During the month of March, Girls Incorporated of Chattanooga teens traveled to Washington, D.C., New York City and Nashville to advocate for reducing the infant mortality rate in Hamilton County as part of the Governor’s Infant Mortality Public
Awareness Campaign in Tennessee.

Meeting with Rep. Zach Wamp and staff from Sens. Alexander, Corker and Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH), the teens asked officials to support measures such as comprehensive reproductive education and pre-conception health care as the most effective ways to prevent infant mortality.

“It was exciting to meet with Cong. Wamp and discuss ways to save the lives of babies in Hamilton County,” said Kermisha Tate, a Girls Inc. teen and junior at Boyd-Buchanan School. “We enjoyed meeting with Tennessee leaders and other experts working on issues surrounding infant mortality.”

I.M.P.A.C.T. teens also met with U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration office to
discuss nationwide efforts to decrease infant mortality rates.

Earlier in March, teens testified before the Children and Family Affairs
Committee and met with Sens. Andy Berke and Bo Watson, Reps. Tommie
Brown, Vince Dean, and JoAnn Favors.

“The I.M.P.A.C.T. program was formed in 2008 to address the infant mortality crisis in Tennessee,” said Tracy Windeknecht, manager of special programs for Girls Incorporated of Chattanooga. “The program works to increase awareness about infant mortality and related risk factors and to reduce behavioral choices associated with poor birth outcomes in underserved communities.”

Through I.M.P.A.C.T., teens advocate for public policies that reduce the contributing factors leading to infant mortality such as access to
health care, reproductive education, nutrition, and substance abuse.
Additionally, they created public service announcements that are aimed
at their peers and are building an in-school task force to directly
contact students in Hamilton County schools.

During the trip, teens also toured the White House, visited the United
States Holocaust Museum, toured Georgetown and Howard Universities and
met with the public policy team at The National Campaign to Prevent
Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

In New York City, teens toured Thomas
Jefferson High School in Brooklyn to learn about their school-based health clinic and World Academy for Total Community Health program. They also met with administrators at the Brownsville Multi-Service Family Health Center and the New York City Department of Health to learn about their efforts to reduce infant mortality.

Facts about infant mortality in Tennessee:
-Tennessee is ranked 45th in the nation for infant deaths. Hamilton County’s infant mortality rate is higher than the state average.
-Every 12 hours, an infant in Tennessee dies before her or his first birthday.
-Black infants are 2.5 times more likely to die within the first year of life than white babies.
-African-American babies in Hamilton County die at a rate higher than babies in Romania, Bulgaria and Cuba.

Members of the I.M.P.A.C.T. team are Briana Dobler (East Brainerd), Markesha Dunham (Eastdale), Preston Harris (East Lake), Gabriela Hernandez (East Ridge), Jamiecia Love (Brainerd), Jasmine Ray (East Lake), Sean Ruff (East Brainerd), Lhadijah Sanders (Downtown), Kermisha Tate (East Chattanooga) and Janelle Tonge (Brainerd).

Girls Incorporated of Chattanooga inspires all girls to be strong, smart and bold, by providing a healthy and positive environment where
girls can enjoy being girls; by providing enriching programs that
nurture their capacity for personal achievement, confident adulthood
and economic independence; and by advocating for an equitable society.

Since 1961, Girls Inc. has served more than 22,000 girls aged 6-18 in
Hamilton County. For more information, please call 423 624-4757.