Several organizations in Hampton Roads said they recently received rejection notices for funding from the state’s Perinatal Health Hubs Pilot Program, nearly a year after the funding was expected to roll out.
$2.5 million was included in the state budget in 2025 after years of legislative efforts to expand community-based maternal care. It aims to improve outcomes for pregnant women, particularly Black women and those in underserved communities.
Dozens of organizations applied. Many said they received rejection notices last week with little explanation and after some started raising concerns about the lack of communication from the Virginia Department of Health.
“We appreciate the time … After careful review, your organization was not selected to participate in this initial round of funding,” one letter from the VDH reads.
For groups like Urban Baby Beginnings, a statewide nonprofit that helped develop the maternal health hub model, the decision was both surprising and frustrating.
Founder Stephanie Spencer said her organization serves between 3,000 and 5,000 people each year through a network of community-based services, including doulas, mental health support and telehealth.
“We’ve been at the table helping build this model,” Spencer said. “Then when the funding comes, we’re not part of it.”
Starting in 2019, Spencer met with former Gov. Ralph Northam and worked with state officials to help develop the approach, coining the term “maternal health hub” that was later adopted into legislation and state funding proposals.
She said communication with state officials slowed after funding was included in the budget, leaving many organizations, including hers, unclear about how decisions would be made.
“That transparency should have really been happening over the last 10 months,” Spencer said. “Communities deserve to know what's happening.”
More than 30 groups initially expressed interest in applying, according to Spencer, but only four organizations were selected. The VDH has not yet publicly announced the recipients.
Heather Wilson, founder of Kennedy’s Angel Gowns and an applicant for the funding, said her nonprofit provides burial gowns for infants who have died and supports families through grief.
“It's hard to grow your nonprofit when you feel like things are being treated unfairly,” Wilson said. “It was a gut punch.”
State lawmakers said they are aware of the concerns and plan to review the process.
Sen. Angelia Williams Graves and Del. Bonita Anthony, both Democrats from Norfolk, said the funding is critical as hospitals close maternity wards and access to care shrinks in some areas.
“We need to make sure that in areas that need it the most, mothers are getting the support they need,” Graves said.
But both lawmakers said the program remains within its official timeline. A final report on the initiative is not due until June 2026. They expect more details about how funding decisions were made to be released by then.
“We want to make sure there were no criteria that excluded organizations that should have been funded,” Anthony said.
WHRO arranged two interviews with the VDH. Both were canceled by the agency.
Logan Anderson, a spokesperson for VDH wrote in an email the plan is “still going through various stages of approval.”
“We don't want to do any publicity until everything is finalized and ready to go,” Anderson said.
