Haneefah Burrell is the proud mother of Haneef, 5, Princess, 3, and Promise, 1. She works full-time, is hoping to go back to school and begin a career in fashion design, and lives in a lovely home in Chester. For all of this, she thanks the staff of the Crozer-Keystone Healthy Start Project.

“They were my life savers,” says Burrell. “I began participating in the program when I was six months pregnant with Princess. Erica Davis, my case manager, helped me obtain medical and dental care for my kids, navigate through Domestic Relations, sent me on job interviews, whatever I needed. Then, when Promise was born, she had severe allergies and Erica even helped to make sure I had the special formula she needed.”

Burrell was introduced to the program by neighborhood friend Donavan Pratt, a social worker and intake coordinator for Healthy Start. Now, nearly four years later, she is one of the program’s biggest advocates. This past April, she was invited to attend the National Healthy Start Conference in Washington, D.C., where she met with legislators from across the country to educate them on all of aspects of Healthy Start and the immense need for funding and the continuation of the program. 

“Now that I’m beyond many of my growing pains, I don’t lean on Erica as much. But over the years, she has been the source of major support, and I’m so thankful.”