Providing Hope One Layette At A Time

Featured Photo: Global News

In this spotlight feature, we interviewed Shannon Stewart, the founder of Basically Babies. Her organization has been around for 32 years, and when asked about how Basically Babies was created, she said, “It started with a young group of moms with brand new babies.” Their group recognized how many things are needed for babies, and that they had an excess of them. “We wanted to give back and help mothers who didn’t have much. We started creating what we called, at that time, baby bundles. We had some friends who were obstetricians and pediatricians in the city, and when they would come across one of their patients that they felt would be in need, they would let us know, and we would make sure that they received one of our baby bundles.” Back then, their group of friends supported around 10 to 15 families each year. Basically Babies continues to grow and now serves between 1000 to 1200 families each year.

What is the core mission of Basically Babies, and who do you primarily serve or support?

“Our whole mandate is to serve extreme need families by providing a layette that will supply their baby's needs for one full year. So we accept up to size 24 months in terms of our program. We work with 140 different agencies across Edmonton and Calgary that are working with these families on what we call kind of a long-term life skill building basis. So whatever got them to the situation where they're currently in a spot where they're really not able to support this infant, these are the things the other agencies are working on. It could be employment, education, health care, legal issues, or cross-cultural issues. Our job is to help the families [with their babies] at a time of pretty enormous stress, and that way it frees up some of their resources to be able to do other things that they need to do to get their lives where they want them to be.”

For someone who has never heard of the Layette Program, can you explain what it is and why it’s so important for families?

“We gather gently used items and some new items [provided by the public and corporations] that are in excellent condition. We warehouse them in our inventory [and create layettes]. A layette is seven layers, and everything mixes and matches. It’s not just about fashion, although that's important. It's also about really giving the most to them in terms of where they can match lots of different things, and it gives them more value out of the layette. If we were to buy everything new in the layette, it would be well over $1,600, and we're making them for about just over $400 each. [Each layette] will include everything from winter and summer clothing items, snow suits, jackets, sweaters, socks, shoes, blankets, toys, books, bath supplies, and kind of everything that they might need. We have an online, custom [system] where our requesters can go online. [Our workers] identify a family that requests one of the layettes, they give us a description of the circumstances, and then a committee reviews that. Then we make sure that they are out right away.”

“We put large sizes in, and quite often they're able to use them for maybe other children. So if they have an older child, they're able to use some of the older clothes. The books are used in so many different ways. One of the things that we learned, and it wasn't really our intent, but it's great, is that we put four or five books in each one, and what we find is that a lot of families are using those simple books to learn English and teach English. That wasn't something that we ever anticipated, and it's just a great sidebar, but we really feel that's important. The books [and toys] that we put in [also benefit] the older children. Again, that's not necessarily the intent, but certainly it's a side benefit. We've also heard so many times that the contents of the layettes, once the family is done with them, particularly if they're in a multicultural situation where they're spending time with other people from their own cultures, they pass the items around so they get used a lot, and we're grateful.”

Can you describe the typical process for creating a layette basket?

“We make them seasonally. So we make spring, summer, fall, and winter, boy and girl. So we make eight different versions of the layettes. We're starting to give out our fall layettes. The fall layettes would have small snowsuits and smaller fall and winter clothes, and then bigger into next summer, and then bigger again into the following winter. When we put together the layettes, we have what we call pull sheets, and they list all of the items that need to go into those fall layettes. We have people who are like pickers, and they go through the warehouse, and choose all of the items that are in a color combination that will go into that layette for that maybe fall boy. All of the 110 items are put into a basket, and everything is checked, double checked, then it all goes into the laundry. [When the clothes] come out of the laundry, it gets laid out on a table, ironed and assembled and packaged up. So to make one [layette] in total, there could be dozens of people involved in it in some different way, because it's not one person that goes through and does all those steps. It's teams of volunteers that do pieces of the steps and one layette takes about 8 hours to create.”

“The assembly is really important, because we really want these to look immaculate. We could give somebody a heap of used items in a garbage bag, and that might be helpful, but we find that it's really important to show some hope and some dignity. When they receive one of these beautiful, color coordinated layettes that's all packaged up like a huge shower gift, it really makes a difference in how they feel about looking after their baby and sometimes even about being in public with their baby or different things because they didn't feel ready, and now they can confidently go knowing one little thing is being looked after. It's really important that all of our staff and all of our volunteers are taught that quality is absolutely essential.”

Can you share a recent story of how a layette made a difference for a family?

“I would say probably 90 to 95% [of who we support are] young moms. The odd time we’ll have a young dad. One day, a younger man came, maybe mid 20s, late 20s, into our office, and he had a little girl with him, and he was going to donate some items to our program. We said, thank you so much and we always say, how did you hear about us? We chatted with them, and asked if they wanted a tour. He says, well actually, I received one of your layettes for my daughter when she was an infant. She's nine now, and we kept the little tag in her drawer for all of these years. We always said that whenever we got a chance, when we were in a position that we could donate back, we would. So we gathered a bunch of items, and we're donating them back to you. It was just such a such a moment of community, helping community, [which is the whole point of this all]. To have at the time was a very young, single dad with a totally brand new infant on his own. That's a tough go. He would have been in his early 20s, late teens, maybe. Then he came back to donate, and he wanted to show his daughter how they could be helpful to the next person. We just love that.”

What types of volunteer roles are available, and what kind of tasks might someone expect to do?

“We are always looking for great volunteers and we provide training. We have a very immaculate warehouse, and everything is in order, and there's a system to everything and a process to everything. People that are organized and efficient absolutely love it. They just can't get enough of being in the warehouse. So they might be sorting donations, they might be sizing donations. They might be laundering, restocking our inventory, ironing, assembling, or whatever the task at hand is. There's usually a little bit of a progression, because we want people to fully understand the inventory before we move into lots of other things.” 

How do you help volunteers feel like they are part of a community and not just “helping out”?

“One of the really important things is our volunteers get engaged with each other and with our staff so that they they're well trained. We have little events that we do for them. We always have a big Christmas party. We make sure there's a fall kickoff. We do volunteer service awards. We ensure that every time they leave the office or the warehouse, they're thanked. Sometimes we'll bring treats, coffee or popsicles. Not every single week, but on our big work nights, there's always a good supper involved. [Also] volunteers don't get to directly see the families. So it's really important that we communicate some of the stories that we hear from the workers. I think it's important that we tell the stories that we receive to our volunteers so it helps them connect.”

If someone is thinking about volunteering but is unsure, what would you say to encourage them to take that first step?

“It’s meaningful work in the sense that you’re helping someone immediately in a way that provides hope and dignity. We’re caring for the tiniest infants in the community.”

Thanks for reading our NFP Feature! We’re here to shine a light on Edmonton’s not-for-profit sector and help students discover new ways to get involved. Have questions, ideas, or an organization you think we should feature?

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