Written by Tanya Terry, with photos by Tanya Terry
Flint made history with the launch of Rx Kids on Jan. 10, and the program is expected to have an impact pregnant moms and infants in tremendous ways!
Every mother who participates in Rx Kids will receive $1,500 during mid-pregnancy for items such as food, prenatal care, rent and cribs. After birth, families will receive $500 a month for the baby’s first 12 months they can spend on needs such as formula, diapers or childcare.
Eligibility includes city of Flint residents who birthed or expected to birth children in 2024 or later.
The program was developed to help eradicate deep poverty among families with infants in Flint.
Teagan Meglin is the mother of Audrina Gatica, who was born January 3, 2024. Meglin learned of the Rx Kids program in April of last year when the previous peer coordinator for the Hopeful Hearts program at Hurley Hospital told her about it. Meglin and the peer coordinator were able to attend a luncheon and photo shoot for Rx Kids together.
“At the time I was working, but I was getting really sick and throwing up all the time, and I could not keep my job and they ended up firing me,” explained Meglin.
Meglin told the Courier that at the time, she was living with Gatica’s father. Then, Meglin decided to move back to recovery housing to try to be more involved in the community and “be on a better path.”
Meglin stated her main focus at that time was keeping in recovery.
“Obviously, staying clean is the most important thing when you’re pregnant,” she said. “I did have a little family support, but as far as financially or anything – I’d been on my own for a while. I wasn’t able to work. So, it was kind of a rough pregnancy.”
Meglin told the Courier she has been in difficult situations since she was a young child. She said her parents were both drug addicts and not around, and she was raised by other relatives. This, she shared, took a toll on her mental health over time.
Gatica is Meglin’s third child. She also has a 4-year-old son and a 2-year-old daughter who will be 3 on January 23.
Meglin is feeling much more positive about the present.
“Things have been really good. I’m in the process of getting my two older kids back. Since I found out I was pregnant, about two weeks before that, I had gotten clean and just been staying in recovery housing, working on myself.”
Meglin said with the money she receives from Rx Kids, she hopes to save up for a car and get her driver’s license. She also has high hopes of becoming a recovery coach, where she will be able to help others struggling with drug addiction. She shared she is feeling hopeful about her situation and her life for the first time in years!
Another Rx Kids participant, Tateyanna Taylor, is the mother of tiny Khi’Meir Brand. Taylor told the Courier when Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha called her the day before the launch, it was her first time hearing about Rx Kids.
“I had lost my job a little while back due to my pregnancy because I had passed out inside my job,” Tateyanna said.
She told the Courier at the time she was working at Lear Corporation on Hamilton Road.
“By losing my job I had gotten behind on my rent,” she added. “When she called me and let me know about the program, at first I did think it was a scam.”
When Dr. Mona asked Tateyanna to meet her at Hurley, Tateyanna realized Rx Kids was real.
“I told her how much it meant to me, and how much it would be a big help that she’s doing this for me….I have two kids, and the biggest thing to me is having somewhere for them to go. It’s a peace of mind because I don’t have to go stay with somebody or beg to sleep on their couch.”
At the program launch held in Hurley Medical Center’s Merliss Brown Auditorium, Dr. Hanna-Attisha stated when children grow up poor, it’s hard to be healthy and to be successful.
According to information provided by Michigan State University, Flint is poorest city in the state and one of the poorest in the country and almost 70% of kids in Flint are growing up in poverty – five times the U.S. average. Every year, around 1,200 children are born in Flint to families, many facing severe hardships.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer called Rx Kids a “game changer.” She noted the application process is an easy one.
Mayor Sheldon Neeley said many health problems have a tendency to be related to income, especially for Black and Brown children. The City of Flint donated a million dollars to the program.
Other speakers at the event included Rx Kids co-director, H. Luke Shaefer, professor of public policy and director of Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan; State Senator Jim Ananich, Michigan State University Interim President Teresa Woodruff, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation President Ridgway White, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and other and Rx Kids families and newborns.
To learn more about Rx Kids and the upcoming Feb. 14 celebration for it, visit FlintRxKids.com and @FlintRxKids on Facebook and Instagram.
