UNA’s ACONHP Hosts Maternal Health Advocacy Event

Mar. 13, 2025

Michelle R. Eubanks , UNA, at meubanks@una.edu, 256.765.4392

FLORENCE, AL – The Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions at the University of North Alabama will be the host for a special maternal health advocacy event. Roaring for Change will feature renowned speaker Charles Johnson, founder of 4Kira4Moms, on Tuesday, March 18, from 3-5 p.m. in the Banquet Halls of the Guillot University Center on the UNA campus.

“Roaring for Change is more than just an event – it’s a call to action,” said Dr. Melissa DeFoor an assistant professor in the ACONHP as well as a passionate advocate for maternal health. “Charles Johnson’s story will touch your heart and fuel a passion for change. His story reminds us that we all have a role in ensuring safe, equitable care for mothers everywhere.”

Johnson founded 4Kira4Moms after the tragic and preventable loss of his wife, Kira Dixon Johnson, as a result of complications during childbirth. Since then, he has dedicated his life to fighting for legislative reform, raising awareness, and ensuring that no other family suffers the same fate. His work has sparked nationwide conversations about maternal mortality and the urgent need for systemic improvements in maternal healthcare. It is the story he will share as part of the event.

This free event is open to community members, healthcare professionals, and students. Roaring for Change is sponsored by Tiny Cubs, Grandview Medical Center Women’s Services, Helen Keller Hospital, Huntsville Hospital for Women and Children, Jesse Barnes Edwards Endowed Professorship, North Alabama Medical Center, and UNA.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: una.edu and una.edu/unaworks/.