The Greater Boston Knitting & Crochet Guild has selected "Welcome Baby" to charitably and creatively support. Welcome Baby! celebrates new babies and their families with a big basket of new gifts, tips for reading to babies and links to community services. A handmade blanket or sweater wraps a message of joy, hope and caring around families from those who donate their time and talent.

What is "Welcome Baby!" ?

Welcome Baby! began in July , 1997 in Dorchester, Massachusetts , a community rich with cultural diversity and supportive of the economic challenges that families face every day. When a baby is born, a basket filled with gifts is lovingly assembled and delivered to the family by a specially trained neighborhood visitor. This friendly on-time visit offers not only a beautiful gift from the community but information about community resources and services that families may need. The home visitor also connects parents to family activities and volunteer opportunities that increase neighborly exchange, build community, and promote mutual sharing of time and talents. So far, Welcome Baby!’s multi-lingual visitors have touched the lives of over 800 families. The Family Nurturing Center’s goal is to gradually spread Welcome Baby! across the city of Boston. Welcome Baby! is implemented by a coalition of caring partners including health care sites, ongoing home visiting programs and social service agencies, organized by the Family Nurturing Center and Dorchester CARES.

Welcome Baby! has been created from the voices and hopes of new and seasoned parents service providers and others as one way of supporting families with newborns in out neighborhoods. This year we hope to welcome 700 newborns in the Boston area.

The goals of the Welcome Baby! initiative are to:

Bring community groups together on behalf of newborns and their families.

Provide home visits and resource information to families of newborns

Create a "Welcome Baby Basket" full of gifts for each baby and family

Create ways for families to reach out to each other through book parties with stories and songs, sewing classes and visit other families with new babies.

Introduce family literacy and encourage families to read to their babies and children

Connect families to resources in their community, such as parent education and support

Reach out to families of newborns and build community through active participation

Filling "Welcome Baby!" baskets

Welcome Baby! depends on the kindness of individuals and on organizations like ours. Through the generosity of community groups and organizations, baskets are filled with beautiful baby blankets, infant clothes, toys for siblings, shampoo and oil, books to read and special gifts for moms, dads and families. Seniors from Boston’s RSVP Program knit baby sweaters and Welcome Baby! moms gather quarterly to sew blankets for lining baskets. Families who are visited tell us that the best thing about receiving a Welcome Baby Basket is seeing that so many people care about their baby. Each month, there are over 50 requests received for visits from birthing hospitals, health centers, neighbors and other places. To keep up with these requests, there is a pressing need for in-kind donations to fill Welcome Baby! gift baskets.

 

Welcome Baby! is coordinated by the Family Nurturing Center of Massachusetts and Dorchester CARES, with support form the Massachusetts Department of Education and the Riley Foundation.