The AAUW Pennsylvania Gateway to Equity Award honors an individual, group or organization that has shown by action and philosophy the promotion of the AAUW mission to advance gender equity for women and girls through research, education, and advocacy.  Each year the West Chester – Chester County branch of the AAUW selects a different honoree and channels our creative resources to provide the support most helpful to them.

On May 8, 2024, at its annual Banquet and Awards Ceremony at Penn Oaks Country Club, AAUW West Chester – Chester County presented its Gateway to Equity Award to the Maternal and Child Health Consortium (MCHC).

Natalie Coughlin, Director of Development and Communications, received the award. In her acceptance speech, she noted that Maternal and Child Health Consortium (MCHC), established in 1991, emerged from a collaboration between the Chester County Health Department, March of Dimes of Southeastern PA, League of Women Voters, Planned Parenthood of Chester County, and other local stakeholders. MCHC was founded on the understanding that health care goes beyond the doctor’s office and the belief that quality health care should be accessible to all. The mission of MCHC is to advocate for and empower prenatal and parenting families to achieve healthy beginnings and a bright future through a caring culture of service. During home-visits and out in the community, MCHC supports families with programs and services to realize its vision of a community supporting all families with children in having equitable access and opportunity to ensure that they start healthy, stay healthy, and succeed in school.

MCHC serves over 5,000 individuals annually through numerous family support and educational programs. Thanks to community partnerships and generous supporters, it operates with a $3 million budget. MCHC’s programs include Healthy Start, focused on pregnancy and infants through 18 months; Family Benefits including Enrollment Assistance and the Family Navigator Program which help families obtain health insurance and access other social services. The Family Center’s programs include a Home Visiting Program helping children 0 to 5 succeed in starting school; the Fatherhood Program supports fathers with parenting skills; and Child Welfare Programs support at-risk families. Information about volunteer involvement is on the MCHC website, https://ccmchc.org/volunteer/ for interested AAUW members.