’s not what you do. Oftentimes, we’re in a society where you have to show me before I believe you. And I think they’re now starting to see that we really mean what we’re about.

We’re unapologetic about serving the community, and it may not be the most popular thing at the time, but that doesn’t matter to us. What matters to us is the people we serve — the families, the babies.