RICHMOND, Va. — Employees at Richmond Department of Social Services said a vital program for helping families grow isn’t being utilized enough.
The Healthy Families Program is a home visit program providing resources and help to families facing challenges in Richmond.
It’s free and available for any Richmond parent or guardian including couples, single mothers, single fathers, grandparents and teen mothers. You could be having your first child or your fifth, they said.
Family Services Supervisor Stacy Carpenter showed CBS 6’s Brendan King their supply room full of resources like car seats, diapers, quilts, clothes, cribs and more.
Carpenter is passionate about helping people and, as a mother, she knows how much it means to support families.
“It's the unknown. Even for myself, when I first had a child. She came 20 days early and I had no idea how to go through birth and labor,” she recalled. “I was scared. It was an unusual situation. Kind of a high stress. When you come home, you're like, how do I breastfeed? What do I do? There's just a million questions.”
The employees recognize growing your family can be difficult, especially if you're facing challenges like single parenthood, low incomes, substance use disorder, mental health challenges or domestic violence.
Family Resource Coordinator Sidra Stanley said they’re ready to provide specific support for your family needs to transition your baby into your home as smoothly as possible.
“They can shoot us a text or give us a call directly. That's usually the easiest way and then we can then schedule a time to talk, just gather some more information about them, their history and the best to determine the best way we can support them,” Stanley explained.
To sign up, call (804) 646-0208 or text (804) 298-5992. Or visit their website here.
