A pair of Cincinnati-area nonprofits will expand their mental health services for new and expecting mothers after securing more than $600,000 in combined funding from bi3 Fund.
bi3 Fund – a local grant-making organization focused on improving health outcomes and advancing health equity – awarded $500,000 over three years to help Best Point Education & Behavioral Health launch a program connecting pregnant and postpartum mothers with therapy.
The Best Point initiative will work with healthcare and social service providers to identify women who screen positive for conditions such as depression or anxiety but are not receiving care. Staff will then link them to services through home visits, telehealth or office-based treatment.
The Transformational Healing Place received a separate $131,220 planning grant to develop a prenatal mental health model for Black mothers in Hamilton County. The effort, called the Sacred Birth Sister Circle, will bring together doulas, therapists, community health workers and mothers to design a program that combines clinical care, peer support and culturally rooted healing practices. Organizers plan to host listening sessions and pilot support groups as they build out the model.
The funding targets a persistent gap in care. About one in five women experience mental health conditions during pregnancy or within the first year after birth, yet many go without diagnosis or treatment.
“Every mom deserves support for her mental health and emotional wellbeing,” Jill Miller, president and CEO of the bi3 Fund, said. “When mothers have access to the care and support they need, it strengthens families and creates healthier communities for all of us.”
The grants are part of bi3’s broader effort to improve maternal mental health across Hamilton, Butler, Warren and Clermont counties. Its work focuses on community-driven solutions that expand access to care and address disparities, particularly among underserved populations. It does so largely through close partnerships with locally centered nonprofits and community health organizations.
bi3’s latest awards build on $1 million in grants announced last fall through the same initiative. The grants, both worth $500,000, went toward the expanding Mental Health America of Ohio’s POEM program into Cincinnati and a new maternal wellness center in Butler County that provides culturally affirming care to Black and Hispanic mothers.
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