Gift of Life’s Nurse-Family Partnership was recognized with $112,000 in funding from the Children's Trust Fund of Alabama for its work to prevent child abuse and neglect in our community. GOL Executive Director Regina Traylor joined directors and program leaders from community organizations serving families in Districts 2,3,4, and 5 of the state who received a share of more than $6.4 million in grant funding. Grantees are recognized for work that provides education, training, and community resources that build strong families, reduce neglect and keep children safer.
MONTGOMERY, AL — One in three families in communities like Montgomery across the country will struggle to provide enough diapers to keep their baby clean, dry and healthy, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A family is considered to be experiencing diaper need when they don’t have enough diapers to adequately change their baby at healthy intervals.
To address this need, Gift of Life Foundation (GOL) will hold its Operation Christmas Bottoms Diaper and Baby Wipes Drive. The annual event supports GOL families who need diaper assistance, and this year, GOL is teaming up with Cumulus Broadcasting to launch the drive with a live radio remote on Friday, November 10 from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Gift of Life office located at 1348 Carmichael Way.
According to the National Diaper Bank Network, the average baby can use up to 12 diapers a day, which can cost a family up to $150 a month or roughly $1,800 a year. That can be tough for a family whose income meets the federal poverty guidelines.
“Low-income, working families who receive federal assistance programs like SNAP or WIC can use that support to help with the rising cost of food that we’re all experiencing. But those safety net programs are not set up to provide assistance with diapers,” said Mona Davis, GOL Marketing & Community Outreach Director.
“Babies who don’t have enough diapers face more health risks. Because moms or dads might try to stretch their diaper supply by leaving a baby in a diaper a little longer than they normally would, it increases baby’s risk of having diaper rashes and urinary tract infections,” she said.
The diapers and baby wipes collected during Operation Christmas Bottoms help Gift of Life families in nine Alabama counties who may experience a temporary diaper need at some point during the year. It decreases the stress parents might feel from having to miss work and keep their baby out of daycare due to a lack of diapers or having to decide to forgo household bills or necessities because they need money to buy diapers.
Those who would like to donate at the kick-off event can come to the GOL office and drop off new packs of diapers and baby wipes. Operation Christmas Bottoms will run through December 18 and diapers and wipes will be accepted at the office Monday-Friday from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
For more information, call (334) 399-0158 or visit https://golfound.org/operation-christmas-bottoms
Join us for a Candlelight Memorial in honor of International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day on October 15, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. on the grounds of the Baptist Health Deboer Building, 301 Brown Springs Road, Montgomery, AL across from the post office. Anyone who has lost a pregnancy, infant or a loved one who died in childbirth are invited to attend. We will honor them with a special bell ringing and recitation of their names, and celebrate their lives through readings and music culminating with the lighting of candles at 7 p.m. in unity with those all around the world who have shared this experience. Those who would like to share their experience will be given space to do so at the event. LED candles will be provided. For more information, call Mona Davis at (334) 399-0158 or visit the Gift of Life Foundation at www.golfound.org.
Join us for our 2023 Virtual Graduation Program on July 14, 2023, at 11 a.m. Watch with us as we celebrate the achievements of more than 120 Gift of Life moms, dads, and babies who will be graduating from our programs live on Youtube (The Gift of Life-MGM) and Facebook @ GOLFound. You won't want to miss it!
MEET OUR 2023 GRADUATES/WATCH OUR PROGRAM https://golfound.org/2023-virtual-graduation
Join us for our "Pregnancy and Beyond" mini-conference on September 15 from 8 a.m to 3 p.m. on the campus of Trenholm Community College- Patterson Campus, 3920 Troy Highway, Montgomery, AL 36116.
This event is designed to help expectant moms and dads and parents and caregivers of a child under age 2 learn some important steps they need to take early in their pregnancy to reduce the risk of pregnancy and infant loss, plus practical tools like insurance options, the importance of breastfeeding and practicing safe sleep, how dads can support pregnant moms, mental health before, during and after pregnancy, and how stressors that can negatively impact pregnancy. THE EVENT IS FREE. REGISTER HERE.
