This spring, the Westside Family Health Center (WFHC) waiting room filled up, not with patients waiting to be seen, but with several women from the Pacific Palisades bringing stacks and stacks of handmade baby blankets.
The Blankie Brigade, started by WFHC supporter Cecilia Peck, met over several months to make as many blankets as possible for WFHC patients. Blankets were knitted, felted, crocheted, tied and quilted with all with different colors, sizes and patterns and each blanket came complete with a "Made with Love" tag. When all was said and done, 20 women became involved with the project, spending over 500 hours and making almost 30 blankets for moms in WFHC's Blooming Babies Prenatal Program and Strong Start Pediatrics Program to choose from.
Blooming Babies provides pregnant women with comprehensive prenatal care, including childbirth preparation classes and lactation counseling and support, complete with individualized attention and goal-setting. Strong Start provides sick-child exams and well-child checkups, school-readiness physicals, recommended immunizations, screenings for lead poisoning, hearing and vision tests, books as part of WFHC's pediatric literacy program, and Mother-Infant Groups.
Most of the patients at WFHC are low-income and over half have no health insurance.
"Providing a warm, soft blanket to our littlest patients is just one more way to help pregnant women and new moms during a joyful — but also a stressful — time," said Debra A. Farmer, WFHC's President/Chief Executive Officer. "But WFHC can't do it without volunteers like the Blankie Brigade."
If you would like to volunteer for Westside Family Health Center, contact volunteers@wfhcenter.org. If you would like to donate money or services, contact cbernstein@wfhcenter.org. If you need an appointment for primary medical care, call (310) 450-2191.
