WASHINGTON — Moms in the District have the chance to learn about what help is available to them. The sixth annual maternal and infant health summit is happening Tuesday at the Walter E. Washington convention center.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser hosts the event that lets moms and families know about all the different government resources available to them.
There will be speakers and tables set up so parents can learn about all the help they could be eligible for. Topics covered by the summit include information, moms, insurance questions, early education, childcare and more. One big topic is expected to be childcare vouchers.
In a couple of weeks there’s going to be a new, higher salary cap for families looking to qualify for childcare vouchers. You will be able to make up to $90,000 a year and still qualify. This will go into effect October 1, and is estimated to impact 2,200 kids, according to a spokesperson for the mayor’s office.
New this year at the summit is the Spark DC segment.
"If you’ve ever heard of a TED Talk, where you have folks come and share a tidbit about the work that they do, we’re going to do that with D.C. resources," said Natasha DuPee, with the mayor's office.
Many D.C. residents are not aware of what resources can be available to them, organizers of the summit said.
"Housing For DC, The Diaper Bank, the WIC for food for insurance. Some of the patients are coming and they are uninsured and they have no idea of the resources that are available," said Kamelia Bayat, the admin director for women and infant at Johns Hopkins.
WUSA9 spoke with DC residents Tatianna Peak and Marcus Love, who welcomed triplets into the world 11 months ago.
Peak says the hospital where she delivered set her up with different programs, and it’s had a big impact on her family. She’s gotten baby essentials and was able to stay home longer with her babies after delivery. She also has an older son, but D.C. didn’t have a paid family leave program when he was born.
"I would say it made a great difference. We have Pack and Plays, diapers and we're about to receive car seats. Staying home with your child is more joyful. I got a lot of joy out of this," said Peak.
D.C. has a 24/7 hotline specifically for parents needing help or wanting to know how they can get the essentials they need for their child. The number is 1-800-MOM-BABY, and DuPee says this is the type of information you can expect to learn about if you come to the health summit.
"We’re going to pull together residents from across the District and our national and local leaders so that we can share information about maternal infant health resources," DuPee said.
The health summit starts at 9:15 a.m. and runs until 5 p.m. at the convention center on 7th and Mount Vernon in Northwest. You can register online or at the door. This is completely free and there’s free childcare on site.