First Year Cleveland

05/26/2026

In 2025, we hosted four quarterly community meetings and facilitated three Funders Forums to help foundations and nonprofits work together to build capacity for infant and maternal health. Over 300 care providers, students, policymakers, funders, and community leaders engaged with us throughout the year to learn more and take action.

Read more about our work aligning diverse efforts in our 2025 Impact Report: https://firstyearcleveland.org/impactreport/

05/21/2026

If your organization…
👨🏽‍🍼Supports expecting and new dads
🫶🏾Is interested in enhancing supports for fathers

Join us next week on Thursday, May 28 as we explore opportunities to strengthen connections and engagement with dads in Cuyahoga County. RSVP here: bit.ly/4cR9hWK

05/20/2026

We’re thrilled to announce we’re now populating a new and improved version of First Year Connects, a resource app for pregnancy and parenting through baby's first year. The app will launch this spring. Register your organization today!

Submit your organization’s information here: bit.ly/3PuFg6j

05/20/2026

We’d like to extend a huge congratulations and thank you to Deyshanna Birch, our intern who just graduated last weekend!

Even if you didn’t get a chance to meet Deyshanna during her time with us, you likely know her work–always excellent! She’s been a pivotal part of the team, from creating databases to designing outreach campaigns, and volunteering with us. One of her first projects was to create a patient advocacy toolkit that is still a valuable resource on our website today.

Deyshanna graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Sociology on the pre-law track. She's taking a gap year (or two) before attending law school with the end goal of working in health policy. We wish her all the best on her future endeavors!

05/19/2026

Our 2026-2029 Strategic Plan outlines the steps we’ll take over the next several years to reduce infant mortality through systems change leadership, community power and policy change.

Hear from Executive Director Angela Newman-White about the importance of this plan, and the advocacy component in particular.

Summary here: bit.ly/42olz2S

05/18/2026

A community’s vitality is linked to the well-being of its youngest and most vulnerable members. When families have the support and resources they need to grow, they are better situated to unlock their potential and realize a vibrant, healthy environment. We track infant mortality and infant and maternal health trends in Cuyahoga County to better understand the greatest threats to babies and our community’s health overall. We then focus our efforts and resources where there is the biggest need.

Read more about how data informs our work and the key trends we track in our newly released 2025 Impact Report: bit.ly/42FXapT

05/18/2026

05/14/2026

Registration opens this month for Infant Vitality Advocacy Day on Tuesday, September 29 at the Statehouse. Anyone who cares about moms and babies is welcome to join us!

Watch this video for more info about this event from Managing Director Stacey Hren.

Learn more and sign up for email updates at lightingthewayto1.org

05/13/2026

We are looking forward to having Richard Stacklin and Dr. Monique Katsuki from First Year Cleveland join us tomorrow, May 14 for our !

You don't want to miss it! Register now and we'll see you on screen Thursday at 9:30 am.

🔗 Register here: https://ow.ly/f20n50YInKc

05/13/2026

If your organization…
👨🏽‍🍼Supports expecting and new dads
🫶🏾Is interested in enhancing supports for fathers

Join us as we explore opportunities to strengthen connections and engagement with dads in Cuyahoga County. RSVP here: bit.ly/4cR9hWK