New Moms’ COVID-19 Response

Our Ongoing COVID-19 Response

We are so grateful to have such a dedicated community behind us during this time. Thank you for responding to New Moms’ call for both fiscal and in-kind donations.

Our staff are working hard to meet the changing needs of our families, but we couldn’t do it as successfully without your help. Because of your generosity, we continue to offer supportive services to families enrolled in our programming.

Our Family Support team is connecting with families virtually, conducting home visits and parent support groups via Zoom and over the phone. Our team is also able to deliver essential items like food, diapers, formula, baby wipes, and household cleaning products to young moms. Our families have told us these are the items they need most.

We’re humbled by the incredible support we’ve received. Your compassion is having a true impact on our mission and the young moms and children we serve.

Community Partners

A special thanks to Lakeview Pantry, Nurture Life, Koval Distillery, Cradles to Crayons, Schelp, The Lazy Volunteers, and Summer Time to Give.

Watch Our Latest Webinar!

Executive Skills Strategies for Coping with Coronavirus

Watch the webinar New Moms created in partnership with REDF, “Using Executive Skills to Cope with COVID-19,” hosted May 28, 2020.

The Coronavirus pandemic has changed our work and world – and has forced us all to use our own Executive Skills in new ways. Watch below to learn practical, low-cost, and immediately applicable Executive Skills-informed strategies for coping with stress, mitigating Executive Skills struggles, or supporting others as we adapt to the effects of the pandemic.

You can also click here to learn more about Executive Skills and how we implement them in our work at New Moms.

Read Our Latest Blogs!

1) Direct cash transfers support families during COVID-19 pandemic

Cash support is powerful because it 1) relays trust our in participants to make decisions for themselves, 2) reduces stress by allowing young moms to plan their finances beyond immediate necessities, and 3) is a fast and efficient way to improve economic mobility from poverty.

As part of our COVID-19 response, New Moms partnered with Family Independence Initiative and the #GiveTogetherNow Chicago Fund to provide direct financial relief to families in our programming who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic.

Within the span of two weeks in late April, our dedicated program staff helped 45 families who were experiencing employment loss access an unconditional cash transfer of $500 each. In total, $22,500 was directly transferred into bank accounts of young moms across all New Moms’ programs!

Chief Program Officer Melanie Garrett described the initiative as exciting because it gets to the heart of New Moms’ mission and Family-Centered Coaching approach. This approach puts moms in the driver’s seat and affirms their strength, ability, and potential to accomplish the goals they set for themselves and their family.

“It’s truly putting our money where our mouth is and saying ‘we really trust you, you are the expert of your own life,’” Melanie said.

Click here to read the full blog and learn more about how New Moms is empowering families with direct cash transfers.

2) Family Support Specialists Adapt to Continue Serving Families

Family Support Specialist Andrea Serna and New Moms participant Britney meet for a virtual home visit on April 15. Andrea said she’s been “really impressed” by the resilience of the young moms she works with and how they’re willing to be flexible as New Moms transitions to virtual rather than in-person support.

Despite the uncertainty of our world, New Moms’ priority during this crisis remains to support young moms and their children.

As most of our team continues to work remotely, staff are getting creative and adapting to new ways of meeting our families’ needs. This is especially true for our Family Support team who’s in-person based services have undergone significant changes.

“Support continues, but it looks a little different,” said Family Support Manager Katie Wise.

Click here to read the rest of our latest blog and see how our Family Support Specialists are adapting to serve families.

Here’s How You Can Continue to Help

1. Send food and daily essentials directly to moms and children

The need for basic necessities is critical at this time. New Moms continues to provide diapers and formula to our participants and is working to keep our food pantry stocked for families in our 58 apartments.

Purchase food and daily essentials off our Amazon Essentials & Food Pantry Wishlists, and they will be sent directly to our families at New Moms. With stores being cleared out of baby wipes, diapers, formula, and cleaning supplies–these are the items our families need most.

2. Donate Financially

When you donate, you’re helping New Moms focus on keeping services available to young families. You can help New Moms maintain a stable budget as we navigate challenging changes in our fundraising efforts, such as cancelling our April Kitchen Walk fundraiser.

$55 = can provide one night of housing for a young mom and her child.
$100 = can ensure 2 families have the food, diapers, and household supplies they need when they move into New Moms apartments.
$250 = contributes to helping New Moms maintain a stable budget as we navigate challenging changes in our fundraising efforts, such as cancelling our Kitchen Walk fundraiser.
A recurring donation of $25/month or more helps us know that you will be with us as we weather the COVID-19 storm and continue to serve young moms and their children.

3. Shop Bright Endeavors Candles

Helps us continue to employ young moms in our Job Training program, so they can support their families during this challenging time.

Here’s how you can help:

Shop! The online store is open and the shelves are stocked. Candles can help create a sense of peace that we all need right now.
Gift! Have a friend struggling with the solitude of social distance? Candles are a simple way to brighten someone’s day.
Share! The more people who know about the critical work we do, the better we’re able to do it. Sharing our Instagram and Facebook profiles with your friends and family is a wonderful and easy way to support our mission.

– Updated April 21, 2020

Message from New Moms CEO During COVID-19

New Moms President and CEO Laura Zumdahl shares updates about New Moms’ COVID-19 response and gives her personal thanks to everyone who has offered their support with both financial and in-kind donations.

