If there’s one job in the world you can’t get too much training, it’s the role of parent for first timers. On Wednesday, The Regional Office of Education #3 Learning Express Program is hosting the First Annual Montgomery County Baby Shower at the Hillsboro Moose Lodge from 10:00am - 2:00pm. Our goal is to provide a one stop shop for expecting mothers and families with young children so they have access to the community resources and services available to them. This will also serve as a great educational experience for parents, as there will be agencies there discussing some important topics. The ROE#3 Learning Express Program is a birth to three home visiting program. We provide weekly in-home visits where we share and discuss developmentally appropriate activities and topics; offer information, support, and encouragement; assist in setting and meeting goals; and prepare the family and child for the transition to a 3 to 5 year old program. We also host monthly group connections, which offers educational activities, family fun, and the chance to meet other Learning Express families. Another added benefit of our program is that we deliver free developmental screenings and help connect our families to local community resources.
We will be promoting our program at this Community Baby Shower, and we are asking other local community agencies to do the same! We will be donating a "At Home Library Starter Kit" and a diaper bag with goodies inside of it as a door prize. We will also be providing a light healthy snack and refreshment, "grab and go" style. Some of the other agencies we have joining us are:
-
Sara Burris from St. Francis Hospital - She will be promoting car seat and prenatal education. They have kindly donated a car seat and a bag of baby items (diapers, wipes, books, onesies, etc).
-
SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) of Illinois - Nancy Maruyama, Executive Director, has kindly donated a Cribette, infant kimonos, and educational materials for us to hand out. The infant kimonos are in goodie bags for attendees to take as they please. The Cribette will be a door prize.
-
Rachel Walker, IDOT Traffic Safety Liaison - She will be discussing the importance of car seat safety.
-
Lighthouse Pregnancy & Health Services - They will be showcasing their brand new Mobile Medical Unit, which allows them to provide free and confidential ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, and STI testing while on the road.
-
Community Child Care Connections will have representatives discussing how they can help families locate child care and in some cases, reimburse them for the cost.
-
CEFS Head Start - Promoting their birth-three home visiting program
-
Coffeen First Steps - Promoting their birth-three program
-
LLCC - They will be discussing adult education programs and they will have PLINKO for giveaways at their table
-
Central Illinois Public Transit - They will be answering FAQs and promoting their services!
-
Fusion
Here is the link to the event on Facebook. I have posted some photos of the door prizes that we have so far! https://fb.me/e/1fUFkb34T
