Ohio has an infant mortality rate that rivals third world countries. Those rates are as high as 6 times the national rate in some Cleveland neighborhoods are highest amongst communities of color. The focus of BBC are the social determinants of health and real-life circumstances that at-risk mothers face, making them vulnerable to infant death.  The core of our organization is social cohesion. Communities of color have indigenous ties to community interconnectedness. The lack of social cohesion/capital is strongly linked to higher infant mortality rates amongst African Americans in the United States.

Our trained birth workers address the basic, grassroots issues of infant mortality, such as, isolation, instability, deficient education, underdeveloped parenting skills, risky behavior and lifestyle choices, and poor nutrition. BBC functions and serves the purpose of providing real time learning opportunities that will increase the understanding of how and why the social determinants of health affect unborn children, and what resources are available or need to be created, in order to increase the likelihood of infant survival at one year and beyond.

In addition to the current services and training that BBC provides, it is part of our vision to develop an emergency shelter facility to address chronic homelessness of pregnant women, and open a birthing center in the City of Cleveland, that will provide expecting mothers with culturally sensitive birthing options.