Higher Heights Human Services Inc., is once again looking for funding, but this time it’s in an effort to obtain a full-time coordinator for its Healthy Outcomes program.

Beaufort County Schools used to handle fundraising for the program, but the district has transferred the responsibility to reapply for funding to Higher Heights.

The school district employed Loretta Ebison, executive director and founder of Higher Heights, to coordinate the Healthy Outcomes program out of Washington High School. Her position with the school district ended on June 30, but her work for Healthy Outcomes continues as part of Higher Heights.

Ebison said that while the program has received some funding, it was not as much as was requested.

She spoke at a Board of Education meeting Monday night to ask for an extra $20,000 in funding to support a position for a full-time coordinator including an insurance stipend of $400 per month.

The current budget for Healthy Outcomes is at $26,500, with a $15,000 from Vidant Health, $2,000 from Wells Fargo, $2,500 from PotashCorp-Aurora and $7,000 from a fundraiser.

A full-time position has a lot of benefits for the work Healthy Outcomes does, including the ability to offer more time on case management and more one-on-one contact with participants, as well as implement required pregnancy prevention activities and required service on a community board, Ebison said.

“We know, you know, from past experiences having that (full-time) person to go to…is very effective,” she said.

Higher Heights works with pregnant and parenting teens to encourage pre-natal care, completion of high school and prevention of secondary pregnancies.

The program serviced 46 participants from 2012 to 2013, 44 participants from 2013 to 2014 and 25 participants from 2014 to 2015 — one of which was in middle school.

Besides funding, Ebison said volunteers are also in the process of moving into one of their renovated maternity homes, which will be used as an office space due to the house’s lack of a kitchen.

The renovation of the other home is expected to be complete by the end of the summer, but the organization is still more than a year away from being able to house pregnant and parenting teens in the home, she said.

Ebison will also speak at the Beaufort County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday to request funding.