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About Us

In January 1989, the South Carolina Chapter of the March of Dimes, the Office of the Governor, and the then South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), now the South Carolina Department of Public Health (DPH), joined with communities of faith to sponsor a project called "prenatal mission." The purpose of the project was to train members of congregations as prenatal care advocates to help women overcome the barriers to prenatal care. In 1990, the Prenatal Mission was renamed Hold Out the Lifeline: A Mission to Families, and now trains members to become family health advocates.​

Values

  • Work rooted in and guided by faith

  • The physical, mental, social, educational, environmental, and spiritual health of families

  • Community partnerships

  • Providing health education and services to families

  • Building relationships within families

  • Involving religious congregations and communities in identifying resources and solving problems

  • Bringing religious congregations and communities together with health and human service providers to form local initiatives

  • Developing training content based on local priorities

  • Recruiting and training congregational members as family health advocates

  • Supporting and evaluating family health advocate facilities​

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