ask the expert

« ask the expert HEALTHY START COALITION OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA

HERE TO HELP

Healthy Start assists pregnant women and families with children 3 and younger to meet basic needs like diapers.

Have you ever been terrified that you would not be able to provide basics like food and diapers to your baby? Well, for many Southwest Florida families that fear has become their reality. Families who were once financially stable are now experiencing extreme hardship due to job losses caused by COVID-19. Suddenly, everything changed — parents are home without income; children are home without school or day care; businesses have

closed or changed their operations to meet social distancing requirements; government assistance systems are overwhelmed, and many families have received no stimulus or unemployment payments.

Nonprofit agencies went on full alert; how do we serve our community while following social distancing measures and the requirements of our donors and funders? Food banks quickly mobilized and found new, no-contact methods for distributing food to families; school buses delivered breakfasts and lunches to

ASK THE EXPERT We welcome questions from readers. Ask us anything. We’ll find the answer. Send your question to editor@swflparentchild.com with “Ask the Expert” in the subject line.

Written by Healthy Start Coalition of Southwest Florida staff: Community Engagement Specialist Amanda Brunson, Associate Executive Director Melanie

Black Amato, and Executive Director Susan Beauvois. (healthystartbaby.org)

students throughout the area; countless individuals and companies began making masks and personal protective equipment; neighborhoods and civic clubs connected with restaurants to send prepared dinners to first responders. But, who was helping our babies?

The Healthy Start Coalition of Southwest Florida has served pregnant women and infants up to age 3 in Lee, Collier, Hendry and Glades counties since 1992. Our mission is to reduce premature and low birth weight babies and to improve health and developmental outcomes. We do this by providing home visiting services to pregnant women and infants who are at-risk for poor outcomes. Our home visiting services include ensuring access to prenatal and pediatric medical care, education and support for childbirth, breastfeeding, parenting and screenings for depression, domestic violence and developmental milestones.

Much of our funding comes from state and federal grants. However, those dollars are strictly regulated and may not be used for baby supplies such as diapers and formula. Still, we could not find another agency that was stepping in and we decided that no baby who is hungry, wet or soiled can have a “healthy start.” We were going to have to expand our mission — and very quickly. It meant serving our current clients with additional items that are necessary for a healthy baby. It also meant serving those newly needy families with diapers, wipes (when we could find them) and baby formula. The average baby should get 6 to 10 diaper changes a day and eat every two to three hours. The cost can easily exceed $150 per month, in addition to the risks of shopping in multiple stores just to find the products.

We were very lucky. Just prior to the onset of COVID-19, Healthy Start and Lee Health’s Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida had formed a partnership to donate diapers to our existing high-risk clients. By mid-March, we had received and were distributing over 70,000 diapers to our clients. Little did we know that just a few weeks later we would hear of many more families all around us in dire need. Our neighbors, our family members, our friends. Thus, we made preliminary plans for supply lines and distribution, then

reached out to our local funders to see if they could help. First Horizon Foundation, United Way, Southwest Florida Community Foundation, Zonta Club of Sanibel-Captiva and HE Hill Foundation immediately responded and enthusiastically backed our plan.

This is where teamwork really comes in. Our staff recognized that we did not have the physical capability to serve every baby who needed supplies in Southwest Florida, so we reached out to our local community partners to assist. Calling on Harry Chapin Food Bank, Children’s Network, Lutheran Services, Camelot Community Care, local churches, Florida Department of Children and Families, Golisano Children’s Hospital, Eva’s Closet & Foundation, Lee Health, NCH Healthcare System, county health departments, pediatricians and United Way, we set out on a mission to distribute as many resources as quickly as we could. Healthy Start has provided items to hospitals, food banks, clients and many new families. This all goes back to our mission that every baby deserves a healthy start.

If you identify a baby in need, please contact us at 239-425-6930 or email us at info@healthystartswfl.com. We are here to help.