April 14, 2025 • 31 mins
🚀 Maternal health, nonprofit leadership, and breaking generational cycles—Dawn Liberta shares how prevention, community collaboration, and social services are shaping a brighter future for families.
🔎 What does it take to save lives, support mothers, and create real change in underserved communities?
In this powerful episode of Visual Eyes Podcast, host Chris Baker sits down with Dawn Liberta, the Executive Director of Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies, to explore the critical work being done to prevent infant mortality, support vulnerable families, and transform communities.
With over 25 years in social work and child welfare, Dawn has seen firsthand the impact of both reactive crisis intervention and proactive prevention strategies. She shares her personal journey, from working in foster care and social services to now leading a nonprofit dedicated to improving maternal and infant health outcomes.
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📌 Guest: Dawn Liberta - Executive Director, Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies
🌍 Website: https://www.hmhbbroward.org/
📞 Phone: (954) 765-0550
📘 LinkedIn: Dawn Liberta
📷 Facebook: HMHB Broward
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#HealthyMothersHealthyBabies #MaternalHealth #NonprofitLeadership #CommunityImpact #DawnLiberta #SocialWork #InfantMortalityPrevention #PodcastInterview #NonprofitFunding #GriefSupport #FosterCareAwareness #WomenEmpowerment #PreventiveCare #ChildWelfare #Philanthropy
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Chris Baker (00:08):
Chris Baker, and each week we'll explore
incredible connections betweennonprofits, businesses and the
community.
This is a space where wehighlight inspiring partnerships
, uncover strategies forcreating meaningful impact and
share stories that show howworking together can make all
the difference.
Whether you're a nonprofitleader, a business owner or
(00:28):
someone just passionate aboutbuilding connections, this
podcast is for you.
Welcome back to Visual Eyes.
I'm Chris Baker and today Ihave Dawn Liberta and she is
with Healthy Mothers HealthyBabies here in Broward County.
So, dawn, tell us a little bitabout yourself and how you got
(00:51):
to the executive director ofHealthy Mothers Healthy Babies.
Dawn Liberta (00:54):
Well, first of all , thank you so much for having
us, or for having me Having usas an organization.
Absolutely, I'm so excited tobe here and happy to talk about
the organization.
So, on a personal level, I'vebeen married 25 years.
I have two wonderful boys.
(01:15):
I'm definitely a boy mom andwas a soccer mom, but now
they're adults, so 18 and 23.
Okay, and then how I kind of gotinto this world of social
service and kind of giving backis I was in school for my
bachelor's degree for socialwork, okay, and I interned with
(01:38):
the Department of Children andFamilies in the foster care
system and I think really whatpushed me that way was because
my mom was abused as a child andwe know that in order to kind
of move on with your own familyyou have to break that cycle and
my mom is or was she's passedaway now a huge inspiration of
(02:02):
that of breaking that cycle onhow she was raised um.
So I worked in the foster caresystem with dcf and child net
for 25 years, um, and then I hadan opportunity to come over to
healthy mothers, healthy babies,um, as their executive director
(02:22):
and I thought that would beamazing to work in the
prevention part of socialservices instead of kind of the
crisis area.
All of that are important, butI just felt like I can make so
many different changes in theprevention part.
Chris Baker (02:41):
I think when you start looking at ways to prevent
something from happening,instead of just looking at it as
like, oh, I'm treating thesymptoms, but you're treating
the root cause, it makes a hugedifference, and I think that's
where we can all benefit, and Ithink a lot more organizations
and, you know, just thegovernment as well needs to look
at how do we fix the rootproblems, not just the symptoms.
Dawn Liberta (03:06):
Right, not just like throwing everything at it
and working on a crisis modebecause it's stressful.
Chris Baker (03:12):
No, and it's not sustainable, right?
So, yeah, no, I reallyappreciate that Awesome.
So today I want to talk alittle bit about like we met
just over a year ago.
Dawn Liberta (03:23):
Yes.
Chris Baker (03:25):
And one of the things that I love is you guys
have this amazing round table,so I would love you to talk a
little bit about it, becauseI've been there probably about
six or seven times now over thepast half.
Yeah, our favorite really.
Dawn Liberta (03:38):
Yes, absolutely.
And every time you come youbring, bring something new.
So it's amazing.
And then you get to meet otheramazing people and they get to
meet, you bring people in fromour community, all different
(04:08):
walks of life and careers, wherewe're able to kind of sit down
and talk to each other aboutwhat we do for our community and
in our community.
So, absolutely, it's a greattime for us to share kind of
what Healthy Mothers, healthyBabies, does in Broward County,
but it also is so helpfulbecause we get to learn what
they are doing in our communityand how we can collaborate, how
(04:31):
we can help each other make ourcommunity better.
Chris Baker (04:34):
And I love that.
That's honestly so valuable.
So, so, so valuable, becausewhen we start looking at
communication and collaborationthat's the word I'm trying to
say there collaboration you areliterally changing the community
around you because now you'reopening it up and expanding it
instead of just one, one viewright, I have multiple views.
(04:57):
Uh, and at the last luncheonthat I, or the round table that
you guys had, I met the vicemayor of Lauder Hill and he was
on our show he was.
Dawn Liberta (05:09):
He told us all about it, yeah.
Chris Baker (05:11):
I'm so, so glad that he was able to be here.
So definitely go back and watchthe previous episode of Ray
Martin.
That would be fantastic.
He's got a great pieces ofinformation.
If you have not seen the episodeyet and just to like also talk
about the way that the city cangive money to non-profits.
(05:31):
That was, like this, most in,most valuable piece of that
entire episode.
I was just like, wow, this isperfect.
So thank you again for thatintroduction.
So that was a beautifulcollaboration effort from both
of us.
So I would like to talk alittle bit about what other
collaboration opportunities ordifferent ways that you have
(05:53):
brought into Healthy Mothers andHealthy Babies, either from
other nonprofits you're workingwith the city or for-profit
businesses that are really kindof helping you make a huge
difference.
