Services for children in the Bronx

Baby Buggy has continued to serve the 60 families and 119 children at the St. Anthony’s Head Start Family Resource Center (FRC) by distributing quarterly donations of essential gear, baby products and clothing, as well as donations of diapers and wipes – keeping in line with Baby Buggy’s mission of providing families in need with the necessary baby items and resources to ensure the safety and overall well-being of their children.

Baby Buggy is proud of the wonderful resources and services that have been provided to the families at the FRC:

•   Over 60,650 items have been donated to the families at the Family Resource Center, ranging from cribs and strollers to clothing and diapers;

•   Baby Buggy held a Speaker Series with representatives from various social service agencies to address the needs of client families that were identified during last summer’s Financial Literacy Workshop; participants met with representatives offering services related to legal assistance, formal banking services and advanced financial assistance, as well as assistance with housing and landlord issues;

•   Baby Buggy is currently offering the third Credit Where Credit Is Due (CWCID) workshop cycle to the families at the FRC; CWCID promotes economic empowerment among low-income families by increasing access to, understanding of, and control over financial services. The topics covered include personal finance, financial goals, budgeting and savings, understanding the credit system, financial institutions and financial services, and an overview of taxes and investments;

•   A Benefits Analysis session was also offered to the FRC families; a group of trained Credit Suisse volunteers interviewed families using the self-sufficiency calculator to determine their eligibility for work supports, tax credits & other benefits, as well as how to access them. Our belief is that this will help improve the self-sufficiency and stability of these families;

•   In response to the current food crisis, Baby Buggy launched a Healthy Food and Nutrition Initiative in November 2008 geared toward providing FRC families with another essential – affordable, healthy and nutritious food! Through the City Harvest/FreshDirect Buying Club, Baby Buggy has given FRC families access to high quality food and grocery items at discounted prices that can be purchased with food stamps, cash, or debit cards; as an incentive, Baby Buggy provides these families with free, monthly supplements of $30 in healthy take-home groceries to match purchases of $30 or more made by families through the Buying Club. Since November 2008, Baby Buggy has distributed 120 grocery supplements to FRC client families;

The following is an anecdote from Sister Mary Thomassino, Deputy Director of Education for the Archdiocese Head Start Programs:

"On behalf of the Head Start Parents and staff at St. Anthony Head Start Program, I wish to thank you and all those connected to Baby Buggy for your generosity to us.

Our families have received beautiful gifts that will provide for safe and better care of the children. They are expanding their food budget and learning how to save money and use those dollars wisely. We look forward to continuing this relationship."