By Nura Poursharif | Program Director
Baby Buggy’s official start date for the Family Resource Center at St. Anthony’s Head Start was May 1, 2008. Since then, Baby Buggy has helped a total of 60 families and 119 children! Baby Buggy donations included critical gear and clothing, as well as monthly donations of diapers and wipes for all families.
Baby Buggy also offered a five-week financial literacy workshop series. The purpose of this workshop was to help families learn more about budgeting and finances, with the overall goal of improving the families’ financial stability. Baby Buggy is extremely pleased with what we have accomplished through the implementation of this program:
• Organized a training session for Credit Suisse volunteers so they can facilitate the culturally sensitive financial literacy workshop series • All 15 families that participated in the program graduated from the financial literacy workshop series, which focused on the following topics: budgeting, saving, debt reduction, credit repair, how to decipher a credit report, and identifying available benefits and resources • Baby Buggy provided dinner and child care for all participants to make the experience more comfortable and convenient for them
During the course of this workshop series, the families inquired about other topics such as legal assistance, advanced financial assistance, complete benefits analysis, help with housing and landlord issues, accessing federal student loans, as well as information about various education and certification programs. Baby Buggy turned to many of the Community-based Organizations in our network to provide information about referrals and resources available to families. Baby Buggy will organize a Speaker Series for all St. Anthony’s families to address these topics of interest; this will keep the momentum going with the program graduates, help us recruit a new set of families to enroll in the next workshop series, as well as ensure that we are meeting the diverse needs of these families. We strive to continue to improve the families’ quality of life, as well as their financial and overall stability.
The following are anecdotes from staff, participants, and a volunteer, which demonstrate that this program was beneficial to all who were involved with this project:
“Baby Buggy not only gives material goods to families, but also provides emotional support and guidance for the whole family helping them achieve their life goals”. – St. Anthony’s Education Director
“I really feel the workshop was helpful. I had a lot of questions that were answered. Everyone was friendly – this also helped me open up to them freely. Thank you very much. You should definitely offer more workshops concerning financial needs”. – Workshop Participant
“The Baby Buggy Financial Workshop was a very helpful program offered to St. Anthony’s. It made me understand how to make a budget plan and realize that with a budget I would be able to see where my money was going or coming and how to control it better. They also informed me of how important it is to obtain a credit report and that it should be done on a yearly basis. I really enjoyed attending the workshops and I hope that St. Anthony’s continues to offer these workshops in the future”. – Workshop Participant
“Thank you for creating the opportunity to give back. The experience was very humbling and gratifying - I truly enjoyed it! I could tell it was truly needed based on the participants' comments”. – Credit Suisse Volunteer
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