Baby Fold Flag Flown Over U.S. Capitol in Honor of 120 Years of Devotion to Kids and Community |
|
At the request of the Honorable Richard J. Durbin, United States Senator, through the Architect of the Capitol, a commemorative flag was flown over the United States Capitol celebrating The Baby Fold's 120 years of service. The certificate of The Baby Fold’s honorary flag states:
“This flag was flown for The Baby Fold in honor of its 120 years of devotion to kids and community.”
The Baby Fold, founded in 1902, has a rich history of social service in Central Illinois. One hundred and twenty years later, the agency continues to meet the needs of children and families in our community and now stands as a premier multi-service agency serving over 1200 children and families annually. Today, The Baby Fold is Central Illinois' largest child welfare agency and one of McLean County's top 25 employers.
The flying of the American flag through the Capitol Flag Program has honored the work of groups such as schools and civic organizations since 1937. After the flag was proudly waved over the nation's capitol, it was carefully packaged and sent to our administrative campus with certification. The honorary flag will be flown over The Baby Fold’s Willow Street campus during the month of May to celebrate 120 years of service to local children and families.
|
|
Baby Fold Archives on Display at McLean County Museum of History |
|
To celebrate The Baby Fold’s 120th anniversary, the McLean County Museum of History has selected items from their Baby Fold archives to put on display. The display is located outside of the Stevenson-Ives Library on the second floor of the museum, in historic downtown Bloomington. The collection will be available to view through the end of May. The museum's full Baby Fold archives include over a half dozen folders of artifacts including annual reports, newspaper articles, photos, and more. You can click here to read more about the collection.
|
|
Nurturing Parenting Program Exceeds First Year's Goals |
|
The Baby Fold’s recently implemented Nurturing Parenting Program planned to provide services to 24 families by the end of 2022. However, due to the increasing need in our community and the success that families have reported, Nurturing Parenting has already expanded to serve 37 families in the first 5 months!
In the 12-16 week program, specially trained family counselors from The Baby Fold work with at-risk families to create a personalized road map to healthy family relationships by utilizing the nationally recognized, evidence-based Nurturing Parenting curriculum. Together, our counselors and the parents discuss child development, positive discipline, self-regulation, and other topics. Nurturing Parenting Program Director, Alissa Calandra, explains, “We first need to parent the parent; help them explore their own lives and fill in the missing pieces that they need to parent well.”
After parents are comfortable with their own knowledge and well-being, the class shifts to the children and how parents can raise them in a healthy way, breaking the cycle of abuse and neglect that many parents in the program suffered in their own past. One father attests, “I was not excited about going to a class with homework and all. But I really learned a lot about myself, my family, and my kids. It was worth it." The Baby Fold helps parents become the parent they want to be while keeping children safe and continues to expand this program to meet our community’s needs.
|
|
New Child and Family Stabilization Fund Keeps Kids Out of Poverty |
|
Save the Date! On May 20th, you can partner with The Baby Fold to bring safety and smiles to local children. Due to the county’s new economic circumstances, our clients are struggling more than ever to put food on the table and secure safe housing. We are hosting a special Day of Giving to help. You can join us in blessing hundreds of precious children and families as we create a new Child and Family Stabilization Fund to protect our youngest citizens. The Baby Fold has been a cornerstone in the community for 120 years, bringing health and wellness into the lives of local children. Now more than ever, we need your support as we invest in the future of our community - our children. Click here to help create the vital Child and Family Stabilization Fund and help keep our children out of poverty.
|
|
WCIC and WMBD Support Baby Fold Families |
|
WCIC, a Christian radio station, hosted a 'Baby Shower' to help Moms in Central Illinois. The Baby Fold was selected as their Bloomington-Normal ministry. The Women's Care Center in Peoria, Contact Ministries in Springfield, Women's Pregnancy Center of Galesburg, and Gianna's House in Sauk Valley were selected in each of their regions.
Also, WMBD, of Nexstar Media Group, has selected The Baby Fold as their non-profit partner to celebrate their Founders Day. Baby Fold representatives will be on-site at WMBD's upcoming Founders Day Celebration. WMBD staff and the general public have the opportunity to drop off highly needed in-kind items and learn more about The Baby Fold's life-changing work at the event including our 120-year legacy.
Thank you to WCIC and WMBD for supporting the children and families served by The Baby Fold!
|
|
Twelve Decades of Devotion: Journey Through the 1940s
|
|
The 1940s was an exciting decade for The Baby Fold! On November 14, 1941, the agency’s name officially changed from 'The Mason Deaconess Home for Aged' to 'The Baby Fold', as it had been lovingly referred to for years. A new statement of purpose was also formulated, '…To provide Christian care and training to dependent and homeless children from birth to six years of age.' The name change, a reference to Jesus Christ as the Good Shepard, as well as the new statement of purpose, reaffirmed the agency’s Christian heritage that we still value to this day.
