Bread of Life, Inc., a Quest for Health Equity (Q4HE) grantee, recently hosted its third annual Community Baby Shower in Houston, where 100 expectant moms and their guests were showered with refreshments, games, entertainment—and plenty of baby gear.

Guests received giveaway prizes of car seats, diaper bags, high chairs, playpens, and more, and had the opportunity to stock up on essentials like formula, bottles, diapers, and clothing.

“Having a baby is not an easy feat and is often very costly,” said Dr. Morgan Rasmus, Vice President of Education, Bread of Life. “The Community Baby Shower provides parents items they need to support the start of their parenthood journey.”

Bread of Life Academy, which assists Houston’s historically vulnerable population through education and workforce development, and its baby shower program partner, Community Health Choice, a local nonprofit managed care organization committed to helping improve the health and well-being of Texas residents, invited parents who may not have access to a traditional baby shower. Many of the new moms in attendance were sourced through Bread of Life’s monthly food and supply distributions and other outreach programs.

Bread of Life’s network of community health workers worked to empower these first-time parents by addressing social determinant barriers and providing health education and connections to services.

Bread of Life, Inc., a nonprofit organization formed by St. John’s Church in Houston that provides a full spectrum of services and addresses inequities impacting individuals and families, receives support from the Quest Diagnostics Foundation as part of the Quest for Health Equity (Q4HE) initiative. The Q4HE initiative aims to address health disparities in marginalized communities across the US by providing resources, funding, donated testing services, and education.

Bread of Life and the Quest Diagnostics Foundation first teamed up in 2022, launching the Healthy Houston Collective program to improve access to affordable healthcare and reduce health disparities in marginalized communities in Houston and the surrounding area.

To learn more about Bread of Life and its programs, visit www.breadoflifeinc.org.

Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics works across the healthcare ecosystem to create a healthier world, one life at a time. We provide diagnostic insights from the results of our laboratory testing to empower people, physicians and organizations to take action to improve health outcomes. Derived from one of the world's largest databases of de-identifiable clinical lab results, Quest's diagnostic insights reveal new avenues to identify and treat disease, inspire healthy behaviors and improve healthcare management. Quest Diagnostics annually serves one in three adult Americans and half the physicians and hospitals in the United States, and our nearly 50,000 employees understand that, in the right hands and with the right context, our diagnostic insights can inspire actions that transform lives and create a healthier world.

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