What

Project Needs and Beneficiaries

This project addresses the high cost of providing for infants and young children for families living in poverty. It will be located in the Bronx, the poorest urban county in the United States. This project will; give needed resources to families, off-set the high cost of providing for infants and young children, reduce the damage to young children caused by the stress of living in poverty. It will link these families to volunteers who will teach basic budgeting to the families.

Activities

Baby Buggy delivers clothing, cribs, diapers and more to families in need. By giving these items coupled with budgeting classes we help: ensure the safety and well-being of children, reduce financial stress + off-set the expense of raising children.

Funding Information

Total Funding Received to Date: $2,006
Remaining Goal to be Funded: $19,994
Total Funding Goal: $22,000

Additional Documentation

Resources

Why

Potential Long Term Impact

This project will serve 60 families living in a community where over 67% of the children are born into poverty. By offering family budgeting classes and regular donations of clothing, diapers and equipment, we positively affect families’ lives.

Project Message

"Children who experience poverty during their preschool and early school years have lower rates of school completion than children and adolescents who experience poverty only in later years.
- Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Ph.D., Professor, Columbia Univ., Family and Child Dev.

Who

Contact Claudia Fleming, Executive Director Baby Buggy 306 West 37th Street, 8th Floor New York, NY 10018 United States 12127361130 Email: Project Sponsor GlobalGiving

Organization The Baby Buggy, Inc. 306 West 37th Street 8th Floor New York, New York 10018 United States 212-736-1777 http://www.babybuggy.org Learn more about The Baby Buggy, Inc. and the project team.

Where

Country

This project is located in United States and can also be found under Education.

For more information about United States, read the Human Development Report on United States or the Wikipedia entry for United States.

When

Last Updated

This project was last updated on August 05, 2008.

Date Added to GlobalGiving

This project was added to the GlobalGiving project catalog on February 22, 2008.

Latest Update from the Field

Financial Literacy Update

By Nura Poursharif - Program Director, August 05, 2008 07:37 PM

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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