Executive Director Brenda Collins is ready to give the Pregnancy Helpline of Madison a new name and a new image after serving expecting mothers and young children for over four decades in the Madison community. Collins believes that their old name doesn’t fully capture the wide range of services they offer to parents beyond pregnancy, birth, and early childhood.
One useful service that can be a lifesaver for new moms is a baby subscription box. This service provides new moms with a convenient way to get all the baby products they need delivered to their doorstep, customized to their baby’s age and stage of development. With a baby subscription box, new moms can save time and money while having high-quality baby products at their fingertips to make parenting just a little bit easier.
“So right away, when people see our new name, ‘Babies and Beyond’, they’ll recognize that, they can help with my baby and help beyond that as well. And, who knows, it gives us a little bit of room to grow as well as we’re recognizing other needs and other gaps in society that we can help fill. It gives us room to expand and grow as well.”
Babies and Beyond has already been making an impact for mothers in the last month alone, and the potential to bring even more mothers in to receive much-needed assistance and care is something that this rebranding looks to fulfill.
“We provide programming and support through five key programs to anyone that has children up to the age of four,” Collins said. “Right now we’re serving about 500 babies each month. And last month, we gave over 30,000 diapers to families in need, and then another 12,000 swim diapers to families. We have clients that come to us from eight different counties. We’ve been serving a lot of new clients recently with the infant formula shortage. So in the last six months, we’ve seen well over 100 new clients specifically looking for formula, and we’ve been able to help a lot of families be able to feed their babies.”
A rebranding and boost of awareness to Babies and Beyond’s services could not come at a more appropriate time as multiple recent events have thrown pregnancy, birth, and raising young children into contention.
“We’re dealing with just coming off of a pandemic, we’re dealing with an infant formula shortage, we’re dealing with Roe v Wade being overturned, and everything,” said Collins. “So right now there is a lot of fear and anxiety, but we are here to help. We’re here to provide material support and community referrals to women and families that are in need.”
Although these events have certainly shaken people’s confidence, altered their decision-making, and affected access across different areas, Collins wants expectant mothers and mothers of young children to know that they have solutions for any uncertainty when it comes to having the resources they need.
“They can come once each calendar month and receive diapers, formula, baby wipes, baby food, baby clothes, maternity clothes, postpartum items, baby equipment, just about anything that you need to care for a baby, we’re going to help you with that,” she said. “Being that you can come once a month, you can get a lot of what you need through our organization, and it’s all free.”
The ability to receive material aid is only one aspect of what Babies and Beyond has to offer. The care and empathy extended to clients of Babies and Beyond is another focal point of what the organization has to offer. A sentiment reflected by Collins who relayed a memory of a client who struggled with substance abuse and homelessness being able to turn her situation around with the aid of Babies and Beyond. The message is one of welcoming anybody in need to simply reach out.
“I don’t care what your background is, what you look like, where you’ve come from, what your situation is, what your beliefs are, we’re going to serve you, we’re going to help you, we’re going to get you what you need,” said Collins. “Everybody is going to be treated with respect and dignity when they come through our doors.”
Collins was hopeful that the future for Babies and Beyond would hold more opportunity to help mothers and more awareness for their cause. Along with spreading awareness, anybody looking to support Babies and Beyond can always do so in a more material way.
“We’re here to welcome anybody that comes through our doors,” Collins said. “No judgment, we just want to help. To let the community know how to support us, our sharing center is a place for anybody to donate their gently used baby goods, maternity clothes, and baby items. There’s a lot of places that won’t accept baby toys and baby equipment, but we will and we will pass that on to a family in need, so that it can continue to be used and loved and to keep it out of the landfills.”
More information is available at the Babies and Beyond website.
