Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/305631
One hundred twenty community leaders packed the Grand Foyer of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall last Friday, pledg- ing their support for the Healthy Start Coalition of Sarasota County, now under the leadership of a new executive director for the first time in 13 years. Healthy Start offers c o u n t l e s s s u p p o r t services to pregnant women, new mothers and infants, helping women gain access to care and offering pro- grams, such as smoking cessation classes, intended to ensure healthy pregnancies and deliveries. After years of fighting for policies to reduce America's high infant mortality rate, then- Gov. Lawton Chiles established Florida's H e a l t h y S t a r t p r o - g r a m i n t h e e a r l y '90s. Healthy Start today subsists on a New Healthy Start Coalition of Sarasota County Executive Director Shon Ewens (left) chats with Healthy Start supporters at the organization's April 25 luncheon. Photo by Peter Acker HEALTHY START FUNDRAISING LUNCHEON OFFERS OPPORTUNITY TO MEET THE NONPROFIT'S NEW CHIEF A NEW START FOR HEALTHY START It's something that I wanted to be involved in; it's something I believe in. Shon Ewens Executive Director Healthy Start Coalition Of Sarasota County By Cooper Levey-Baker Associate Editor