2021 Gala to Grow Birth Centers
The AABC Foundation held the virtual Gala to Grow Birth Centers: Sidecars at the Speakeasy on October 8th. Attendees watched a demonstration on how to make a Sidecar Cocktail, bid on exciting live auction items, and waged a battle of generosity to be the Last Hero Standing and win a $500 cash prize. With the help of our auctioneer Suzanne Krainock, our sponsors, and all of our supporters, we raised more than $70,000! Thank you to everyone who was involved. The funds raised have a direct impact on our scholarship and grant programs and will help us to grow more birth centers and serve more families. Join us at the next Gala to Grow Birth Centers on September 16th, 2021in San Diego, CA!
Scholarship Opportunities
The AABC Foundation will soon be accepting applications for the Amy Ellen Polk Scholarship. The annual scholarship is awarded in the form of a tuition grant to attend the AABC How to Start a Birth Center Workshop. An additional $500 is awarded for travel expenses if the recipient is attending an in-person workshop. The workshop is offered in two formats: a two-day, hands-on workshop in a major US city; or as an online course that you can complete at your own pace, in your own home. The 2022 Application Period will run January 2- March 2, 2022. Learn more at aabcfoundation.org/amy-ellen-polk-scholarship.
Grants to Support Birth Centers
Congratulations to Membership Support Grant awardee Baby Catcher Birth Center (Lafayette, LA)! Founder Shatamia Webb, CPM, LM opened the birth center in August, and it’s the first Black-owned birth center in the state. The Membership Support Grant assists birth center applicants with up to 50% of membership fees due the American Association of Birth Centers for birth centers that are applying for membership for the first time and birth centers that are due for membership renewal but experiencing a fiscal crisis. Learn more and apply at aabcfoundation.org/membership-support-grants
Congratulations as well to our most recent Accreditation Support Grant recipients: Saige Birth Center (New Orleans, LA), Oregon Birth and Wellness Center (Springfield, OR), and Birth Detroit (Detroit, MI). The Accreditation Support Grant assisted AABC member birth centers with up to 50% of the fees due to the CABC in the accreditation process.
New Changemaker Accreditation Grants. In 2021, with the help of a generous seed donation, the AABC Foundation established the Changemaker Fund and the Changemaker Accreditation Grant in honor of the founders of the birth center movement and the current and future changemakers who propel the movement forward. Beginning in 2022, the Changemaker Accreditation Grant will pay up to 100% of the initial accreditation fee or an accredited birth center’s annual CABC fees. Learn more and apply at aabcfoundation.org/accreditation.
Be a Changemaker!
The AABC Foundation is celebrating the new Changemaker Accreditation Grant, established in honor of the people—past, present, & future—who drive the birth center movement forward. So during this giving season, we're celebrating Changemakers of all kinds! From birth center founders, to student midwives, to administrative staff—these are all examples of changemakers that the AABC Foundation supports with scholarships and grants. Make a donation in honor or in memory of a changemaker (regardless of what field or cause they made change in!) so that you can support future changemakers and make your own change in the birth center movement. Visit AABCFoundation.org to donate or scan the QR code.
AABC Foundation Board
The AABC Foundation welcomes Shaughanassee Vines, DNP, CNM to the Board. Shaughanassee serves as assistant professor at Frontier Nursing University and clinically at Family Health Centers of San Diego. She is also the founder of Coceaux Health, a telehealth platform providing women's health services to women of color by clinicians of color and has published manuscripts on racial health disparities. The Board is eager to have her expertise!
The Board is also proud to announce our new President Brianna Bennett, MBA. Brianna has served as a Trustee on the Board since 2010, and as the Treasurer since 2017. After serving two illustrious terms as AABCF President, Ann Geisler, CPCU, AU, AAI has transitioned to the role of Past President where she will continue to advise and offer her wisdom. Succeeding Brianna as Treasurer is Trustee Dominic Morgese, CPA with his wealth of financial expertise.