This is Deaf and Hard of Hearing Awareness Week, and it has us thinking about universal access. When we think about universal access, we think about benefits.
For many families, the biggest barriers to breastfeeding have less to do with knowledge and more to do with access. It is hard to focus on feeding your baby when groceries are running low, health coverage keeps dropping off, or the application only works if you can hear the phone call, read the letter, and get to the office during business hours.
That is why Breastfeed Durham is part of the Durham Benefits Access Coalition (DBAC) and co-facilitates its WIC/SNAP working group. DBAC brings together Durham County DSS, Duke Health, Lincoln Community Health Center, the Board of County Commissioners, and community organizations across Durham to cut the paperwork barriers that push families off SNAP, WIC, and Medicaid, build benefits screening into clinics and schools, and strengthen language access and cultural responsiveness.
Universal access looks like a WIC line that someone answers. Forms in the languages and formats families actually use. Interpreters, ASL included, built into the plan instead of added as an afterthought. A navigator who can sit with you and walk the whole application through to “you’re good to go.” When we design for the families who face the most barriers, Deaf and hard of hearing families among them, we end up with a system that works better for everyone.
An estimated $80 million in benefits goes unused in Durham County. That is food, health coverage, and tax credits that belong to Durham families. Come help us close the gap. Learn more at breastfeeddurham.org/dbac, and find meetings, resources, and volunteer sign-ups at durhambenefits.org. The next coalition meeting is Friday, October 9, 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Zoom.