When Jasmine was six months pregnant, she came to a community baby shower held at our Conway Health and Resource Center. She was expecting to learn a lot about labor, breastfeeding and basic newborn care. When she left, she had a brand new baby carrier in hand and something more. A community.
Jasmine became homeless when her mother and sister decided to move out of their shared apartment, leaving Jasmine, who was pregnant with a baby boy at the time, to figure out where she would spend her nights. She went from staying at a friend’s relative’s house to sleeping in a car in whatever abandoned lot she could find. With most of her time spent on finding a safe place to sleep, finding a doctor just couldn’t get done.
“My main focus was a roof over my head.”
That’s when Jasmine’s sister, who was also pregnant, told her about Community of Hope.
At six months pregnant and having never received care, Jasmine came to us looking for hope. With some help from our Care Coordination Specialist, Rashawnda, Jasmine was quickly scheduled for her first prenatal medical appointment, signed up for insurance and connected to shelter. Rashawnda also helped to find much needed baby items before her son arrived. “There are a lot of resources [here at Community of Hope].”
During the last weeks of Jasmine’s pregnancy, our staff followed closely to ensure the safe arrival of her son and to make sure that Jasmine felt welcomed, supported and cared for during her journey to becoming a mother.
Now, Jasmine and her healthy two-month-old are living in her sister’s apartment, only blocks away from the Conway Center. She often comes in to hang out in the waiting room for a few hours and to show off her smiling baby boy. Jasmine and her son, who is now also a Community of Hope patient, never miss an appointment.
With newfound stability, Jasmine is motivated to go back to school and earn her high school diploma, find a job and eventually find a place that her new family can call their own.
The popular saying goes, “it takes a village to raise a child.” We are proud to be a part of that village for Jasmine and her son!
