When Mattie, a young mother, tried to feed her new baby, she realized the child wasn’t breathing. Luckily, a nurse from Nurses for Newborns had taught her how to do infant CPR just a few days before. Fighting off panic, Mattie performed CPR for 20 minutes. By the time the ambulance got there, the baby was breathing. “You saved your child’s life,” the paramedic said.
Andrea, who graduated from high school with a scholarship to a major university, fell into poverty after the birth of her child. “My boyfriend and I were just kids with no money,” she recalls. “We worked, but barely made enough to cover the rent. We didn’t know how we were going to take care of our son.” Then she heard about Nurses for Newborns’ Teen Parent program. “NFN made sure we had food and other necessities, including a car seat, and helped me find childcare so I could stay in school.” Today, Andrea works at a major brokerage firm—and her son is happy and healthy. NFN is a safety net for families at risk. The organization, founded in 1991, prevents infant mortality, child abuse and neglect through home-based programs that serve teen moms, moms who are mentally or physically challenged, sick infants, and families in need. “We save babies and strengthen families by providing free, in-home visits from experienced registered nurses,” says CEO Melinda Ohlemiller. The organization reaches more than 3,000 infants in 25 Missouri counties annually, providing child and maternal health assessments, home safety checks, preventive care and parenting skills training. Clients also have access to a 24/7 help line, support programs, and an emergency donation bank stocked with formula, diapers, cribs and other necessities.
Demand for services, always high, keeps climbing. “So many people still can’t find work, or have low-paying jobs that don’t enable them to provide for their family the way they want to,” Ohlemiller says. “To help those in need, we rely on generous community support.” NFN’s annual dinner auction, A Night for Newborns, takes place April 27 at the Hilton St. Louis Frontenac. Barbara Druhe, Fran Marks and Gloria Wind co-chair the fundraising event. Spoke, a marketing firm that designed and donated a new logo and website for NFN, receives the McGraw Milhaven Award. World Wide Technology is presenting sponsor.
“We’re proud of our partnership with World Wide Technology and the Steward family,” Ohlemiller says. “David and Thelma Steward have really stepped up to support our mission. Thelma is a former nurse, and she and David understand a community is only as strong and healthy as its families. They care passionately about protecting babies and strengthening families—and so do we.” Not every child is lucky enough to be born into a safe, nurturing environment, Ohlemiller notes. “But every infant deserves to be cared for. NFN keeps children safe during the most vulnerable time in their lives. Our nurses give families help and hope during hard times—and give babies a chance to grow up healthy and strong.”
by Tony Di Martino
Photo: MIKE TAYLOR OF WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY
Credit: COLIN MILLER OF STRAUSS PEYTON
