[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 151 (Friday, December 8, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2160]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NEW YORK'S HEALTHY START CONSORTIUM HELPS REDUCE INFANT MORTALITY

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                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, December 8, 2000

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, today I praise the outstanding work of New 
York's Healthy Start Consortium. Healthy Start/NYC (HS/NYC), a 
collaborative, community-driven, Federal project was founded in 1991 to 
combat infant mortality and poor maternal and child health in three 
medically underserved areas. New York neighborhoods like Bedford-
Stuyvesant, Mott Haven and Central Harlem have some of the Nation's 
highest infant mortality and poverty rates. From 1991 to 1997, HS/NYC 
served 30,000 women and their families annually which lead to a 40 
percent decrease in the infant mortality rate, a drop in low birth 
weights and a 24 percent decline in births to teens.
  The Consortium has been able to create a strong public-private 
network of health and social service agencies, providers, schools, 
churches, businesses, and individuals. It has remained committed to its 
community-driven, collaborative approach. I want to particularly 
commend the work of Ngozi Moses with the Brooklyn Perinatal Network; 
Arlene Bailey-Franklin with the Bronx Perinatal Consortium; Sharon 
Rumley with the Queens Comprehensive Perinatal Council; Goldie Watkins-
Bryant with Healthy Start/New York City Project; Luci Chambers, with 
Downstate New York Healthy Start Project; Mario Drummonds, with 
Northern Manhattan Perinatal Partnership; Cheryl Brown-Hoyte with 
Nassau County's Healthy Start Project and Dara Cerwonka with Suffolk 
County Perinatal Coalition.
  Now that the Healthy Start Program has been reauthorized, I look 
forward to working with the Healthy Start/New York City Consortium in 
the months ahead. The Consortium hopes to broaden its work with 
consumers. I am certain that the Consortium will be able to bring new 
families into its program during the next fiscal year. Once again, I 
offer my congratulations to the Consortium on a job well done.

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