Health care agencies that serve young mothers in low-income situations are forming a coalition to share resources.

Linda Hitchye, lead nurse for the Children First program at the Muskogee County Health Department, developed the idea of the Pregnant Teen Coalition. She already has started organizing with Muskogee County Head Start, the Women, Infants and Children program at Cherokee Nation Health Clinic and Muskogee Alternative Program.

“I want us to combine together and make sure the client gets all that they need,” Hitchye said.

The coalition’s mission can be summed up as healthy mom, healthy baby, healthy family, healthy community, she said.

Lynn Thompson, health, disability and mental health manager at Muskogee County Head Start, said pooling knowledge will make everyone more effective in their roles.

“We can find better ways of working with our population, and how we relay health literacy,” Thompson said.

Muskogee has a youth coalition for social services, she said, but this appears to be the first coalition to focus on these health services. She gave one example of how agencies can coordinate.

“The coalition would allow people who see her (Hitchye) to roll over into our program for free if we have space,” Thompson said. “I believe it is a good resource for our population to have adequate child care.”

Thompson said Head Start already has developed a close partnership with the Muskogee County Health Department, but the coalition will bring more agencies into the partnership and “tighten up” communications.

Carissa Kiffmeyer, public health supervisor at the Cherokee Nation Health Clinic in Muskogee, said she would be glad to refer clients to other coalition agencies such as the health department whenever they had services not available at the Cherokee Nation.

At a meeting Wednesday at the health department, Kiffmeyer was able to pass information to Hitchye about immunization services for WIC recipients now being offered at the clinic.

Janie Cook, career teacher, family and consumer science at MAP, said she thought the Pregnant Teen Coalition is a great idea.

“We need to help these girls,” she said. “I’ll be more able to help my students get what they need. Things like government programs and services are always changing. By working with the coalition, I’ll be better able to point my student or client in the right direction.”

Cook said most teens don’t have any idea of how to navigate the “government highway.” Their parents try to help them, she said, but they also may not have ready access to information.