According to the 2024 Mesa County Community Health Needs Assessment, single mothers in Mesa County earn a median income of $31,661 – less than half the estimated self-sufficiency income ($64,730).

The Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is a national program, with regional branches, tackling those challenges by connecting first-time mothers with a registered nurse, offering moms critical education and support from pregnancy to the child’s second birthday.

“One of our goals with NFP is creating better outcomes for families going on into the future. We know that the first two years of a child’s life are so integral…” NFP Nurse Home Visitor Brooke Sorenson said. “The little seeds that are planted throughout the program are going to carry on past that two-year mark.”

The program has decades of experience and outcomes substantiating its success: a 48% reduction in child abuse and neglect; 67% fewer behavioral and intellectual problems in children by the age of six; and 72% fewer convictions of mothers.

Mesa County NFP Manager Erin Andrews said those outcomes are even more important in the Grand Valley, where the local program’s clients are at a “significantly higher” risk (than clients nationwide) of homelessness, severe economic hardship, substance use, and physical or mental health ailments.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR MESA COUNTY MOMS

In 2024, Mesa County NFP served 212 first-time families and enrolled 150 more. Of those participants, 70% were younger than 25, more than half earn less than $6,000 per year or depend on parents, 49% have mental health issues and nearly three-fourths are unmarried.

“These mental health diagnoses affect their ability to access care, their plans for how it will go when they have a child, and then once the child’s born, how they attach to the child, which we have found is so important,” Andrews said.

NFP nurse responsibilities evolve as the pregnancy progresses and the child grows, but their primary mission is to teach self-advocacy, foster positive parent-child relationships and promote economic stability and independence.

That goal is achieved through routine home or office visits, where nurses offer medical information and connections, emotional validation, relevant community resources and parenting advice.

While the frequency of meetings can depend on the participant’s needs, nurses typically meet with the mom every other week throughout the pregnancy; for the first six weeks postpartum, nurses visit weekly; and once the child is 18 months old, meetings are typically monthly.

In doing so, Sorenson said they can develop a strong, genuine bond that enables them to work with new moms and ensure they are as helpful as possible.

“The biggest thing with the nursing partnership is the relationship,” she said. “If you don’t have that therapeutic relationship where they can trust, you’re not going to get anywhere.”

Andrews added that the Mesa County NFP repeatedly results in positive outcomes, but the biggest challenge is connecting with every qualifying first-time mother in the area.

According to her, the home visits are beneficial in many ways, but the stigma around accepting help from a stranger and hesitation to let a professional in the home has deterred many eligible participants from enrolling.

NFP Participant Artesia Cyrus said she initially struggled with that stigma and anxiety, but she could not be more thankful for where she is now because of the program.

“(The nurse isn’t going) to tell you all of the right or wrong things she knows, she’s just there with you to help figure out where you’re at,” Cyrus said. “I haven’t had a lot of instances where I let people in and have a good experience with them, so for me, on a more personal level, I’ve learned a different kind of trust that I can have. Sometimes it’s a little more worth it to extend that kind of trust and to accept help.”

‘THIS PROGRAM IS HERE FOR YOU’

Cyrus enrolled in Mesa County NFP in February 2023, a few months into her pregnancy, at 23 years old.

She and her boyfriend, Josh, were fortunately in a better economic circumstance than most participants, but they had no family in the Grand Valley. Cyrus said the gravity of their situation became clear during a health scare early in her pregnancy, riddling her with anxiety.

Yet, Cyrus did not have a family to consult, adding that the way her mom raised her was not an example she wanted to follow.

“I’ve learned that I’m a lot stronger as a mom and a person than I used to believe before NFP,” she said. “And I’ve gained a lot of tools to raise our daughter the way I’ve always hoped to, but wasn’t previously taught how.”

According to Cyrus, her assigned nurse (Sorenson) quickly became like a best friend to her, guiding her through the medical anxiety, empowering her to advocate for her and her baby’s medical needs and educating her on the complexities of raising a child.

Even after her daughter Elara was born, she said that Sorenson helped her with a tongue-tie diagnosis that local doctors were dismissing.

“She wasn’t able to eat, she couldn’t take a bottle, she couldn’t keep a pacifier in her mouth and she couldn’t sleep with her mouth shut,” Cyrus said. “I couldn’t get any of the pediatricians I was working with to diagnose her. In fact, they were arguing with me about it.”

“For a long time, Brooke was like the main person I had on my side about the tongue tie,” she added. “And she’s the only reason I was able to find (treatment).”

Now, Elara is more than a year old, with a “super sassy, super silly and really smart” personality that Cyrus said surprises and enamors her every day.

She added that Elara loves dancing, especially to rave music because it’s upbeat and Elara “knows a good bass drop.”

More than anything, Cyrus said she loves to learn and be involved:

“She will spend every single day pulling out her books and going through them or making us read them to her,” Cyrus said. “She will pull out her stuffed animals one by one and give them a kiss and a hug, and she really likes to go outside and just hang out – she likes to be part of everything.”

Shortly after Elara’s birth, Cyrus and her boyfriend opened Odinson Tattoos, a private, appointment-only studio at 1141 N 25th St.

Those interested in Mesa County NFP can confirm their eligibility and learn more by visiting the Mesa County Public Health website, selecting “Individual and Family Services” and clicking on the “Nurse-Family Partnership” link.