Dawn Liberta (06:05):
Yeah, so Healthy Mothers, healthy Babies, really
works.
Our doors are only open becauseof the grants that we get and
the donations from foundations,from government institutions,
from cities.
We have private donors.
All of our services are free,so we could not do what we do
(06:28):
without those people and thoseorganizations, and so, for
example, the city of Lauderhill.
They give us money in order tohelp individuals in our
community, um, any individual.
I know we're healthy mothers,healthy babies, but that is our
(06:49):
one program that you don't haveto be a woman or pregnant or
have children, um that if youneed help with rent or um your
light bills, um food, gas, card,bus pass, any of those things,
you can apply and if you qualifyand you live in with that
(07:10):
funding, we will help you wellthat's fine so we do have
amazing, amazing folks like that.
but we've luckily been able toreally um connect with our not
only only our nonprofits, ourcorporations within our
community and even outside of it.
So we have great relationshipswith the Children's Service
(07:33):
Council, with Healthy StartCoalition we have.
We receive funding from Holmanand the Jim Moran Foundation and
AD Henderson and the United Way.
So we are so lucky to be reallysurrounded by the community
(07:53):
that we are.
I mean, we're very lucky herein Broward County because we are
extremely resourceful, becausewe are extremely resourceful and
we know that it really doestake a village to be able to
help the families in ourcommunity, especially now right,
and we get together and wefigure out how to solve those
issues.
(08:14):
And funders like that help usdo what we're doing today.
Chris Baker (08:19):
So I know a lot of, you know a lot of.
There's a lot of organizationshere in Broward County.
On a recent episode we hadCathy Brown and she mentioned
there is 10,000 nonprofitsregistered in.
Dawn Liberta (08:32):
Broward County, that is a ton of nonprofits.
Chris Baker (08:36):
Now how are?
How are you able to connectwith United Way and how are that
collaboration work, because I'msure there's other people out
there like don't even know howto even consider.
You know, having theseconversations with these other
nonprofits and I know thatthere's a doorway, that a lot of
these smaller grassroots onesthey need an intro or figuring
(08:59):
out how to approach it correctly.
Dawn Liberta (09:02):
They absolutely do .
And you know, sadly, all thenonprofits.
We work in the same way and wework through those donations and
fundraisers and grants, sosometimes we are kind of
fighting for that same funding.
I think that there's so manydifferent websites that you
(09:23):
could actually belong to.
That kind of help go throughwho has funding or grants that
are coming available For me.
I think it's all aboutrelationships, so it's so
important that you're havingthose one-on-one conversations
with other people in yourcommunity.
Chris Baker (09:44):
Sure.
Dawn Liberta (09:45):
Because at some point we're going to be able to
help each other Right.
And so if I need help withsomething or one of my programs
or maybe I lose funding, thenI'm going to reach out to those
connections I have and thoserelationships just to see if
there's anything that they haveavailable at that time.
Do they have a grant coming out?
(10:05):
And if they do, then apply forthose grants or even reaching
out to a donor.
But really I think it's allabout connecting and all about
the relationships that you haveand just really educating
yourself on the community you'rein.
Chris Baker (10:24):
Yeah, and a lot of you know a lot of organizations
out there or businesses that arelooking to try to collaborate
with a nonprofit.
Sometimes they don't have theactual money or the funding to
actually help, but what type ofservices or products that they
might have in storage that couldbe very valuable for healthy
(10:45):
mothers, healthy babies.
Dawn Liberta (10:46):
Absolutely.
We will pretty much take anydonations because we want to
make sure that our families havewhat they need.
So we have folks that may notbe able able to help financially
, and that's okay.
I completely understand.
I wish I had the ability tohelp every um nonprofit or
(11:10):
organization that I trulybelieve in.
We just don't.
But people may have clothes forwomen or maternity clothes, um,
that are gently used, thatthey'll bring in, or toys for
children, baby clothes, formulathat they no longer need, or
diapers that they have left over.
I mean, those are all thingsthat our families really need
(11:33):
that aren't as resourceful andare underserved, and so we want
to make sure they haveeverything and their children
have everything and that they'restable, and so any of that is
amazing.
The only thing we're unablereally to take are car seats.
(11:56):
Car seats actually do expireand because they're used, we
don't really know what'shappened to them, and we don't
want to put a baby in an unsafesituation 100%, but I didn't
realize that car seats have anexpiration date.
Yes, and there's many that don'ttake use.
There's a few here and therethat I'll connect if people
(12:18):
reach out, but it's the onlything we don't take.
Chris Baker (12:23):
That's a very interesting piece of knowledge
there.
I didn't actually understand Isit because it actually gets
clipped in and out?
Is there a manufacturer?
Do you know anything more aboutthat?
Dawn Liberta (12:36):
I don't know anymore.
I could send you information onit.
Chris Baker (12:40):
That'd be interesting to, but I mean it's
a manufacturing expiration dateokay so I'll, yeah, I'll
absolutely yeah, that's someinformation.
Um, I'll throw that in the linkin the description as well,
just so that other people arelistening and they're also
curious, because now I'm curious, I know listen, no one should
feel bad about it.
Dawn Liberta (12:58):
I have two children, and luckily they're
adults now, but I had no ideathat there were expiration dates
on car seats when I was raisingchildren.
Chris Baker (13:12):
So yeah, it's not something you normally would
think about, that Like oh yeah,but I guess I mean it makes
sense.
Dawn Liberta (13:19):
Everything has an expiration date.
Chris Baker (13:21):
It does, but I guess I mean it makes sense.
Everything has an expression.
It does so you.
You mentioned a lot of likeclothing and diapers and a lot
of other things that potentiallyyou know are perfect, because
you know, once you actually arepregnant and you've went through
it, you may not need thoseclothes right then and someone
else in the community coulddefinitely use it.
Kids grow up.
(13:42):
They're out of their clothes.
Dawn Liberta (13:44):
Quickly, quickly.
Chris Baker (13:46):
And so you know, finding an amazing place to
actually give them to.
I think that's a fantastic wayto look at other ways that they
can't do financially.