– Updated March 31, 2020

Our Work Continues During COVID-19: We need your help

Thank you to everyone who has offered their support with both financial and in-kind donations. It is only with your support that we can continue serving our families during this difficult time. As stricter measures are instituted to curb the spread of COVID-19, including longer school closures and orders of “shelter in place” for all of Illinois, the pressure on our young moms only increases.

Late last week, one of our doulas grieved that she couldn’t attend the labor of one of her participants and be a direct advocate for her during the birth because of guest restrictions at the hospital. She persevered and provided virtual coaching to the mom through the night. In the early morning hours, a healthy baby was born.

Our team has been working diligently to connect with our families and ensure our supportive programs continue to address the needs of our families during this emergency.

Here are a few ways we are serving our families right now:

We have committed to continue paying young moms who are employed by our social enterprise, Bright Endeavors, as part of our Job Training program while normal operations have been paused. We want to make sure that the moms in our program can stay home, stay safe, and care for their families. They are valued members of our team and we want to ensure they are supported during this crisis.
Daily E-Learning Sessions are offered to all participants in our Job Training program to support their preparation for permanent employment.
Our Family Support team is incorporating virtual service delivery to offer on-going parent support and crisis intervention.
Our Housing team continues to support families moving into our apartments and connect them with the resources they need to stabilize. We had three families move in last week and have five move-ins scheduled for this week.
New Moms will continue to suspend all site-based parent support groups and workshops until further notice.

Our families continue to seek support and our team continues to mobilize remotely to provide the best support possible to weather this storm. We are hearing from our families that they need food, diapers, formula, baby wipes, and household cleaning products.

We need your help to help fill this need. Here’s how you can continue to support New Moms’ families:

1. Send food and daily essentials directly to moms and children

2. Donate Financially

$55 = can provide one night of housing for a young mom and her child.
$100 = can ensure 2 families have the food, diapers, and household supplies they need when they move into New Moms apartments.
$250 = contributes to helping New Moms maintain a stable budget as we navigate challenging changes in our fundraising efforts, such as cancelling our Kitchen Walk fundraiser.
A recurring donation of $25/month or more helps us know that you will be with us as we weather the COVID-19 storm and continue to serve young moms and their children.

Thank you for your generous support! We are deeply grateful for all of you!

– Updated March 24, 2020

Help Young Moms During COVID-19

We’re living in a time of great uncertainty. While COVID-19 affects all of us, it has a tremendous impact on the families who New Moms serves. Most of the young moms we partner with do not have a robust social safety net and many are experiencing homelessness. Because of COVID-19, many are dealing with potential or realized unemployment, the loss of vital social services, and lack of health care support if they get sick.

New Moms’ priority during the COVID-19 crisis is to support young moms and their children. This week our team is:

Moving young moms out of temporary emergency shelters into our housing programs in Chicago and Oak Park. We anticipate more move-ins next week. It is critical these families have access to safe and stable housing, especially during this time.
Providing access to our food pantry and emergency supplies of diapers, formula, and baby wipes while our families have decreased access to vital social services and resources.
Ensuring young moms who continue to maintain their jobs have transportation to get to work.
Informing our families directly about the current pandemic and how they can take precautions to stay healthy and safe.

As most of our team works remotely, we are working together to support our families through this COVID-19 storm. Here’s how you can help:

1. Donate Financially

We need your support to keep services available to young families. Here are a few ways your donation makes an impact:

$55 = can provide one night of housing for a young mom and her child.
$100 = can ensure 2 families have the food, diapers, and household supplies they need when they move into New Moms apartments.
$250 = contributes to helping New Moms maintain a stable budget as we navigate challenging changes in our fundraising efforts, such as cancelling our Kitchen Walk fundraiser.
A recurring donation of $25/month or more helps us know that you will be with us as we weather the COVID-19 storm and continue to serve young moms and their children.

2. Send food & daily essentials directly to moms and children

Thank you for your support during this difficult time in our world,
and we hope you all are staying safe and healthy.
New Moms is so grateful to have dedicated supporters like you.

– Updated March 18, 2020

During this quickly changing time of concern, New Moms believes it is our responsibility to prioritize the health and well-being of our participants, staff, and volunteers, while also being constructive in the role we play in supporting our local health officials and government leaders as they work to contain the COVID-19 virus. We continue to be vigilant in monitoring updates on the virus and making decisions with science-based guidance via the CDC and Chicago Department of Health.

As we make decisions, we are deeply aware of the significant impact they have on the young moms and children who we serve, and are working diligently to balance this tension.

We have decided to implement the following precautions beginning immediately:

- New Moms will move all non-essential staff to work from home and suspend much of our normal programming. We will reassess this each week to ensure we continue to support the containment efforts and the families we serve are supported to the best of our ability.
- We will be closing the Transformation Center in Austin, Oak Park Center, and Bright Endeavors to visitors.
- No in-kind donations will be accepted at any of our locations through the end of March.
- Group volunteer activities scheduled between March 15 – March 29 are cancelled.
- In order to not host large community gatherings, we will be cancelling the upcoming Kitchen Walk 2020 on April 25. We will send updates next week about our creative alternatives for this important event that raises critical revenue for our young moms and their children.

We will provide updates on our response to COVID-19 on our website here as they are available.

In this unprecedented time, we ask that you keep New Moms in your thoughts and prayers as we navigate the impact these measures will have on our families. The health and safety of everyone is our top priority, and at the same time, we know that these measures will have a disproportionate impact on our fellow neighbors who are experiencing poverty.

Your continued support, both through prayer and financial gifts, is deeply needed at this time.

– Updated March 12, 2020

Posted on March 19, 2020