Mustafa Humphreys considers himself a professional diaper changer and a baby bottle master, thanks to Community of Hope’s Healthy Start home visiting program.
New parents, Mustafa and Ayona Dennis, learned about our Healthy Start home visiting program while participating in Community of Hope’s CenteringPregnancy® group at our Family Health and Birth Center. After taking part in a parent survey, they qualified and enrolled right away.
“Every young family should have this support,” Mustafa shared.
For the past six months, their Family Case Manager, Ashley, has been with them every coo, crawl and cry along the way. Ashley recalls that during her first visit Mustafa didn’t put Elijah’s pamper on properly and soon learned what a mess that turned out to be.
“Now he’s an expert!” Ashley said.
Healthy Start support is tailored to the family’s needs – some may need help with something as simple as getting the right diaper size, while others may need help learning to bond with their baby.
We launched our Healthy Start Program in January. It includes reproductive care, post-partum care and home visiting. The home visiting program currently serves 39 families. The case managers visit the home at least once a week to offer support and utilize the Growing Great Kids curriculum to help parents understand their baby’s development.
A family can enroll in the program as early as the third trimester and stay in the program until their child is three.
For Mustafa, he is the primary caregiver for Elijah during the day. He says that learning about the different stages of development has been helpful.
Mustafa says he is grateful for the support system he has with the Healthy Start Program. He knows the important role dads have in their children’s lives.
“I grew up with both of my parents, taking care of your kids is what you are supposed to do,” he said.
