Mother and Child Alliance

04/04/2026

This marks the first year since Jane Goodall died — so the Jane Goodall Institute is encouraging us to celebrate the late conservationist’s birthday (April 3) by doing good all day. You can mark the first annual Jane Goodall Day by taking action to better your local community and the planet.

“People can honor Jane by making a positive difference: planting a tree, participating in community cleanups, donating to a cause, choosing plant-based meals, advocating for animal welfare, and sharing what Jane meant to them using on social media,” the institute said.

Learn more by visiting the link below.

JGI is proud to launch Jane Goodall Day, our first annual giving day and a day of action. It is rooted in the belief Jane championed throughout her life: that hope is something we create together.

04/01/2026

We’re excited to announce that Mother and Child Alliance has a new board chair! MACA has benefited from the wisdom and experience of Dr. Mulenga Rosemary Kasoma since she joined us as a consultant in 2021. She’s been a member of our board since 2024, prior to stepping into the role of board chair.

Dr. Kasoma is a physician who holds an MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) from the University of Zambia School of Medicine as well as a Master's in HIV medicine.

Dr. Kasoma’s valuable past experience includes working as executive director and as district medical officer in a rural district in Zambia for more than 20 years. She has hands-on medical experience and skills in a number of areas, especially Public Health, Maternal and Child Health, and HIV Medicine.

Dr. Kasoma won the 2009 United Nations Public Service Award in the category "Improvement in Service Delivery" and presented at the United Nations Experts Group meeting in 2009 and the APAAM meeting in Nairobi. Dr. Kasoma's presentation to the UN addressed ways to improve accessibility and utilization of basic health services in a remote rural community.

Dr. Kasoma also has extensive expertise with DOT (Directly Observed Therapy) as well as TOT (Training of Trainers), and her knowledge has assisted MACA’s efforts to combat the increase in congenital syphilis cases in Illinois.

We’re so grateful that Dr. Kasoma is part of MACA’s team and has agreed to take on this new leadership role — and we’re looking forward to her continued input and guidance as we head into the future.

03/30/2026

In honor of (March 30) for 2026, we’d like to once again recognize our current team of expert, dedicated physicians who guide, inform, and empower MACA's work to help keep moms and babies healthy in Illinois.

We couldn't do what we do without them, and we're grateful every day of the year to have these physicians in our corner!

• Dr. Lynn Yee, medical director of our hotline/warmline
• Dr. Carolynn Dude, maternal-fetal medicine attending for our hotline/warmline
• Dr. Stephanie Fisher, maternal-fetal medicine attending for our hotline/warmline
• Dr. Mulenga Rosemary Kasoma, MACA board chair and consultant
• Dr. Sukhdeep Randhawa, MACA board member
• Dr. Jade Pagkas-Bather, medical director of our case management program
• Dr. Jennifer Jao, pediatric infectious disease specialist
• Dr. Sahera Dirajlal-Fargo, pediatric infectious disease specialist
• Dr. Sarah Sutton, adult infectious disease specialist
• Dr. Kiki Ogu, maternal-fetal medicine fellow on our hotline
• Dr. Eleanor Germano, maternal-fetal medicine fellow on our hotline
• Dr. Colleen Judge-Golden, maternal-fetal medicine fellow on our hotline
• Dr. Danni Grayer, pediatric infectious disease fellow
• Dr. Charlie Boyle, pediatric infectious disease fellow
• Dr. Corinne Thornton, pediatric infectious disease fellow
• Dr. Beth Nagel, pediatric infectious disease fellow
• Dr. Pat Garcia, our founder

(The photos are grouped into two blocks of nine — corresponding to the names in the list from left to right, moving from the top row to the bottom of the first block and then starting again at the top of the second block.)

03/27/2026

This year Mother and Child Alliance is celebrating 26 years of service! That’s more than a quarter century of providing life-changing support to moms with HIV — while also working to protect newborns from HIV and perinatal infections like congenital syphilis, throughout the State of Illinois.

Want to help power our work to keep moms and babies healthy in 2026 and beyond? Consider making a one-time gift of $26. Or even better, a recurring monthly gift to support MACA’s mission all year round.

We’re so grateful to all of you who help make this work possible. Every donation helps, no matter how small. Together, we can keep showing up for the families who need us!

You can make a donation of any size here: https://givemaca.givevirtuous.org/donate

03/25/2026

Some of our colleagues from the CityMatCH Task Force are among the co-authors of a new article in the journal AIDS and Behavior, which looks at how perinatal case management can help make sure new mothers with HIV get the care they need instead of falling through the cracks in the system.

The article is titled “Women in the HIV Care Continuum: Assessing Re-Linking Women to Care and Maintaining Viral Suppression Postpartum in Philadelphia from 2012 to 2023.”

Congrats to all the authors on this excellent work! You can read the article online via the open-access link below.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10461-026-05096-4

03/23/2026

🚨 IMPORTANT UPDATE 🚨 via Illinois Department of Human Services:

Congress and President Trump have made changes to SNAP and some customers will lose benefits on May 1, 2026 if they aren’t meeting new work requirements. Here’s what to do:

📝 1) Complete the screener to see if you are impacted: https://aberp.illinois.gov/screener/ABAWD?lang=EN

💻2) Customers can meet the new requirements by working, volunteering, or participating in a training or education program. Visit: https://www.dhs.state.il.us/?item=177800

03/20/2026

March 20 is this year’s National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day ( ), which is held each year on the first day of spring. Since 2007, NNHAAD has helped promote HIV awareness, education, and testing among Native people.

