Karaka Believes in Healthy Beginnings!

Hi, I'm Karaka, one of the newest members of the Healthy Beginnings board. I joined the team at Healthy Beginnings because I was looking for a way to give back to our local community with an organization that shares my values: family, education, wellness and equality. Healthy Beginnings checks all those boxes, providing vital support to local families and making sure that all children in Central Oregon have access to comprehensive wellness screenings. Your support of Healthy Beginnings lets us continue this crucial work, keeping these services free for families throughout Central Oregon.

Karaka Leslie, Healthy Beginnings Board of Directors

ABOUT HEALTHY BEGINNING'S FUNDRAISING:

COVID-19 forced us to cancel two major in-person fundraising events and suspend our community screenings in 2020, but we made it through! Now, we can get to work helping all of the families who’ve had to wait for our screenings to return -- and you can help.

Healthy Beginnings enjoys strong relationships with central Oregon school districts and the High Desert Education Service District, but we do not receive direct funding from them.

Healthy Beginnings is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We rely on fundraising to support our operations and programs – which means that we are counting on our donors’ generosity to help us keep our screening programs FREE to all families.

I believe that all children deserve a ‘healthy beginning’ in life. If you believe too, please donate today!  

Nearly 40% of children enter kindergarten with a barrier to success.

Timely health and developmental screenings help to identify these barriers and connect families to life-changing services.

ABOUT HEALTHY BEGINNINGS

At a Healthy Beginnings screening, families and young children are welcomed into a supportive, friendly environment featuring stations devoted to areas of focus including:  hearing, vision, development, behavior, dental, speech, nutrition, and more.  Each screening area has activities and opportunities to respectfully engage with the child and family through play, conversation, and connection.

We are grateful to the passionate and dedicated staff and volunteers that support the mission of Healthy Beginnings.  Our volunteers include retired pediatricians, speech pathologists, dental professionals, behaviorists, licensed clinical social workers, nurses, and other professionals dedicated to caring for the children in our community.

Please donate today and share your reason for believing in Healthy Beginnings.   

THANK YOU!