Welcome Baby: A Community of Care
This month we’re spotlighting the Welcome Baby program, a one-time celebratory home visit that enfolds parents of newborns with community care.
We were delighted to welcome a volunteer group from Loomis, Sayles & Company last Wednesday, October 16. Together they assembled 48 gift bags and dozens of packets full of informational resources in both English and Spanish. These will be distributed to families throughout Boston over the next few months.
Each Welcome Baby bag contains read-aloud books, an outfit for baby, a packet of informational resources, a handmade blanket, and other helpful items for new parents. But the gift of connection is just as important. Welcome Baby Home Visitors offer affirmation and skilled caregiving support, serving as trustworthy partners in each family’s unique parenting journey.
More than a dozen early childhood professionals from organizations within the Boston Family Engagement Network, led by Family Nurturing Center of Massachusetts, participated in a two-part Welcome Baby Home Visitor training session in October to prepare for this crucial role. The training included presentations, lively discussions, role-playing and team-building exercises, and even some singing. Participants learned how to provide reassurance and counsel, how to build trust in vulnerable situations, how to embody respect and sensitivity across different cultures and family systems, and how to tackle unexpected challenges.
And on Tuesday, October 22, a representative from the Proper Bostonian Quilters Guild brought over a collection of gorgeous handmade baby quilts. Donations from knitters, crocheters, and quilters from all over New England ensure that new babies are wrapped in community love.
It’s truly awe-inspiring to see how the gifts and care of the whole community come together to make this special program possible. In an era when the stress and isolation faced by American parents are being recognized as an urgent public health challenge, FNC is committed, with our programs and partnerships, to strengthening the architecture of care through which we can ensure that every child has a chance for the best possible start in life.
