When I grow up, I want to be a…
By: Laura Green | Outreach Coordinator, First Things First Porter County
I knew from a very young age while lovingly rocking baby dolls and packing pretend diaper bags that I wanted to work with infants and toddlers. However, as a teenager, I couldn’t quite figure out how to turn my doll-toting past into a career. That was when an amazing family walked into my life. They had just moved to town, and they arrived holding the hand of their adorable 1-year old daughter who had some special medical needs. They were concerned about leaving her with anyone, but we worked together to build up a trust that blossomed into a beautiful friendship. As we got to know each other, I found that my relationship with her parents was equally as important as my relationship with this wonderful young child. I couldn’t hear enough about their story—their successes and triumphs as well as their challenges.
One very important aspect about their daughter’s journey was their experience with home visitors and how appreciative they were of the professionals who worked with the whole family to help their little one learn and thrive. And there it was. That quintessential lightbulb blazing in my head. This was it. This was what I wanted to do. I spent the next chapter of my life as a home visitor with families and their young children, and it taught me so much about family dynamics and what an important role a home visitor can play in supporting and assisting families.
As I settled in my home visiting role, it became evident that everyone’s daily lives have a lot of complexity. It is easy to move things to the back burner, and it can be difficult to prioritize or make meaningful interactions take place. Sometimes families are just overwhelmed. Life is busy. There aren’t enough hours in a day, or making ends meet takes precedence over all other needs. Other times, families haven’t had experiences with young children. They simply don’t realize how vital these early experiences are for their child’s future. These same families may also suffer from a lack of support without anyone there to help or guide them. Even if families know they need or want to be involved in a service, they must know where to look. This is a hurdle as it isn’t always easy wading through the information and deciphering what they might qualify for or what could best serve them.
Unfortunately, as time progresses and infants and toddlers aren’t being engaged in meaningful interactions or appropriate activities, a developmental gap begins to form. These little ones start to fall behind and fail to meet their milestones. Due to these environmental circumstances, young children are being identified with delays that require additional services to help them catch up to developmentally appropriate peers—delays that might have been prevented by earlier support and guidance.
Over time, it became very clear what a fantastic resource home visitors are by providing gentle reminders or a supportive guiding hand. There is nothing quite like meeting a family where they are and hearing their successes and achievements as well as their concerns and frustrations and being able to see it firsthand. It is so important for all families to know they have strengths unique to them and how to harness those strengths for implementing strategies to help their children that naturally fit into their daily schedule. Home visitors can assist caregivers in identifying ways they can support their baby’s development without falling behind on other obligations. They can even provide support with where to find assistance that will take some of the burden off their shoulders.
Sadly, not all families qualify for or are aware of programs that provide home visiting or early intervention services (even though most families with babies could benefit from the support and guidance they provide). An initiative like First Things First Porter County is vital to ensure that a strong, coherent and supportive ecosystem for healthy beginnings, family support and quality early learning exists for families and professionals. First Things First Porter County will make sure our youngest community members are prepared for their upcoming endeavors by keeping the ball rolling for early childhood opportunities in Porter County. Wouldn’t it be fantastic to help families with young children see their community is there to provide a compassionate helping hand during a wonderful and exciting but also potentially tricky time in their lives? What could be better than supporting families as they learn how to guide their little ones to future success?