Dawn Liberta (13:57):
Absolutely, or even hygiene products.
Cleaning products is a hugething baby wipes so, um,
cleaning products are reallyexpensive, um and so, cleaning
any of that stuff is amazingokay, yeah, no, I think that's
anything that is yeah, not beingutilized, perfect okay I never
(14:18):
thought I would get excitedabout cleaning products.
But I mean, you don't realize?
Well, you don't know whatsomebody needs.
Because it really is like oneof the top three things that we
get requests for.
Chris Baker (14:31):
Really yes.
So what are the top threethings that you get requested
for?
Dawn Liberta (14:38):
So we get aside from the funding for this stuff.
So diapers is typically numberone, and wipes then hygiene
products and then cleaningproducts.
Chris Baker (14:52):
Oh, interesting.
Okay, that's an interestingorder.
Okay, wonderful to know.
The next kind of like topicthat we love to bring up on the
(15:15):
show is to talk about some ofthe challenges that you have
either faced when working withother companies or other
nonprofits, and or the lessonsthat you have learned, because
what we're trying to also do ishave that conversation of let's
just make sure that we're allthinking outside the box and
making sure that we're hearingwhat the nonprofit actually
needs, so when we're asking theright questions and we can
actually talk about it, we kindof prevent those mishaps or, you
know things, challenges fromactually happening that we
(15:47):
haven't really had any majorissues with any of our
foundations or organizationsthat have given us grants.
Dawn Liberta (15:50):
I would say that some of the issues that I have
since I've only been withHealthy Mothers a little over a
year now as their executivedirector, that I've seen is one
that you do have and I hadmentioned it before you do have
quite a bit of nonprofits kindof fighting over some of that
same funding, right and so, andnot any one person deserves it
(16:13):
any more than the other person.
We're all trying to make ourcommunity better, so from a
funder's standpoint, it's a hardjob, right to go through those
applications and try to figureout who's getting that funding,
I would say.
The second thing is that it'simportant that for me, going
(16:36):
into it, it took me a couple ofmonths to realize this.
You would think someone wantsto give you money, I'll take it,
Give it, Give me the money,I'll take all the money.
But there's such a big pictureto taking money when it comes in
right One, what are you doingwith it?
(16:57):
What program are you puttingtowards it?
And if we take $10,000, but weneed to see more clients but
it's not enough money to hire anew staff member.
We're not going to be able tomeet that goal right, Because
your staff, for the most part,are already at the top of their
(17:17):
caseloads at the top of theircaseloads and so you have to be
careful that you're taking inand understanding what the
funder is wanting from it, butwhat the organization needs from
it.
Chris Baker (17:31):
It's interesting that you bring it up that way,
because one of the mostreoccurring topics that has
actually come up on the show sofar is the idea of overhead.
Yes, and while, like everyone'sthinking of, okay, we need to
(17:51):
put the money towards volunteer,you know the money needs to be
going to these programs and youneed to go here and just use
volunteers.
But who's managing thevolunteers and who's handling
all this and how can we keep itconsistent and how do we do that
if it's, you know, a volunteer?
Does you know 14 differentvolunteers do the same thing,
(18:12):
because they can't be consistent, isn't always going to be the
same.
Is it going to help theorganization grow?
Uh, and so that's actually, Ithink, one of the biggest
challenges right now that I'mforeseeing is a lot of people
think that the overhead, becauseyou're a non-profit, shouldn't
be there, but it it's sovaluable if you think about it.
(18:36):
A non-profit is a business it is, it, it's just where the funds
go is shifted from a for-profitand in truth, overhead is like a
normal part of for-profitbusinesses.
We need to shift that, we needto pull it back into going.
(18:57):
Non-profits are also businesses.
They have employees, they havestaff we have administrative
costs there's administrativecosts.
There's all of this other extraoverhead is what they put it
under.
Yes, and while, yes, you wantto keep your numbers high to the
program, you can't keep themhigh unless you have the right
team in place right and enoughof the team, because it's not
(19:20):
fair to the families or thestaff.
Dawn Liberta (19:22):
You want to make sure every family is getting
exactly what they need from theprogram that they are in and we
can't do that if we don't havethe right staff or the right
amount of staff to be able toprovide that service.
Chris Baker (19:37):
And you guys have a lot of different programs.
Dawn Liberta (19:39):
We do.
Chris Baker (19:40):
So why don't you talk a little bit of different
programs?
We do, so why don't you talk alittle bit about the programs?
Because I think it would bevery valuable.
Dawn Liberta (19:45):
So we have six programs.
We have our emergency basicneeds is what I mentioned
earlier.
We have our Forget Me Notsupport group, which is for
families that have lost a childunder the age of one years old,
and it is a support group runand facilitated by someone that
(20:06):
has also gone through the samekind of loss and we have found
that individuals going throughthis aren't necessarily ready
for that grief counseling.
Individuals going through thisaren't necessarily ready for
that grief counseling, but asupport group of peers is very
different.
So you're in this group withother people that have gone or
(20:27):
are going through the same thingyou're going through, so it
leads to that kind of extrasupport that is really needed.
Chris Baker (20:35):
It takes time to grieve and get to the point
where you can actually do theinner work yourself.
Dawn Liberta (20:45):
So having that support group is very important,
absolutely, and it's okay.
You know you, I have a staffmember who lost their son to
stillbirth 30 years ago but andshe's still grieving that loss
and that's important, that it'sokay to continue to grieve that
and you have the supports in thecommunity to be able to help
(21:06):
you.
Chris Baker (21:08):
And I know who we're talking about and her
story is so deep.
Dawn Liberta (21:13):
Yes.
Chris Baker (21:14):
And so emotional, and I'm so grateful that she's a
part of Healthy Mother.
Dawn Liberta (21:19):
Healthy Baby, oh me too.
Chris Baker (21:21):
Because, honestly, there is so much love to you
know, like you said, find a wayto prevent it from happening to
other people.
Dawn Liberta (21:29):
Because it shouldn't still be happening.
