Bridgeport Prospers Celebrates Graduation of Parent Ambassadors from Community Health Worker Training

Bridgeport Prospers proudly celebrated the graduation of its Parent Ambassadors from Community Health Worker (CHW) training on Tuesday, April 28, at Wakeman Boys & Girls Club Madison Avenue Community Clubhouse in Bridgeport, marking a powerful milestone for families, community leadership, and health equity across the city.

This graduating class represents the first cohort of its kind in Connecticut, bringing together Bridgeport parents and caregivers who completed specialized CHW Core Competency Overview Training designed to strengthen their ability to support families, connect residents to critical resources, and serve as trusted messengers within their neighborhoods.

Through this training, the Parent Ambassadors are now better equipped to help community members navigate systems of care, access local services, advocate for their families, and build stronger connections between residents and the organizations working to support them.

“We believe that parents and caregivers are experts in their own experiences and essential partners in building systems that truly work for families,” said Katerina Vlahos, Executive Director of Bridgeport Prospers. “Today’s celebration reflects that belief. This training builds skills, confidence, and pathways—not only for workforce development, but for stronger connections between families, schools, health systems, and early childhood services."

The graduation ceremony honored the commitment, leadership, and lived experience of each Parent Ambassador. Several graduates shared personal reflections on what the program meant to them and how they plan to use their training to serve families throughout Bridgeport and continue on their journey towards becoming certified CHWs through the State of Connecticut.

“As a Parent Ambassador, I've had the privilege of working alongside families during some of their most difficult moments,” said Angie Rendon, a Bridgeport Prospers Parent Ambassador. “Sometimes the most powerful support you can give someone is to simply stay with them in their struggle and to guide them through it, and to remain and to remind them that they are not alone.”

“Our parent ambassadors came to this program to strengthen the community and support families,” said Milagrosa “Millie” Seguinot, Bridgeport Prospers’ Parents Connecting Parents Project Manager. “In the process, this great group was exposed to different professional development opportunities by their participation in the community health worker overview program.”

Bridgeport Prospers’ Parent Ambassadors play a vital role in advancing the place-based partnership's mission to ensure every child in Bridgeport has the opportunity to thrive from cradle to career. By completing 14 hours of CHW Core Competency Overview Training, these leaders are expanding their capacity to support families beyond advocacy and outreach, stepping into a deeper role as community connectors, resource navigators, and trusted champions for health and well-being. In Connecticut, “by law Community Health Workers are public health outreach professionals with an in-depth understanding of a community’s experience, language, culture, and socioeconomic needs. Among other things, they (1) serve as liaisons between community members and health care and social service providers and (2) provide a range of services, including outreach, advocacy, and care coordination.”

The program reflects Bridgeport Prospers’ ongoing commitment to centering parent voice, building community power, and advancing equitable access to resources for children and families. As Bridgeport continues working to address barriers to care, family stability, and opportunity, the newly trained Parent Ambassadors will help ensure families are met with culturally responsive support, trusted guidance, and meaningful connections to services that can make a lasting difference.

Together, Bridgeport Prospers and its Parent Ambassadors are helping build a stronger, healthier, and more connected Bridgeport.

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ABOUT BRIDGEPORT PROSPERS

Bridgeport Prospers’ mission is to work collectively as a community of stakeholders to have a positive, measurable, and sustainable impact on outcomes for all children and families, from cradle to career. We focus on a set of seven common outcomes, from healthy and ready at three and kindergarten readiness, to high school graduation and career readiness. The initiative receives backbone support from United Way Coastal and Western Connecticut. Find out more at www.bridgeportprospers.org.

ABOUT UNITED WAY OF COASTAL AND WESTERN CONNECTICUT

United Way Coastal and Western Connecticut (UWCWC) envisions a community where every person is healthy, safe, and economically secure. We work in partnership with community to address critical needs and advance equitable pathways to wellbeing and financial security for everyone. We are committed to improving the lives of the 40% of our neighbors who work hard but earn incomes below the ALICE® threshold (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed). We do so by focusing on the following priorities: Advocacy, Collective Action, Community Partnerships, Direct Service Programs, and strategic Grantmaking. UWCWC serves 27 communities across Fairfield and Southern Litchfield Counties, including the Cities of Bridgeport, Danbury, Norwalk, and Stamford, and the Towns of Bethel, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Darien, Easton, Fairfield, Kent, Monroe, New Canaan, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Redding, Ridgefield, Roxbury, Sherman, Stratford, Trumbull, Warren, Washington, Westport, Wilton, and Weston, Connecticut. For more information about United Way of Coastal and Western Connecticut, visit www.unitedwaycwc.org and follow United Way on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.