The Kindling Group is a Chicago nonprofit (501(c)(3)) organization that creates engaging and entertaining documentary programming about important social, civic, and historical issues. The films of Kindling Group Executive Director, Daniel Alpert, have been nominated for Academy and national Emmy awards and have aired on PBS, HBO, A&E, and has been featured at festivals around the world.

Chicago Health Connection (CHC) is the community health organization responsible for developing and replicating the doula model featured in the film. First established as a task force to promote breastfeeding, CHC has become a community-based organization providing advocacy and services relating to maternal and child health.

A Doula Story Campaign is funded by:
Marguerite Casey Foundation
The George Gund Foundation
The Chicago Foundation for Women
A Doula Story documents one African American woman’s fierce commitment to empower pregnant teenagers with the skills and knowledge they need to become confident, nurturing mothers. Produced by The Kindling Group, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization, this powerful film follows Loretha Weisinger back to the same disadvantaged Chicago neighborhood where she once struggled as a teen mom. Loretha uses patience, compassion and humor to teach “her girls” about everything from the importance of breastfeeding and reading to their babies, to communicating effectively with health care professionals.

Using A Doula Story as a flashpoint for discussion, Active Voice, in partnership with The Kindling Group and the Chicago Health Connection (CHC), is launching an ambitious campaign to:

· Engage the public in candid, practical discussions about teen pregnancy and parenting, prenatal care, reproductive health and early childhood development
· Inspire community action
· Replicate the Chicago Health Connection’s community-based doula model in pilot sites around the country

In 2005 Active Voice will work with local and national community experts and educators in organizations that intersect the fields of women’s health, education, early childhood development and family services. Initial sites include the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Chicago and Cleveland. Committed to leveraging Loretha's story to inform and engage key stakeholders and the general public, AV and CHC will develop extensive components, including community discussion guides, an interactive Web site and shorter educational “modules” culled from the film.

For more information about the campaign please contact info@activevoice.net.

For more information about the film or to purchase a copy visit www.adoulastory.org.

 

"I'd like to use this in middle and high school health curriculum to give girls a broader perspective. We can also use it with parent groups - because parents need all the resources they can get. It'd also be a great tool for reducing health disparities in communities of color."
Luz Alvarez-Martinez
Director of National Latina Health Organization

“[A Doula Story] led us into a deeply collaborative conversation about how we could make this kind of doula program happen here, because it needs to.”
Clare Taylor
OB Program Manager of the Puget Sound Neighborhood Health Centers
“At the Children’s Defense Fund we’re working with state advocates on how to keep children from entering the 'cradle to prison' pipeline… I see this film as a perfect tool.”
Yasmine Daniel
Director of Early Childhood
Development at Children’s Defense Fund