ICAA would like to introduce Bill Marquess as the Energy Assistance/LIHEAP Program Planner with the Iowa Department of Human Rights

A: Early in my career I was told "If you have to bring your boss a problem, also bring a solution". That always stuck with me, and I have tried to make a point to follow it ever since. The solutions may not always be the right ones (and a good boss will work through it with you to find the right one), but it demonstrates the ability to analyze situations and be a source of forward-thinking in your organization. It also promotes self-education, because to find potential solutions often requires research and communication; both of which are vital in gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of your role and how it impacts the rest of your organization and those it serves.

A: I'm rolling the dice on how this will frame opinions of me...I have six cats, but I can explain lol...I've always been a cat person, but I've kept it reasonable until last November. I only had two cats, Larry and Tuna, who are both about 8 years old. In November, I found four kittens living under the shed in my backyard. They were only a few weeks old and the winter had already started setting in. I fed them each day for the next few weeks with the intention of finding them homes, but by the time they trusted me enough that I could get them inside I had to keep them. They were so bonded with me and with each other that I couldn't break them up...and besides it makes for an interesting experiment to watch a whole litter grow up together. I named the two boys Scooby and Floyd and the two girls Lucy and Sally, and that's how I got to six cats. Obviously, Tuna still has the coolest name. 

CAA Spotlight: Astra Jennings - Breastfeeding Award of Excellence

I grew up in Creston, Iowa, a small town in the southwest part of the state. I met my husband when I was still in high school and we traveled all over the United States for the first three years we were together. As we started our family, we settled back down in Creston to be close to my family. We welcomed our daughter in summer of 2003 and completed our family with the birth of our son three years later.

As a new mom, I knew I wanted to give our children the best start possible and chose to breastfeed. This is where my breastfeeding journey began. I successfully breastfed both. I worked in a factory for a number of years and decided I wanted and needed a change. I returned to school and graduated from Southwestern Community College in 2012 as a registered nurse.

As a young mother, I became familiar with MATURA Community Action Corporation. I participated in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. We also benefitted from the holiday gift baskets. MATURA’s WIOA program helped me pay for my nursing board fees.

I started working for the WIC program in August 2012 as a maternal health nurse and I took over the Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Program in 2013. The peer-counseling program’s official title is, “The Loving Support Peer Counseling Program.” It is an initiative designed to increase breastfeeding initiation and duration rates for WIC participants. It also serves to increase community support for WIC participants who breastfeed.

Within our agency, we have two to three peer counselors who provide face-to-face or telephone support for those who choose to breastfeed and have signed up for the program. The peer counselors are available day or night and provide encouragement, support, help and reassurance. They are the ultimate cheerleaders, helping moms work through the experience. Breastfeeding is 100% natural; so is labor and delivery. While ultimately only the mom experiences both, she needs support and encouragement with both. The peer counselors provide a layer of support as moms navigate this natural, but new experience. Peer counselors are passionate and dedicated.

As mentioned, the peer-counseling program also works to increase community support for WIC participants who breastfeed. We seek out new and inventive ways to collaborate with community partners to increase breastfeeding awareness in our service area. Since 2018, our program has built a network of community partnerships and established collaborative relationships across our 10-county service area. We have created breast pump pick up stations, reestablished the Crest Area Breastfeeding Coalition, sponsored an annual event in celebration of World Breastfeeding Week and worked with a local hospital’s certified lactation consultant (CLC) to establish a “Mother’s Milk Bank” depot.

We received the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) “Loving Support Gold Award” in 2018. This award recognizes local WIC agencies that have provided exemplary breastfeeding promotion and support activities. The intent of the award is to provide models and motivate other local agencies to strengthen their breastfeeding promotion, support activities, and ultimately increase breastfeeding initiation and duration rates among WIC participants.

Just this year, we received the next level of the USDA recognition as we received the “Gold Premier Loving Support Award.” To earn the next award level required, our program had to meet standards of adequate staff training, regular documentation audits, thorough policies and procedures, and demonstrate collaborative community partnerships. It also required our breastfeeding rate of participants to be at least 15% or higher with an increase over the previous year. Only 10 programs in the entire country received this award, two were from Iowa and our two agencies were the first in the state to receive this distinction.

It’s been a joy to participate in this wonderful program. We truly make a positive difference in the lives of our families.

~ Astra Jennings, Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Coordinator/Maternal Health Nurse

Upper Des Moines Opportunity, Inc. has a community initiative called Self-Sufficiency Advocate for Individual Life Skills (SAIL). SAIL is a voluntary program to assist any individual or family who is within income guidelines to set and achieve goals, with the ultimate goal being self-sufficiency.

As part of a Regional Performance and Innovation Consortium (RPIC) effort, the SAIL initiative, along with many other community transformation initiatives offered by Community Action Agencies across the United States, are being showcased on a new National Community Action Partnership website.

To learn more about SAIL visit the linked website or contact Alisa Schlief, SAIL Director, aschlief@udmo.com. 

Each issue is full of information and resources you can put to work for your agency! We will be hosting a virtual tour on Wednesday, October 6th from 9:30-10:00AM so you can learn how to access these useful resources. Register in advance here.