Chris Baker (21:31):
No.
Dawn Liberta (21:34):
For the same reason, 30 years later, we need
to make sure we're making thoseimprovements, which is exactly
why we put the services in place, and that is to decrease
maternal and infant death.
(21:55):
Yeah, hypertension.
We have a doula, we providemedical education, parenting
education, and we have a mentalhealth provider program also
that provides mental healthcounseling for depression,
anxiety, postpartum depression,childhood trauma if needed, and
(22:20):
we have a in-home, home visitingprogram for child abuse
prevention as well yeah, so isthat all of the programs?
Chris Baker (22:30):
are we missing one?
no, it's all of them, and I kindof combined everything that
they did into one sentence mybrain was like wait, I, I think
I only heard like three or four,I thought there was six.
But no, you did.
You did just kind of likecombine them together.
It's summarized so what is thefuture of Healthy Mothers,
(22:52):
Healthy Babies?
Look like right now,strategically, Like have you
have any plans that you'retrying to like put into the
universe?
Like this is what we want to do.
You know, where does that looklike right now?
Dawn Liberta (23:03):
So, yes, we have lots of plans.
So right now, currently, ourgoal is to strengthen and grow
the programs that we currentlyhave, so, for instance, our
mahogany program.
One of their goals is thatevery child on the case that is
born within that program makesit to their first birthday, and
(23:24):
over the last four to five yearswe've had zero infant deaths in
that program.
And it's amazing.
And we just received an amazinggrant, an amazing grant from an
(23:50):
organization that is actuallyworldwide, and they reached out
to us and, of course, we put theproposal together and they
offered funding and so now we'reable to expand that program, so
now we're going to be able totake more cases on and I'm able
to put a therapist in place aswell.
Chris Baker (24:06):
Oh, that's so.
Dawn Liberta (24:07):
So, being that's one of the most needed services
for our pregnant and postpartumwomen.
Now I'll be able to providethat in two programs, so excited
about that.
Chris Baker (24:17):
So really our goal right now is being able to
expand what we do have to beable to meet the needs of the
community and there's so muchneed right now yeah like there's
a yeah, I, I can definitely see, because there's still a lot of
you know mothers out there thatare not getting the nutrition,
they're not getting the exercisethat they need, they're not
getting the education they needso that they can help prevent.
Dawn Liberta (24:39):
Right, and we're there also to be able to support
them as part of those programsand be able to be with them if
they need us to.
So if they need our staff to beat a doctor's appointment so
they could help advocate forthem, then we will do that,
because that is an importantfactor.
You know, we do know, that themajority of baby maternal deaths
(25:01):
and infant deaths are fromblack and brown women and
children, and that justshouldn't be the case, and so if
we need to advocate, we will bethere to advocate.
However, they need us to dothat, right, right.
(25:29):
So, and then looking to thefuture, one of my biggest goals
is to be able to bring in, likea fatherhood dad program into
Healthy Mothers, healthy Babies.
Chris Baker (25:41):
So that's our goal within the next three years to
be able to do that.
I think that's amazing becauseyou know you have all the
support for the mothers anddon't get me wrong, they're the
ones that are carrying the childand they're the ones that lost.
But you know there is thefathers that are also grieving,
and so I'm loving the fact thatyou're trying to also look at
ways to support them.
Dawn Liberta (25:55):
Yes, and you know our Forget Me Not support group,
dads can come.
That's not just for that's forgrandparents, dads, moms, aunts,
uncles, godparents, bestfriends, Because I think it's a
the whole family feels that losswhen we have a loss of a baby.
But yes, I mean we need tosupport our dads in our
(26:16):
community too and we want tomake sure that they're seen and
they're heard and they're ableto connect to their children,
and so it's important, thatimportant to us, that we're able
to support that.
Chris Baker (26:30):
No, I'm glad to hear that.
So the final question.
Actually, before I get to thefinal question, let's ask one
more.
How can people get a hold ofyou at Healthy Mothers, healthy
Babies?
Dawn Liberta (26:43):
So we can, we take calls.
We're open nine to five, mondaythrough Friday, and actually we
have our phone that isaccidentally forwarded to one of
my staff, so she answers italmost 24, 7 um, and even in.
(27:05):
She even stepped out of afuneral to take the call on a
saturday.
I'm like I I need you to not dothat because you need, we need
to take care of ourselves also,right?
Chris Baker (27:14):
so very important self-care is important.
Dawn Liberta (27:18):
So you could contact healthy mothers
healthyies at 954-765-0550.
And you can email me directlyat dliberta L-I-B-E-R-T-A at
hmhborg.
And the website is alsowwwhmhbbrowardorg, and the
(27:42):
website is alsowwwhmhbbrowardorg.
Chris Baker (27:45):
So it is a Broward there.
Dawn Liberta (27:46):
Okay.
Chris Baker (27:46):
Yeah, good, I'm glad that I brought that up.
Dawn Liberta (27:48):
Can I tell you a little bit about our Mother's
Day event?
Chris Baker (27:51):
Yes, oh, yes, definitely.
Dawn Liberta (27:53):
So our Mother's Day event it's our 32nd annual
Mother's Day luncheon, which ison April 29th 2025.
And it begins at 11 am, wherewe have amazing honorees from
our community that we'rehonoring for being such amazing
(28:15):
not only parents, but humans inthe community and making such a
difference for the communitythat we live in, and so I would
love for anybody to join us, andyou can get that information on
our website, and that again iswwwhmhbbrowardorg.
Chris Baker (28:36):
The last question that I love to ask everybody
that's on the show what is thelegacy you personally want to
leave for future generations?
Dawn Liberta (29:06):
is one being a good support to my staff,
because I think it's importantthat if I'm there for them then
they enjoy the work and they doa better job at the work that
they're doing.
Um, having that support andhoping that I've been able to
coach them and mentor them inthe best way possible in meeting
their needs.
