Welcome to Healthy Beginnings
I am Diane Murray-Fleck, Executive Director of Healthy Beginnings. I know I am “preaching to choir” on this, but our program is founded on the belief that the best thing anyone can do for Oregon’s future – for OUR future – is to invest in our children.
Healthy Beginnings does just that – it’s a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all our children enter their school life ready to learn, contribute, and thrive. We conduct free comprehensive, health and developmental assessments for children between 0-5.
This simple step translates directly to increasing high school graduation rates and improving the quality of our workforce. It’s a proactive service that ultimately ensures a future of adults who are prepared to not only face the world’s challenges, but to solve them.
At Healthy Beginnings we closely collaborate with the medical community, schools and service providers to provide free universal, comprehensive health and developmental assessments for children 5 and under. Our volunteers – often retired pediatricians, nurses, psychologists, and teachers conduct thorough examinations of all children in the tri-county area by hosting free community screenings. If any concerns are identified during the assessment, those results are then seamlessly delivered to pediatricians and service providers for deeper evaluation and intervention. Our ultimate goal is to ensure a healthier and more successful future for our community.
We know parents have concerns in those first few years. Our screenings are a warm, friendly, easy place to get those questions answered by professionals. If a child’s development deserves closer observation or assessment, we refer families to the best providers in Central Oregon for further evaluation and appropriate care.
Our developmental screenings use standardized screening tools, and each station is hosted by a professional who is trained in the protocols of their health station. We believe in empowering parents with information, so they can be a champion for their child. When parents feel supported, children thrive. When children thrive, the future is bright. We are here to make the future brighter.
Welcome to Healthy Beginnings! Our hope is that we can make parenting feel a little less stressful and whole lot more connected and fun. On our new website you will find informative blog posts, parenting resources, and all the information you need to visit us at our community screenings. We look forward to meeting you in person and having you be part of the Healthy Beginnings tribe!
Sincerely,
Diane Murray-Fleck