Alabama News Network and Air Now Home Services selected Gift of Life as its charity of the month for its 3 Degree Guarantee Program. Alabama News Network and Air Now have teamed up to highlight the work of local non-profits and charities by raising money through a weather contest that gives viewers an opportunity to guess the correct temperature of the day within 3 degrees. GOL Executive Director Dr. Regina Traylor was presented a check for $1,400 yesterday at the station. Thank you Air Now and Alabama News Network for supporting the work we do to reduce infant and maternal mortality and build a healthier Central Alabama one family at a time!
Join us as we celebrate our graduates at our upcoming virtual graduation program on June 23, 2022 at 11 a.m. live on Gift of Life’s Facebook and Youtube channels. GOL will recognize the achievements of more than 100 program participants and our 2022 Resilience Award winners.
Gift of Life Foundation in partnership with the Alabama Department of Public Health will hold a free drive-thru vaccination clinic on March 11, 2022, from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. at 1348 Carmichael Way, Montgomery, AL 36106. The clinic is for anyone who needs the first or second dose or booster of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. Insurance is not required and there is no cost. Participants are asked to bring their vaccination card. Vaccines will be given by appointment and those who call (334) 273-3073 to schedule an appointment and receive their vaccine or booster will receive a $25 gift card at the clinic. For more information, go to www.golfound.org.
CALL (334) 273-3073 to schedule your vaccine. You must schedule AND receive the vaccine at the clinic to receive the $25 gift card.
November 30, 2021 is Giving Tuesday and you can support Gift of Life’s work by making a donation through the DONATE button on our website at golfound.org. Your donation helps fund items for our families or supports program needs that aren’t covered by our grants. To learn more about our work, explore our website.
Daniel Foundation Awards Gift of Life $225K To Improve Pregnancy Outcomes for First-time Moms
MONTGOMERY, AL -The Daniel Foundation has awarded The Gift of Life Foundation (GOL) a $225,000 grant to improve pregnancy outcomes for first-time mothers.
The Daniel Foundation of Alabama’s mission is to strengthen communities within Alabama and improve the quality of life for citizens —including its youngest citizens — who will benefit from the services Gift of Life provides.
“Infant mortality and health disparity create rippling effects that impact all facets of our community,” said GOL Executive Director Dr. Regina Traylor. From education and economic development, to the quality of life; when mothers and babies are not healthy, then our communities are not healthy,” she said.
“This funding will help us provide the critical support first-time pregnant women and their babies need to improve their health, become more resilient, and to set parenting and life goals and achieve them.”
Gift of Life will receive $75,000 per year over a period of three years to support its Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP). NFP is an evidence-based, community health program where Nurse Home Visitors provide support and education to first-time pregnant moms in their homes prenatally and after baby is born until they reach age 2. GOL’s NFP program also works with moms to decrease substance use, improve economic self-sufficiency, reduce subsequent unintended pregnancies, reduce child abuse and neglect, and improve a child’s school readiness.
Traylor said the Daniel Foundation has been an excellent partner in GOL’s effort to improve pregnancy outcomes in Alabama, which historically has had higher rates of infant and maternal mortality, than the national average.
“Gift of Life has been consistently working with others across the state to implement the interventions needed to reduce infant deaths for more than 30years,” she said. “We are so thrilled to have that work recognized with this grant from the Daniel Foundation. They understand the importance of investing in the health of Alabama’s women and children.”
For more information about the Daniel Foundation, visit www.danielfoundationofalabama.com.
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ABOUT GIFT OF LIFE FOUNDATION: Since 1988, Gift of Life Foundation (GOL) has worked to decrease infant mortality in through programs that empower women to reduce the challenges they face that threaten their health and prevent a healthy birth outcome. Reducing those challenges helps children survive infancy, lower complications related to low birth weight and decrease child abuse and neglect. Our parent educators, mobile family coaches and registered nurses work with first-time and parenting moms and dads to develop effective parenting skills and connect them to community resources that help them increase self-sufficiency.