As for a community, I hope tobe able to make some sort of
(29:30):
difference in the maternal andinfant mortality rate, really
make a difference in being ableto educate our community on
unsafe sleep, make a differenceand being able to educate our
community on unsafe sleep andreally being able to have family
understand that it can happento any of any of us.
So if we're co-sleeping withthe baby, it doesn't matter who
(29:55):
you are.
This does not discriminate,this can happen to anybody and
it is so important that the babyhas their own place to sleep
and so there's no risk right ofunsafe sleep deaths.
So, you know, I hope to be ableto make some sort of difference
(30:18):
in the community and thecommunity being able to walk
away a little bit better,because I did whatever the job
was that I was doing.
Chris Baker (30:29):
Awesome Dawn.
Thank you so much for being onthe show today.
We really appreciate you comingon, so thank you you.
Chris Baker, and each week we'll explore
incredible connections betweennonprofits, businesses and the
community.
This is a space where wehighlight inspiring partnerships
, uncover strategies forcreating meaningful impact and
share stories that show howworking together can make all
the difference.
Whether you're a nonprofitleader, a business owner or
(00:28):
someone just passionate aboutbuilding connections, this
podcast is for you.
Welcome back to Visual Eyes.
I'm Chris Baker and today Ihave Dawn Liberta and she is
with Healthy Mothers HealthyBabies here in Broward County.
So, dawn, tell us a little bitabout yourself and how you got
(00:51):
to the executive director ofHealthy Mothers Healthy Babies.
Dawn Liberta (00:54):
Well, first of all , thank you so much for having
us, or for having me Having usas an organization.
Absolutely, I'm so excited tobe here and happy to talk about
the organization.
So, on a personal level, I'vebeen married 25 years.
I have two wonderful boys.
(01:15):
I'm definitely a boy mom andwas a soccer mom, but now
they're adults, so 18 and 23.
Okay, and then how I kind of gotinto this world of social
service and kind of giving backis I was in school for my
bachelor's degree for socialwork, okay, and I interned with
(01:38):
the Department of Children andFamilies in the foster care
system and I think really whatpushed me that way was because
my mom was abused as a child andwe know that in order to kind
of move on with your own familyyou have to break that cycle and
my mom is or was she's passedaway now a huge inspiration of
(02:02):
that of breaking that cycle onhow she was raised um.
So I worked in the foster caresystem with dcf and child net
for 25 years, um, and then I hadan opportunity to come over to
healthy mothers, healthy babies,um, as their executive director
(02:22):
and I thought that would beamazing to work in the
prevention part of socialservices instead of kind of the
crisis area.
All of that are important, butI just felt like I can make so
many different changes in theprevention part.
Chris Baker (02:41):
I think when you start looking at ways to prevent
something from happening,instead of just looking at it as
like, oh, I'm treating thesymptoms, but you're treating
the root cause, it makes a hugedifference, and I think that's
where we can all benefit, and Ithink a lot more organizations
and, you know, just thegovernment as well needs to look
at how do we fix the rootproblems, not just the symptoms.
Dawn Liberta (03:06):
Right, not just like throwing everything at it
and working on a crisis modebecause it's stressful.
Chris Baker (03:12):
No, and it's not sustainable, right?
So, yeah, no, I reallyappreciate that Awesome.
So today I want to talk alittle bit about like we met
just over a year ago.
Dawn Liberta (03:23):
Yes.
Chris Baker (03:25):
And one of the things that I love is you guys
have this amazing round table,so I would love you to talk a
little bit about it, becauseI've been there probably about
six or seven times now over thepast half.
Yeah, our favorite really.
Dawn Liberta (03:38):
Yes, absolutely.
And every time you come youbring, bring something new.
So it's amazing.
And then you get to meet otheramazing people and they get to
meet, you bring people in fromour community, all different
(04:08):
walks of life and careers, wherewe're able to kind of sit down
and talk to each other aboutwhat we do for our community and
in our community.
So, absolutely, it's a greattime for us to share kind of
what Healthy Mothers, healthyBabies, does in Broward County,
but it also is so helpfulbecause we get to learn what
they are doing in our communityand how we can collaborate, how
(04:31):
we can help each other make ourcommunity better.
Chris Baker (04:34):
And I love that.
That's honestly so valuable.
So, so, so valuable, becausewhen we start looking at
communication and collaborationthat's the word I'm trying to
say there collaboration you areliterally changing the community
around you because now you'reopening it up and expanding it
instead of just one, one viewright, I have multiple views.
(04:57):
Uh, and at the last luncheonthat I, or the round table that
you guys had, I met the vicemayor of Lauder Hill and he was
on our show he was.
Dawn Liberta (05:09):
He told us all about it, yeah.
Chris Baker (05:11):
I'm so, so glad that he was able to be here.
So definitely go back and watchthe previous episode of Ray
Martin.
That would be fantastic.
He's got a great pieces ofinformation.
If you have not seen the episodeyet and just to like also talk
about the way that the city cangive money to non-profits.
(05:31):
That was, like this, most in,most valuable piece of that
entire episode.
I was just like, wow, this isperfect.
So thank you again for thatintroduction.
So that was a beautifulcollaboration effort from both
of us.
So I would like to talk alittle bit about what other
collaboration opportunities ordifferent ways that you have
(05:53):
brought into Healthy Mothers andHealthy Babies, either from
other nonprofits you're workingwith the city or for-profit
businesses that are really kindof helping you make a huge
difference.
Dawn Liberta (06:05):
Yeah, so Healthy Mothers, healthy Babies, really
works.
Our doors are only open becauseof the grants that we get and
the donations from foundations,from government institutions,
from cities.
We have private donors.
All of our services are free,so we could not do what we do
(06:28):
without those people and thoseorganizations, and so, for
example, the city of Lauderhill.
They give us money in order tohelp individuals in our
community, um, any individual.
I know we're healthy mothers,healthy babies, but that is our
(06:49):
one program that you don't haveto be a woman or pregnant or
have children, um that if youneed help with rent or um your
light bills, um food, gas, card,bus pass, any of those things,
you can apply and if you qualifyand you live in with that
(07:10):
funding, we will help you wellthat's fine so we do have
amazing, amazing folks like that.
but we've luckily been able toreally um connect with our not
only only our nonprofits, ourcorporations within our
community and even outside of it.
