Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana is excited to announce the receipt of a $40,000 grant from Early Learning Indiana’s Come Back Stronger Fund, supported by Lilly Endowment, which was created to reinforce Indiana’s supply of high-quality early learning opportunities, especially for the state’s most vulnerable children. 

Though it has been around for as long as mothers have fed their children, for first-time mothers, breastfeeding is a very new, emotional and sometimes challenging experience that mom and baby have to work through together. That is where the skill and expertise of a Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) Nurse can be a huge benefit to both mom and baby. 

Goodwill’s Nurse-Family Partnership currently includes over 60 nurses and nurse supervisors who serve at-risk women and their families across 29 central and southern Indiana counties. When first implemented in 2011, there was a single team of eight nurses who served families living in Marion county. Marilynn Berry-Stamm was the first nurse to join that team. 

The past few weeks have been difficult for the entire nation. Indiana, especially, has been tested like no other time in recent memory as our state continues to observe stay-at-home orders and practice social distancing. While this has certainly been challenging, individuals across the state are doing the right things to flatten the curve, beat COVID-19 and save lives.

Being a first-time mom can be so many things — stressful, nerve-wracking, terrifying — the list goes on. For Laketta Booker, 26, it was all of those things until she enrolled in Goodwill's Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP)® and met her nurse, Ketta Mason.

Launched in 2011, Goodwill’s Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) program pairs first-time, low-income moms with a registered nurse who makes home visits through pregnancy and up until a child’s second birthday. In February 2020, we celebrated 3,000 babies born as part of the program, along with families like the Deahls, whose lives were changed significantly after the arrival of their son, Allistor.

Goodwill’s Nurse-Family Partnership® (NFP) pairs first-time mothers with a registered nurse for ongoing home visits aimed at providing the best start for their children during the earliest, most developmentally critical years. NFP is an international, community health program, widely researched and recognized for increasing health care access and improving health outcomes.

Martha Bess has always had a love of learning, but personal barriers prevented her from finishing high school as a teenager. She married at 14 years old and started her own family, which grew to include six children. Over 20 years later, she began working with her church’s homeschool co-op, where her children attended, and soon discovered her own love of teaching. To advance her career and to continue to set a good example for her children, she knew she would need a high school diploma.

Growing up, Katie Reigelsperger had little support from her parents, who struggled with substance abuse. Over the years, Katie was in and out of the foster care system and struggled to find the stability and guidance that she needed to make healthy choices. Then, at the age of 13, she found out she was pregnant.

This fall, Goodwill TalentSource® hosted a job fair for Nurse-Family Partnership® participants and their families. TalentSource helps individuals advance their skills through training, coaching and certifications, as well as prepares candidates for placement in fields such as healthcare, manufacturing and IT. Nurse-Family Partnership pairs first-time, low-income mothers with a registered nurse to support a healthy pregnancy and beyond.