New superintendents Rev. and Mrs. William A. Hammitt made significant improvements to The Baby Fold’s systematic processes. Before the Hammitts, children were cared for with no permanent records or files. The only information available about the children was notes jotted down on the back of envelopes found in a common box. Within short order, a detailed record system was developed. Additionally, a four-page admission form was implemented, including vital information such as place of birth, family relationships, health history, and more. These organized records helped document each child’s journey and gave adoptive parents meaningful insight into the child’s life before adoption.
The Hammitts also made transformational staffing and board changes at The Baby Fold. In 1942, The Baby Fold’s first graduate caseworker was hired. Emma Blackman was the first trained social worker in Bloomington-Normal, dedicating over 30 years to The Baby Fold. Throughout her service, Blackman found loving homes for over 600 children, earning the nickname ‘The Adoption Lady’. The Hammitts hired Judith Hogberg as Head Nurse on January 1, 1940, and “when she retired in 1971, she has invested 31 of the best years of her life in caring for Baby Fold children,” recalls Rev. Hammitt. Deaconess Grace Harris cared for over 1600 infants during her 35-year tenure at The Baby Fold. A devout woman of faith, she gathered special needs and handicapped staff together each Sunday for church. During this time, the Board of Directors more than doubled, leaping from seven to 15 members.
By the early 1940s, Illinois was one of just 12 states that had not modernized its archaic adoption process to better protect children. The Hammitts helped to revolutionize statewide adoption laws. During one session of the legislature, Rev. Hammitt recalls, “I made 27 trips to Springfield and spent parts of 27 days down there.” He fought tirelessly for the children of Illinois, serving as co-chair of the State Steering Committee for Adoption Reform and later as president of a statewide child welfare legislative committee. He spent years speaking, writing, and contacting legislators to ensure the safety of adopted children while Gwendolyn managed The Baby Fold. Finally, in 1949, Rev. Hammitt proudly stood alongside and witnessed Governor Adlai Stevenson sign the Child Welfare Law into action.
(Reference: The Baby Fold: An Investment In Humanity, by Elizabeth Glidden, 1992, and The Pantagraph)
|
|
Rev. William Hammitt, Baby Fold Superintendent, witnesses Governor Adlai Stevenson sign the Child Welfare Law into action.
|
|
Emma Blackman was Bloomington-Normal's first social worker, finding adoptive homes for over 600 Baby Fold children.
|
|
Head Nurse, Judith Hogberg, invested over 31 years caring for children at The Baby Fold. |
|
Children playing at The Baby Fold, 1948 |
|
The Baby Fold Campus in the 1940s |
|
Twelve Transformative Programs: Foster Care Highlight
|
|
May is National Foster Care Month and in honor of all of the amazing families who open their hearts and homes to children in need, we want to highlight our Foster Care programs.
Children who have been removed from their homes by DCFS are referred to The Baby Fold's Foster Care programs where they are provided safe, nurturing home environments. To lessen the trauma of home removal, our relative foster care program trains, licenses, and supports a family member to provide care. If relative licensing isn’t an option, our traditional foster care program offers placement with a loving, licensed family. Our Specialized Foster Care program started in 1993 and trains and develops caregivers to meet the unique needs of foster children with significant behavioral, mental, or health needs. If a child in foster care cannot return to the parents, the child’s foster family may consider adopting the child. Today, The Baby Fold continues to be a state leader in finding permanent homes for children and was recently honored with a U.S. Congressional “Angels in Adoption” Honoree Award for outstanding adoption services to children and families.
Delaney Burns (pictured), one of The Baby Fold's Foster Care Caseworkers, shares her experience being raised in a family who fostered children:
“I would be lying if I said foster care is easy. No matter what part of foster care a person finds themselves in, foster care is hard. When I was 15, my parents became licensed to be foster parents. As a girl who grew up with a passion for loving children and families from hard places, I was thrilled to be able to care for children in our home, even if it was temporary. Our first placement included a sibling group of one baby, one toddler, and another baby soon after. This would be our only placement as one of the kids was able to be successfully reunified with her birth father and the other two were adopted by my parents. The unknown of how long these kids would be in our home and the difficulty that comes with loving kids from trauma was a challenge. Yet, being a part of a foster family will always be one of the most beautiful things I've been able to be a part of. The passion I had for foster care and loving children and families from hard places led me to pursue a degree in social work and eventually a job as a caseworker in foster care at The Baby Fold. I would love to become a foster parent myself someday as well. Through my experience and interaction with the foster care system, I have been reminded of the fact that sometimes the hardest experiences can become the most rewarding and beautiful experiences.”
Thank you to all of the selfless families, like Delaney's, who open their hearts and homes to children in need, and to our amazing Foster Care staff who work tirelessly to find safe and loving homes for these children. If you feel called to open your home and invest in the life of a child, our Foster Care professionals would love to answer any of your questions. They can be reached at (309) 557-1121 or at fostercare@thebabyfold.org.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
