A Parent Gets Child Care Support: A mother of a five-year-old and twin toddlers who attend the Family Focus Child Care Center suddenly found herself as the sole provider for her children. She needed to work to support her children, but could not afford the parent fee that she was required to pay for child care. The majority of the child care costs were covered through state subsidies; the remaining parent fee was covered by United Way funds.
A Family Helped Following A Tragedy: A parent writes, "On June 5th, 2004, our son drowned at our home. The devastation has been beyond words. Our primary concern, however, was for our 4-year old daughter. She and our son were 16 months apart in age, and literally inseparable. We searched for a solution, and were informed about the Enrichment Center at the YMCA in Bath. Due to our horrible tragedy, finances were tight, and we were even granted a scholarship from the YMCA so that our daughter might attend; we were elated. The Y staff's attentiveness and concern helped us in aiding our daughter in her time of stress and grief. This program, without question, has definitely saved our daughter, and by extension, our entire family."
Parents and Children Get Excited About Reading Together: The mother of a kindergarten student at Huse School in Bath had never been to the Patten Free Library nor did she know where it was. She participated in the library tour as part of Tri-County Literacy Volunteers' Read With Me Family Literacy Program at which time she got cards for herself and her child. She has since expressed her enormous enthusiasm about the library to other members of the parent group. A father at the Northern Lincoln County Head Start Center in North Whitefield, who attend Read With Me while his wife works, did not know about the Gibbs Library in Washington before the Read With Me tour. He has returned many times, checking out books for himself and his son. He announced with pride and amazement at a parent session that the librarians now know him and welcome him warmly.
A New Mother Finds Support To Help Her Son Be Ready For Kindergarten: In September of 2001, a new mother named Julie contacted Healthy Kids in Damariscotta shortly after the birth of her son, Ben. Julie had an extremely traumatic birth experience and her son required several surgeries after birth. When she first called Healthy Kids, Julie was feeling isolated, overwhelmed and very depressed. Her dreams of parenthood were not working out the way she had planned. Healthy Kids immediately connected her with a home visitor who was able to support Julie in her new role as Mom. Julie and Ben received bi-weekly home visits for over two years. It was during this time that Julie's home visitor started to notice that Ben was showing signs of delays in speech, as well as fine and gross motor skills. The home visitor broached the subject with Julie, but neither she nor her husband wanted to have Ben tested for possible delays. They had already been through so much medical trauma. It was after Julie attended a playgroup with other children Ben's age that she started to ask more questions and open up the idea of testing. Ben is now receiving regular speech, occupational and physical therapy. His speech has improved dramatically even the past few weeks, and Julie now comes to playgroup with a much more confident smile and relaxed demeanor. She has the answers she was looking for and knows that Ben will catch-up before he enters kindergarten.
