With this post we will tell you about Welcome Baby, and we will also welcome another Stir Crazy Mom, this post's author Amy!
What it is: Welcome Baby is a non-profit that focuses on helping new mothers connect to community resources and each other. They host educational classes, support groups, and manage a "Giving Closet" that recycles gently used maternity, baby, and toddler items, among other things.
I didn't find Welcome Baby. They found me. While I was still at the hospital, they came by the room and asked if I'd like them to contact me later with information on their services. I think I said yes to about a zillion of those questions, but Welcome Baby was one of the few who actually followed up. They called and asked if I wanted to be part of a "Now & Later" group. The group is made up of mothers with children under 4 months (my son was the oldest in our group) and we met weekly for 2 months. Each week, we discussed topics that were "the issues" in our lives. We brought up some topics, and sometimes we had a guest speaker (a pediatrician, a baby massage expert, a lactation consultant...) who could guide our discussions. While some of the moms in the group have already headed back to work, we are still hanging out when we can.
What we like: Welcome Baby is open to all Moms in Durham. While they are a non-profit, they do have some regular staff, who can answer just about any question a Mom would have, or at least give you a name or number of who you should get in touch with to get an answer. It's a One-Stop-Shop for first time moms, especially.
What we would change: Like any non-profit, the program is limited in hours and staff, which could make it difficult for a working mother to take advantage of the resources. I wish they were better funded, so they would be able to keep more people on staff and have more "open" hours.
Website: http://www.welcomebaby.org/
Address: 721 Foster Street, Durham, NC 27701
Phone number: (919) 560-7150
2 comments:
Hi, We are so glad that Stir Crazy Moms appreciate Welcome Baby services! We do need to clarify that we are actually a program of Durham County Cooperative Extension and Durham County Government. We do have a fund with NC Cooperative Extesnion Foundation that allows us to accept tax deductable donations, making us a bit of a hybrid.
I'm so glad to see you mention Welcome Baby. They also found me in the hospital and the Now & Later group I joined is still part of my social network, over 6 years later. I also love them bc they have made sure that all my gently used baby gear went to people who could use it. Yeah for Welcome Baby!
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