So we have great relationshipswith the Children's Service
(07:33):
Council, with Healthy StartCoalition we have.
We receive funding from Holmanand the Jim Moran Foundation and
AD Henderson and the United Way.
So we are so lucky to be reallysurrounded by the community
(07:53):
that we are.
I mean, we're very lucky herein Broward County because we are
extremely resourceful, becausewe are extremely resourceful and
we know that it really doestake a village to be able to
help the families in ourcommunity, especially now right,
and we get together and wefigure out how to solve those
issues.
(08:14):
And funders like that help usdo what we're doing today.
Chris Baker (08:19):
So I know a lot of, you know a lot of.
There's a lot of organizationshere in Broward County.
On a recent episode we hadCathy Brown and she mentioned
there is 10,000 nonprofitsregistered in.
Dawn Liberta (08:32):
Broward County, that is a ton of nonprofits.
Chris Baker (08:36):
Now how are?
How are you able to connectwith United Way and how are that
collaboration work, because I'msure there's other people out
there like don't even know howto even consider.
You know, having theseconversations with these other
nonprofits and I know thatthere's a doorway, that a lot of
these smaller grassroots onesthey need an intro or figuring
(08:59):
out how to approach it correctly.
Dawn Liberta (09:02):
They absolutely do .
And you know, sadly, all thenonprofits.
We work in the same way and wework through those donations and
fundraisers and grants, sosometimes we are kind of
fighting for that same funding.
I think that there's so manydifferent websites that you
(09:23):
could actually belong to.
That kind of help go throughwho has funding or grants that
are coming available For me.
I think it's all aboutrelationships, so it's so
important that you're havingthose one-on-one conversations
with other people in yourcommunity.
Chris Baker (09:44):
Sure.
Dawn Liberta (09:45):
Because at some point we're going to be able to
help each other Right.
And so if I need help withsomething or one of my programs
or maybe I lose funding, thenI'm going to reach out to those
connections I have and thoserelationships just to see if
there's anything that they haveavailable at that time.
Do they have a grant coming out?
(10:05):
And if they do, then apply forthose grants or even reaching
out to a donor.
But really I think it's allabout connecting and all about
the relationships that you haveand just really educating
yourself on the community you'rein.
Chris Baker (10:24):
Yeah, and a lot of you know a lot of organizations
out there or businesses that arelooking to try to collaborate
with a nonprofit.
Sometimes they don't have theactual money or the funding to
actually help, but what type ofservices or products that they
might have in storage that couldbe very valuable for healthy
(10:45):
mothers, healthy babies.
Dawn Liberta (10:46):
Absolutely.
We will pretty much take anydonations because we want to
make sure that our families havewhat they need.
So we have folks that may notbe able able to help financially
, and that's okay.
I completely understand.
I wish I had the ability tohelp every um nonprofit or
(11:10):
organization that I trulybelieve in.
We just don't.
But people may have clothes forwomen or maternity clothes, um,
that are gently used, thatthey'll bring in, or toys for
children, baby clothes, formulathat they no longer need, or
diapers that they have left over.
I mean, those are all thingsthat our families really need
(11:33):
that aren't as resourceful andare underserved, and so we want
to make sure they haveeverything and their children
have everything and that they'restable, and so any of that is
amazing.
The only thing we're unablereally to take are car seats.
(11:56):
Car seats actually do expireand because they're used, we
don't really know what'shappened to them, and we don't
want to put a baby in an unsafesituation 100%, but I didn't
realize that car seats have anexpiration date.
Yes, and there's many that don'ttake use.
There's a few here and therethat I'll connect if people
(12:18):
reach out, but it's the onlything we don't take.
Chris Baker (12:23):
That's a very interesting piece of knowledge
there.
I didn't actually understand Isit because it actually gets
clipped in and out?
Is there a manufacturer?
Do you know anything more aboutthat?
Dawn Liberta (12:36):
I don't know anymore.
I could send you information onit.
Chris Baker (12:40):
That'd be interesting to, but I mean it's
a manufacturing expiration dateokay so I'll, yeah, I'll
absolutely yeah, that's someinformation.
Um, I'll throw that in the linkin the description as well,
just so that other people arelistening and they're also
curious, because now I'm curious, I know listen, no one should
feel bad about it.
Dawn Liberta (12:58):
I have two children, and luckily they're
adults now, but I had no ideathat there were expiration dates
on car seats when I was raisingchildren.
Chris Baker (13:12):
So yeah, it's not something you normally would
think about, that Like oh yeah,but I guess I mean it makes
sense.
Dawn Liberta (13:19):
Everything has an expiration date.
Chris Baker (13:21):
It does, but I guess I mean it makes sense.
Everything has an expression.
It does so you.
You mentioned a lot of likeclothing and diapers and a lot
of other things that potentiallyyou know are perfect, because
you know, once you actually arepregnant and you've went through
it, you may not need thoseclothes right then and someone
else in the community coulddefinitely use it.
Kids grow up.
(13:42):
They're out of their clothes.
Dawn Liberta (13:44):
Quickly, quickly.
Chris Baker (13:46):
And so you know, finding an amazing place to
actually give them to.
I think that's a fantastic wayto look at other ways that they
can't do financially.
Dawn Liberta (13:57):
Absolutely, or even hygiene products.
Cleaning products is a hugething baby wipes so, um,
cleaning products are reallyexpensive, um and so, cleaning
any of that stuff is amazingokay, yeah, no, I think that's
anything that is yeah, not beingutilized, perfect okay I never
(14:18):
thought I would get excitedabout cleaning products.
But I mean, you don't realize?
Well, you don't know whatsomebody needs.
Because it really is like oneof the top three things that we
get requests for.
Chris Baker (14:31):
Really yes.
So what are the top threethings that you get requested
for?
Dawn Liberta (14:38):
So we get aside from the funding for this stuff.
