Two Franklin County and North Quabbin organizations have received two-year, six-figure grants from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation’s multiyear program aimed at reducing racial inequities in perinatal health outcomes.
The Greenfield Community College Foundation is getting $110,000 to create a training program for midwives, while the North Quabbin Health Collaborative will use $120,000 to expand one-to-one nurse visits for postpartum families in rural and structurally marginalized communities.
“They are creating a training pathway for licensed certified professional midwives,” Reena Singh, senior program officer with the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, said of the plans for the funding at GCC. “It will help increase the pipeline.”
According to Singh, the application process was competitive, as at least 80 entities applied. She said the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation’s Perinatal Health Initiative aligns well with the GCC Foundation’s goals and missions.
“This is a community-based solution,” Singh noted.
Alexandra Carley, dean of workforce development at GCC, said the school is “still in the process of designing and developing [its] planned training programs for professional midwives” and does “not yet have a start date to announce.”
Meanwhile, the North Quabbin Health Collaborative, a five-town health care support program funded entirely by regional, state and federal grants, will be able to expand its postpartum visiting program to include up to two prenatal visits, breastfeeding and lactation support, and education. Additionally, while the program has previously served families up to one-year postpartum, the most recent round of funding will allow services to expand to families with 2-year-old children. The collaborative covers the communities of Orange, New Salem, Petersham, Warwick and Wendell.
“It’s doing good things,” public health nurse Samantha Piragis said about the grant money. “I think it will be really, really beneficial.”
She mentioned this was the first grant she has ever applied for. She also said the money will enable the health collaborative to pay to have all of its documents and brochures translated to other languages, upon request.
Piragis said the collaborative is open to everyone, regardless of income or insurance.
The pair of two-year grants is part of $771,000 in new grant funding the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation announced last month to support 15 organizations working to improve perinatal health across Massachusetts. Seven of the organizations funded in 2025 are continuing grantees from the foundation’s initial cohort to deepen their impact through this next phase.
“These organizations are creating lasting improvements in perinatal health by expanding access to culturally responsive care and centering community voices,” Audrey Shelto, president and CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, said in a statement. “Their work exemplifies the power of community-based leadership in achieving health equity.”