WHO WE ARE
Lucinda's house is community
Lucinda's house exists to create environments where women of color feel safe, supported, and can become an active part in eliminating structural barriers to improve their overall health and wellbeing.
Lucinda's House will provide individual consultations, health educational events, and information about community resources.
OUR STORY
Lucinda’s House was created in 2022 by Lucinda Canty PhD, CNM, FACNM to address the racial disparities in maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity.
To address these issues Lucinda's House draws on the strength and knowledge that already exists in communities of color. Our histories are rich. Historically, pregnancy and childbirth were honored and celebrated by the Black community. Women felt safe and cared for, even when there were minimal resources due to structural barriers.
OUR MISSION
Lucinda’s House is an initiative that provides advocacy, education and support to birthing people of color.
Lucinda's House is a collective space where Black women and other women of color are seen, listened to, and heard. Lucinda's House is a space where we can discuss sensitive issues that relate to our health and our bodies.
Not only are we going to talk about the issues, we are going to develop our own solutions. Lucinda's House is going to address issues on an individual basis up to a structual level. This will be done through community support, education, and research.
We understand the challenges Black mothers face in the healthcare system and know that changes can occur when the members of the community together come together to address issues that prevent Black women and other women of color from maintaining a level of wellness.
About Dr. Lucinda Canty
Lucinda is a mother, nurse, midwife, researcher, nurse educator, historian, a reproductive health justice activist, artist, and poet.
Lucinda is deeply committed to improving the maternal health of Black women and other women of color. She has 27 years of experience in providing midwifery care. She exists in many lanes of nursing to address to improve health outcomes for women of color.
Her experience as a clinician, researcher, and educator fuels her desire to address racism in nursing, midwifery, and the healthcare system. The goal of Lucinda's antiracism activism is to create change in practice, education, research, and policy.
She advocates for women of color to have the resources and support they need to maintain their health and wellness.
She has presented her research at various conferences and organizations.
The Lucinda's House Leadership Collective
Lucinda Canty, PhD, CNM, FACNM
Founder/Director
Dr. Lucinda Canty is a certified nurse-midwife and an Associate Professor, Director of Seedworks Health Equity in Nursing Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Elaine Marieb College of Nursing.
Kemmarie C. Beal, APRN, PMHNP-BC, FNP-BC
Kemmarie C. Beal, is a board certified psychiatriac mental health nurse practitioner and family nurse practitioner. She has over 20 years healthcare experience partnering with patients. She is passionate about her work and believes in offering patients solutions real to their world. Psychology Today
Christiana Best, PhD, LMSW
Dr. Christiana Best is a social worker, researcher, writer and keynote speaker. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work and Equitable Community Practice at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, CT. As the creator and host of the podcast Inside Out/Outside In, she facilitates conversations between academia and the community to amplify the voices of groups that are marginalized. www.christianabest.com
Reine Boyer, Esq
Reine is the managing attorney and founder of Fairfield County Law Group, LLC, (FCLG), a full service law firm and consulting group located in the heart of Fairfield County; Trumbull, Connecticut. Reine specializes in serving and equipping women, BIPOC and diverse communities with the legal know-how to advocate for themselves and succeed in an ever changing complex world. https://fairfieldcountylawgroup.com
Shania Cuffy
Mischa Hadaway, LCSW, CD(DONA)
Mischa Hadaway is a Perinatal Therapist and Birth Doula. She is the Owner of both “Gentle Mama Counseling, LLC” - located in West Hartford, CT, and “Me & My Doula”, which services Hartford and New Haven Counties.
Aaliyah Harris
Kim Kim, MSN, RN, CDCES
Kim is a Nurse Educator and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist. She serves on the Board of Directors and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee for the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, and is a member of the Hartford Chapter. Secretary of the board for Lucinda's House.
Patricia McIntosh, LCSW, MPH
Patricia McIntosh is the Director of Community Safety and Wellness for the City of Hartford. In this capacity, she is responsible for leading collaborative projects that address issues of mental health, justice involvement, community and gun violence, housing insecurity, access to education, and more. With over 27 years in Hartford, she worked previously as a clinical social worker in maternal and child health, with interpersonal violence and as an administrator in healthcare with a public health lens.
Kaydian Reid, DrPh
Kaydian Reid, DrPh, Assistant Professor and Director of Public Health Programs at the University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford, CT.
Rose-Ann Richards, APRN, FNP-BC
Treasurer
Heather Reynolds, MSN, CNM
Ms. Reynolds is a Certified Nurse Midwife and lecturer at Yale University School of Nursing (YSN). Since 1983 she has taught in graduate nurse-midwifery education, first at the University of Colorado, and since 1986 at Yale University. In addition, she served as the clinical director of the Yale University School of Nursing, Nurse-midwifery faculty practice at Yale New Haven Hospital, from 1988-2002. She currently works in the YSN’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion as the faculty for minority students. nursing.yale.edu
Lakesha Rivera, MS, CNM, RNC-OB
Lakesha, an avid advocate for maternal health and maternal health equity on the local, State, and national level, is a healthcare professional with years of clinical experience who specializes in healthcare operations. She is the founding owner of ExecuNurse Consulting Solutions where she provides consulting services for those needing healthcare and healthcare related operational consultation services. www.execunurseconsulting.com
Fior Rodriguez
Fior Rodriguez is the Manager of Staff Training for Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, which encompasses Connecticut and Rhode Island. She plans to obtain her birth doula certification in the near future. Fior is also a lifelong painter, whose works evoke strong themes of feminism, feminine energy, reproductive health and fertility.