So diapers is typically numberone, and wipes then hygiene
products and then cleaningproducts.
Chris Baker (14:52):
Oh, interesting.
Okay, that's an interestingorder.
Okay, wonderful to know.
The next kind of like topicthat we love to bring up on the
(15:15):
show is to talk about some ofthe challenges that you have
either faced when working withother companies or other
nonprofits, and or the lessonsthat you have learned, because
what we're trying to also do ishave that conversation of let's
just make sure that we're allthinking outside the box and
making sure that we're hearingwhat the nonprofit actually
needs, so when we're asking theright questions and we can
actually talk about it, we kindof prevent those mishaps or, you
know things, challenges fromactually happening that we
(15:47):
haven't really had any majorissues with any of our
foundations or organizationsthat have given us grants.
Dawn Liberta (15:50):
I would say that some of the issues that I have
since I've only been withHealthy Mothers a little over a
year now as their executivedirector, that I've seen is one
that you do have and I hadmentioned it before you do have
quite a bit of nonprofits kindof fighting over some of that
same funding, right and so, andnot any one person deserves it
(16:13):
any more than the other person.
We're all trying to make ourcommunity better, so from a
funder's standpoint, it's a hardjob, right to go through those
applications and try to figureout who's getting that funding,
I would say.
The second thing is that it'simportant that for me, going
(16:36):
into it, it took me a couple ofmonths to realize this.
You would think someone wantsto give you money, I'll take it,
Give it, Give me the money,I'll take all the money.
But there's such a big pictureto taking money when it comes in
right One, what are you doingwith it?
(16:57):
What program are you puttingtowards it?
And if we take $10,000, but weneed to see more clients but
it's not enough money to hire anew staff member.
We're not going to be able tomeet that goal right, Because
your staff, for the most part,are already at the top of their
(17:17):
caseloads at the top of theircaseloads and so you have to be
careful that you're taking inand understanding what the
funder is wanting from it, butwhat the organization needs from
it.
Chris Baker (17:31):
It's interesting that you bring it up that way,
because one of the mostreoccurring topics that has
actually come up on the show sofar is the idea of overhead.
Yes, and while, like everyone'sthinking of, okay, we need to
(17:51):
put the money towards volunteer,you know the money needs to be
going to these programs and youneed to go here and just use
volunteers.
But who's managing thevolunteers and who's handling
all this and how can we keep itconsistent and how do we do that
if it's, you know, a volunteer?
Does you know 14 differentvolunteers do the same thing,
(18:12):
because they can't be consistent, isn't always going to be the
same.
Is it going to help theorganization grow?
Uh, and so that's actually, Ithink, one of the biggest
challenges right now that I'mforeseeing is a lot of people
think that the overhead, becauseyou're a non-profit, shouldn't
be there, but it it's sovaluable if you think about it.
(18:36):
A non-profit is a business it is, it, it's just where the funds
go is shifted from a for-profitand in truth, overhead is like a
normal part of for-profitbusinesses.
We need to shift that, we needto pull it back into going.
(18:57):
Non-profits are also businesses.
They have employees, they havestaff we have administrative
costs there's administrativecosts.
There's all of this other extraoverhead is what they put it
under.
Yes, and while, yes, you wantto keep your numbers high to the
program, you can't keep themhigh unless you have the right
team in place right and enoughof the team, because it's not
(19:20):
fair to the families or thestaff.
Dawn Liberta (19:22):
You want to make sure every family is getting
exactly what they need from theprogram that they are in and we
can't do that if we don't havethe right staff or the right
amount of staff to be able toprovide that service.
Chris Baker (19:37):
And you guys have a lot of different programs.
Dawn Liberta (19:39):
We do.
Chris Baker (19:40):
So why don't you talk a little bit of different
programs?
We do, so why don't you talk alittle bit about the programs?
Because I think it would bevery valuable.
Dawn Liberta (19:45):
So we have six programs.
We have our emergency basicneeds is what I mentioned
earlier.
We have our Forget Me Notsupport group, which is for
families that have lost a childunder the age of one years old,
and it is a support group runand facilitated by someone that
(20:06):
has also gone through the samekind of loss and we have found
that individuals going throughthis aren't necessarily ready
for that grief counseling.
Individuals going through thisaren't necessarily ready for
that grief counseling, but asupport group of peers is very
different.
So you're in this group withother people that have gone or
(20:27):
are going through the same thingyou're going through, so it
leads to that kind of extrasupport that is really needed.
Chris Baker (20:35):
It takes time to grieve and get to the point
where you can actually do theinner work yourself.
Dawn Liberta (20:45):
So having that support group is very important,
absolutely, and it's okay.
You know you, I have a staffmember who lost their son to
stillbirth 30 years ago but andshe's still grieving that loss
and that's important, that it'sokay to continue to grieve that
and you have the supports in thecommunity to be able to help
(21:06):
you.
Chris Baker (21:08):
And I know who we're talking about and her
story is so deep.
Dawn Liberta (21:13):
Yes.
Chris Baker (21:14):
And so emotional, and I'm so grateful that she's a
part of Healthy Mother.
Dawn Liberta (21:19):
Healthy Baby, oh me too.
Chris Baker (21:21):
Because, honestly, there is so much love to you
know, like you said, find a wayto prevent it from happening to
other people.
Dawn Liberta (21:29):
Because it shouldn't still be happening.
Chris Baker (21:31):
No.
Dawn Liberta (21:34):
For the same reason, 30 years later, we need
to make sure we're making thoseimprovements, which is exactly
why we put the services in place, and that is to decrease
maternal and infant death.
(21:55):
Yeah, hypertension.
We have a doula, we providemedical education, parenting
education, and we have a mentalhealth provider program also
that provides mental healthcounseling for depression,
anxiety, postpartum depression,childhood trauma if needed, and
(22:20):
we have a in-home, home visitingprogram for child abuse
prevention as well yeah, so isthat all of the programs?
Chris Baker (22:30):
are we missing one?
no, it's all of them, and I kindof combined everything that
they did into one sentence mybrain was like wait, I, I think
I only heard like three or four,I thought there was six.
