Wrapped in Love Because of You
The Baby Fold's Christmas Wish List program brings joy to local children who might not otherwise experience the tradition of opening gifts on Christmas morning. As our community rallied to adopt 863 wish lists from Baby Fold children this year, the details of those lists warm our hearts and remind us of the importance of reaching and healing local families. One child wished for biscuits for his puppy, another wanted board games that could be played alongside their siblings, and many children asked for basic necessities, including bed sheets, pillows, socks, and underwear. While the need remains high for local children and families, we know our community stands ready to wrap children in love and comfort at Christmas and throughout the year. 
Christmas Past
Imagine the Christmas traditions that have taken place since The Baby Fold's beginning in 1902. No matter the era, children have always delighted in the mystery of Santa and the warmth of being surrounded with love during the holidays. Between the selfless care from staff and the generosity of our community, these photos express an enduring message of joy and wonder at Christmastime!
Our Community is Amazing - Thank you!
Gratefulness fills our hearts for a community that helped make the 2021 Festival of Trees an overwhelming success for kids and families. Our generous sponsors, talented designers, hardworking volunteers, and community guests and bidders helped central Illinois kick off the holiday season while highlighting the true meaning of Christmas. Over 6200 online bids were placed on over 700 beautifully crafted holiday decorations, all supporting the vital work of The Baby Fold with local children and families! Because of this generosity, The Baby Fold can continue to bring loving support and healing services to over 1200 children and families this year and into 2022. Thank you for making this year's Festival of Trees one of our most successful events on record!
The Strength We Give
Many children who receive services from The Baby Fold have walked somewhat unsafe journeys with uncertain futures. Right from the start, we fill any basic, unmet needs, including food, clothing, safe housing, and more. Once a safe foundation is in place, we help children and families identify their God-given strengths and then begin to build better, stronger futures through a variety of therapies. It's a timeline we've repeated throughout our 119-year history of social service in Bloomington-Normal—meeting needs, finding strengths, and transforming lives for the better. You can help The Baby Fold finish strong in 2021 and help local children and families grow into the very best versions of themselves by making your year-end gift here. For help with a special gift, please contact Aimee Beam at abeam@thebabyfold.org or (309) 451-7206.
A 30-Year Journey to Help Kids
Each employee anniversary provides an opportunity for our agency to celebrate our staff and the impacts they make here at The Baby Fold. We recently honored Lara Raper, Manager of our Quality Improvement Department, on her 30 years of dedication to our mission. Throughout her career, Lara has been deeply involved in many of our current and prior programs and services, including the residential treatment center; finding children their forever-homes in adoption and international adoption; providing search-related and mediation services in post-adoption; and last, our vast collection of data and systems in our QI department. We are blessed with mission-driven staff whose servant hearts shine through in everything they do on behalf of kids and families at The Baby Fold!
Children and families served by The Baby Fold are experiencing increasing concerns like food insecurity and housing issues. Your support during this time helps us address those needs while we continue to provide healing therapy & support. Thank you for clicking here to give.