Increasing breastfeeding rates of all infants living in the District of Columbia is one of the District of Columbia Breastfeeding Coalition’s (DCBFC) main priorities. The DCBFC seeks to promote, protect and support culturally-sensitive programs and activities that build awareness and understanding

Having provided lactation-related training programs in every U.S. state and territory for the past 20 years, it’s no surprise that our CHAMPion of the Week is Cathy Carothers, BLA, IBCLC, FILCA. She is co-director of the Mississippi-based nonprofit organization Every Mother, Inc. where she develop

Alina Hamkar’s life was turned upside down in August of 2021, but it didn’t stop her from working on her goals. Alina and her parents left Afghanistan last October in 2021 and had an unexpected 15-month stay in Greece. She supported CHEERing as the clinical team lead and was our guide for any me

Making donations to refugee camps and organizations in Greece is nothing new for Mary Dallas. When a CHEERing camp was in need of clothing and bedding at the start of the New Year, she came to the rescue. She also delivered children’s school supplies to Malakasa Camp in 2022. Mary is a British exp

Congratulations to CHEERing alumna Maria Ines Silva, BSc. Maria spent her 6-month Erasmus nutrition placement with CHEERing in Greece. She served as the onsite nutrition specialist, focused primarily on promoting food literacy, reducing food waste, and favoring sustainable diets. The children at Mal

Our CHAMPion of the Week is Laene Ramirez Keith, MA, CCC/SLP, IBCLC (she/hers). Laene is a lactation consultant and Speech Language Pathologist in Florida. She serves as Communications Coordinator with Mothers’ Milk Bank of Florida, advocating for access to donor human milk. Laene also provides in

Congratulations to Tareq Ghafari, a member of our CHEERing Afghanistan team! Tareq is dedicated to promoting maternal-child health in his home country. He joined the CHEERing team in September after studying nursing and currently runs the day-to-day operations of CHEERing’s newest Grow Clinic in H

Valerie Coleman, RN, MSN, IBCLC, FACCE, is our CHAMPion of the Week. Valerie is the Program Director of Family Life Education, Women’s Health Community Outreach, and Lactation Services at VCU Health Systems (VCUHS) in Richmond, Virginia. Valerie is currently active with the Virginia Department

Jenan has been helping foodKIND with the delivery of mothers' packs to Oinofyta camp and when CHEERing took over, he began helping us instead. NGOs depend on people like Jenan to get us access to the camps, which is not always ea

CHAMPS’ first Baby-Friendly re-designated hospital is here! The University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) was initially designated as a Baby-Friendly hospital in September 2017 and was re-designated on December 5, 2022. Their incredible Baby-Friendly journey began ten years ago. UMMC’s