A place where families can belong

When Cecil Peck sought treatment for substance use, the nearest place he could go was in Knoxville. He recalls driving four and a half hours each way for medication, sleeping briefly, then getting up for a twelve-hour shift at work. Treatment gave him a chance to build the life others had told him he would never have: a family, a job, and nearly 30 years in recovery.

Today, Cecil works in harm reduction and health education in Southwest Virginia. He helps people facing struggles he knows personally, and he helps transport mothers and babies who need support. The work has shaped a belief he returns to throughout his interview: “We can do better.”

That belief is behind his vision for a community birth center. Cecil wants families to know they have choices in pregnancy and birth, including care from midwives and doulas. He remembers a region where many people knew what a midwife was through their own mothers and grandmothers. Now, he says, some families have never heard that kind of care described as an option.

For Cecil, the question goes beyond where a baby is born. He remembers feeling out of place at the hospital when his own children were born, and fearing that being in treatment might put his family at risk. He wants parents to have relationships with care providers who listen, explain their options, and treat them as people whose experiences matter.

A birth center is one way he imagines making that possible. His hope is for more families to find care close to home, with midwives, hospitals, and other providers working together to support them. He also sees birth care as connected to the work of helping families through substance use, poverty, and other challenges.

“I want to see families healed,” Cecil says. “I want to see broken families reunified.” In his vision, a healthier community begins when people have a real chance to get the care and support they need.