But no, you did.
You did just kind of likecombine them together.
It's summarized so what is thefuture of Healthy Mothers,
(22:52):
Healthy Babies?
Look like right now,strategically, Like have you
have any plans that you'retrying to like put into the
universe?
Like this is what we want to do.
You know, where does that looklike right now?
Dawn Liberta (23:03):
So, yes, we have lots of plans.
So right now, currently, ourgoal is to strengthen and grow
the programs that we currentlyhave, so, for instance, our
mahogany program.
One of their goals is thatevery child on the case that is
born within that program makesit to their first birthday, and
(23:24):
over the last four to five yearswe've had zero infant deaths in
that program.
And it's amazing.
And we just received an amazinggrant, an amazing grant from an
(23:50):
organization that is actuallyworldwide, and they reached out
to us and, of course, we put theproposal together and they
offered funding and so now we'reable to expand that program, so
now we're going to be able totake more cases on and I'm able
to put a therapist in place aswell.
Chris Baker (24:06):
Oh, that's so.
Dawn Liberta (24:07):
So, being that's one of the most needed services
for our pregnant and postpartumwomen.
Now I'll be able to providethat in two programs, so excited
about that.
Chris Baker (24:17):
So really our goal right now is being able to
expand what we do have to beable to meet the needs of the
community and there's so muchneed right now yeah like there's
a yeah, I, I can definitely see, because there's still a lot of
you know mothers out there thatare not getting the nutrition,
they're not getting the exercisethat they need, they're not
getting the education they needso that they can help prevent.
Dawn Liberta (24:39):
Right, and we're there also to be able to support
them as part of those programsand be able to be with them if
they need us to.
So if they need our staff to beat a doctor's appointment so
they could help advocate forthem, then we will do that,
because that is an importantfactor.
You know, we do know, that themajority of baby maternal deaths
(25:01):
and infant deaths are fromblack and brown women and
children, and that justshouldn't be the case, and so if
we need to advocate, we will bethere to advocate.
However, they need us to dothat, right, right.
(25:29):
So, and then looking to thefuture, one of my biggest goals
is to be able to bring in, likea fatherhood dad program into
Healthy Mothers, healthy Babies.
Chris Baker (25:41):
So that's our goal within the next three years to
be able to do that.
I think that's amazing becauseyou know you have all the
support for the mothers anddon't get me wrong, they're the
ones that are carrying the childand they're the ones that lost.
But you know there is thefathers that are also grieving,
and so I'm loving the fact thatyou're trying to also look at
ways to support them.
Dawn Liberta (25:55):
Yes, and you know our Forget Me Not support group,
dads can come.
That's not just for that's forgrandparents, dads, moms, aunts,
uncles, godparents, bestfriends, Because I think it's a
the whole family feels that losswhen we have a loss of a baby.
But yes, I mean we need tosupport our dads in our
(26:16):
community too and we want tomake sure that they're seen and
they're heard and they're ableto connect to their children,
and so it's important, thatimportant to us, that we're able
to support that.
Chris Baker (26:30):
No, I'm glad to hear that.
So the final question.
Actually, before I get to thefinal question, let's ask one
more.
How can people get a hold ofyou at Healthy Mothers, healthy
Babies?
Dawn Liberta (26:43):
So we can, we take calls.
We're open nine to five, mondaythrough Friday, and actually we
have our phone that isaccidentally forwarded to one of
my staff, so she answers italmost 24, 7 um, and even in.
(27:05):
She even stepped out of afuneral to take the call on a
saturday.
I'm like I I need you to not dothat because you need, we need
to take care of ourselves also,right?
Chris Baker (27:14):
so very important self-care is important.
Dawn Liberta (27:18):
So you could contact healthy mothers
healthyies at 954-765-0550.
And you can email me directlyat dliberta L-I-B-E-R-T-A at
hmhborg.
And the website is alsowwwhmhbbrowardorg, and the
(27:42):
website is alsowwwhmhbbrowardorg.
Chris Baker (27:45):
So it is a Broward there.
Dawn Liberta (27:46):
Okay.
Chris Baker (27:46):
Yeah, good, I'm glad that I brought that up.
Dawn Liberta (27:48):
Can I tell you a little bit about our Mother's
Day event?
Chris Baker (27:51):
Yes, oh, yes, definitely.
Dawn Liberta (27:53):
So our Mother's Day event it's our 32nd annual
Mother's Day luncheon, which ison April 29th 2025.
And it begins at 11 am, wherewe have amazing honorees from
our community that we'rehonoring for being such amazing
(28:15):
not only parents, but humans inthe community and making such a
difference for the communitythat we live in, and so I would
love for anybody to join us, andyou can get that information on
our website, and that again iswwwhmhbbrowardorg.
Chris Baker (28:36):
The last question that I love to ask everybody
that's on the show what is thelegacy you personally want to
leave for future generations?
Dawn Liberta (29:06):
is one being a good support to my staff,
because I think it's importantthat if I'm there for them then
they enjoy the work and they doa better job at the work that
they're doing.
Um, having that support andhoping that I've been able to
coach them and mentor them inthe best way possible in meeting
their needs.
As for a community, I hope tobe able to make some sort of
(29:30):
difference in the maternal andinfant mortality rate, really
make a difference in being ableto educate our community on
unsafe sleep, make a differenceand being able to educate our
community on unsafe sleep andreally being able to have family
understand that it can happento any of any of us.
So if we're co-sleeping withthe baby, it doesn't matter who
(29:55):
you are.
This does not discriminate,this can happen to anybody and
it is so important that the babyhas their own place to sleep
and so there's no risk right ofunsafe sleep deaths.
So, you know, I hope to be ableto make some sort of difference
(30:18):
in the community and thecommunity being able to walk
away a little bit better,because I did whatever the job
was that I was doing.
Chris Baker (30:29):
Awesome Dawn.
Thank you so much for being onthe show today.
We really appreciate you comingon, so thank you you.
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Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.