August 5, 2025

Empowering Families Through Safety and Support: Infant Health and Safety Workshop

On July 17, 2025, the East Harris County Empowerment Council (EHCEC), in partnership with North Channel WIC, Women’s Care Center, and Safe Kids Greater Houston, hosted a transformative event titled Empowering Families: Infant Health and Safety Workshop at the North Channel WIC Office in Houston, TX. This 90-minute, hands-on session was created under the umbrella of the Reproductive Health Access Fund (RHAF) to support WIC-enrolled families by offering essential car-seat safety education, maternal health navigation, and access to vital community resources.

The workshop provided a welcoming, supportive environment for ten high-need mothers who each received personalized instruction on proper car-seat installation from certified technicians at the Women’s Care Center. These interactive demonstrations were not only engaging but crucial for ensuring that participants left the event feeling confident in securing their children’s safety. Thanks to the generosity of Safe Kids Greater Houston, ten brand-new car seats were distributed to attendees—lifting a financial burden while promoting best practices in infant transportation safety.

A key component of the workshop was EHCEC’s maternal health navigation services, offered one-on-one through its dedicated Health Navigator. These consultations included reproductive health counseling, family-planning referrals, postpartum mood screenings, and assistance scheduling follow-up healthcare appointments. Attendees also received RHAF maternal-health packets filled with resources on prenatal care, breastfeeding support groups, and tele-nutrition services, along with help enrolling in programs such as Medicaid wraparound services and mental-health hotlines.

The impact of the event was far-reaching. Ten mothers representing 46 household members (including 28 children) participated, and eight completed post-event surveys. The data revealed that the majority of attendees were single mothers from low-income households—seven of ten reporting annual incomes below $30,000. All identified as Hispanic or Latino, and every participant expressed deep appreciation for the accessible, bilingual support offered during the workshop. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with average survey scores of 4.9/5 for car-seat installation confidence and 4.7/5 for understanding maternal-health resources. One mom shared, “I feel so much more at ease now that I know exactly how to install my baby’s car seat—and I’m confident I’ll do it right when my little one arrives.” Another participant noted, “Getting a free car seat lifted such a huge weight off my shoulders—I can even splurge on other family necessities instead of scrambling to afford safety gear.” One Spanish-speaking attendee added, “Aprendí a instalar el asiento de mi bebé paso a paso, y además me dieron información valiosa sobre dónde encontrar apoyo postparto.”

The materials distributed throughout the event included car-seat safety checklists, RHAF navigation packets (with information on mental-health helplines, prenatal care clinics, and free nutrition courses), EHCEC resource flyers, and brochures on maternal mental health. Collaboration was key to the workshop’s success, with each partner playing a vital role: Women’s Care Center led the instructional demos, Safe Kids Greater Houston provided the donated car seats, North Channel WIC recruited and registered participants, and EHCEC handled all logistical planning and delivery of maternal-health support.

Despite the workshop’s success, the small venue posed a challenge, limiting the number of participants and demo space. However, the event remained highly impactful, and EHCEC has already outlined meaningful next steps. Plans are underway to host a follow-up booster-seat installation workshop in October, which will include a postpartum wellness segment. Additionally, EHCEC will share educational video tutorials via email and is proposing a new community session focused on infant CPR and maternal mental-health first aid in collaboration with the Women’s Care Center.

This event also served as a touchpoint to promote key programs like the Reproductive Health Access Fund, the Disaster Preparedness initiative for families, and the EHCTX Neighbor Program. Ultimately, the Empowering Families workshop proved that small, intentional gatherings can drive significant change when equipped with the right partners, resources, and community-centered care.