THE WELLNESS COALITION

Get Well. Stay Well. These four words guide the work of our newest CHAMPion of the Week. Located in Montgomery, The Wellness Coalition is dedicated to improving the health and wellness of people with limited or no health insurance in Central Alabama through collaboration, services, and breastfeeding, nutrition, and wellness support.

The Wellness Coalition was established more than 25 years ago when a group of healthcare providers came together to work on improving healthcare for persons with chronic diseases and little or no health insurance. Today, the coalition’s Board Member Organizations include the major “safety net” healthcare providers—those serving underserved persons in five counties of Alabama’s River Region: Autauga, Elmore, Lowndes, Macon, and Montgomery.

The Wellness Coalition is currently working to normalize breastfeeding through various initiatives, including: offering free breastfeeding resources and support groups, developing campaigns featuring local moms to highlight the importance of breastfeeding, and, most recently, launching Baby Cafés to provide breastfeeding families with free and safe support spaces.

“Baby Cafés allow us to collaborate with local organizations to provide accessible breastfeeding support in their communities,” said Belkys Gomez, program coordinator for The Wellness Coalition. “Our next goal is to work with local hospitals to help them become certified as breastfeeding-friendly, a vital step in our work to prevent and reduce chronic disease in our community.”

The Wellness Coalition’s work to coordinate breastfeeding services and share information to increase the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of healthcare is inspiring. We are excited to work together on future CHAMPS National initiatives and thrilled to celebrate them as our CHAMPion of the Week!