NNHAAD is also a day to honor those living with or affected by HIV, as well as those who’ve passed away as a result of AIDS-related complications.

This year’s NNHAAD theme is "From Ceremony to Action: Renewal, Respect, and Collective Strength," which highlights the connection between cultural traditions and community-driven action in addressing HIV among Native Communities.

The imagery in the poster reflects a transition from night into the light of a new day, symbolizing hope, healing, and renewal. The community members paddling together across flowing water represent the collective effort required to strengthen HIV prevention, treatment, and care.

Together, these elements represent the journey from ceremony to action and the collective strength of Indigenous communities to honor cultural teachings and support one another in ending HIV.

Find out more by visiting the website for National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NNHAAD) at www.nnhaad.org.

03/18/2026

Big respect to Sheryl Lee Ralph (of Abbott Elementary fame) for raising the subject of women of color and HIV during the Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards viewing party this past Sunday. As she says in the linked article:

“We are still seeing upticks across the south, especially in women of color, and it is something that needs to be paid attention to.

“And also, I think about the fact that as we spread awareness, so many women have no idea that PrEP is also for them. It’s not just for men.

“So there’s so many reasons to be here at the Elton John event as we continue to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS.”

Read the full story at the link below ...

Sheryl Lee Ralph continues to raise awareness about women of color contracting HIV.

03/16/2026

For , we’d like to honor the memory of Henrietta Lacks, an African American cancer patient who helped save countless lives as the source of the first immortalized human cell line. Her cancer cells provided invaluable medical data, and are still used in research to this day.

The story of Henrietta Lacks is powerful not only because her cells played a role in medical breakthroughs, but because it raised important issues about consent, privacy, and patients’ rights given that her cells were used for research without her knowledge or consent.

During Lacks’s treatment for cervical cancer in 1951, shortly before her death, her cells were taken from a tumor that was biopsied at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. The cell line was named “HeLa” based on the first two letters of Henrietta Lacks’s first and last names.

Lacks’s cells were unusual because they reproduced at a very high rate, and could be kept alive long enough to make in-depth examination possible. Her cells became known as “immortal” because they could be divided multiple times without dying — the first cells to be observed by researchers that had this property.

These special qualities made possible a number of important advances. Over the years, HeLa cells were used to study cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances, and gene mapping, among other areas of investigation.

Not only was Lacks herself kept in the dark about the use of her cells — so was her family. This is especially problematic because her cells were used for commercial purposes, and in the 1980s, family medical records were published without permission from the family.

Eventually the Lacks family became aware of the situation and pursued lawsuits against a number of biotech and pharmaceutical firms. Two have been settled for undisclosed terms, while other cases are still ongoing.

Henrietta Lacks has been belatedly honored for her contribution to science. Johns Hopkins established a memorial lecture series in her name, and has also named a new research building (currently under construction) after her.

In 2011, Morgan State University in Baltimore granted Lacks a posthumous honorary doctorate in public service. In Vancouver, Washington, the Henrietta Lacks Health and Bioscience High School was named in her honor. In 2020, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

In 2010, author Rebecca Skloot published her book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Skloot used her first royalty check from the book to establish a foundation in Henrietta’s name, benefiting the Lacks family as well as others who have made contributions to medical research without their consent.

In 2017, Skloot’s book was adapted into a TV movie of the same name, starring Oprah Winfrey as Henrietta’s daughter Deborah Lacks.

You can read more about the life and legacy of Henrietta Lacks on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks

03/13/2026

As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we’d once again like to express our appreciation for the amazing folks at The Albert Pick Jr, Fund.

The Albert Pick, Jr. Fund has been providing vital and empowering support for Chicagoans in need for more than 75 years — since 1947! That includes many organizations that provide services for women and girls, like Mother and Child Alliance.

But the Pick Fund also does an impressive job of keeping up with the changing times. Last year the Pick Fund’s leadership recognized that many of the organizations they support have been impacted by severe funding cuts and an environment of financial instability.

The Pick Fund’s response has been truly inspiring: in this time of crisis, they’ve responded by doubling down on their support for organizations in need.

That includes everything from providing two-year general operating grants for existing partners to awarding multi-year ecosystem grants that support capacity building for smaller nonprofits, and doubling the amount of their law student scholarship.

The Pick Fund has also awarded six Rapid Response grants to organizations working to fortify multi-racial solidarity and provide on-the-ground legal and direct service support to communities adversely impacted by ICE and CBP activity.

We’re so grateful for the Pick Fund and all that they do to make Chicago a better place, and provide a lifeline for those who need it the most. You can learn more about the Pick Fund’s work by visiting their new website at albertpickjrfund.org.

03/11/2026

Things were a little different this year for National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day ( ). Each year on March 10, US organizations and groups come together to show support for women across the gender spectrum living with HIV or with reasons for prevention.

But unlike most years, in 2026 the US government disavowed this awareness day and with it, any commitment to affirm the issues that matter to women and girls. In the vacuum they left, The Well Project - HIV and women and Positive Women's Network - USA — two national organizations focused on HIV and cis and trans women and gender diverse people — stepped in to lead efforts to honor and uplift this day.

As The Well Project's executive director, Krista Martel, put it: "When the powers that be aim to silence, erase, and harm us, we stand together and grow louder, together, as sisters in this fight."

The two organizations released a joint statement, including calls to action for building awareness, community, and solidarity. You can read the full statement via the link below:

https://www.thewellproject.org/news-press/well-project-and-positive-womens-network-usa-joint-statement-nwghaad

03/09/2026

For International Women’s Day (March 8th), our friends at Positive Women's Network - USA shared this important reminder.