401 Gives Campaign Raising Funds for Babies in Need
FSRI Raising Funds for RI Babies in Need
PROVIDENCE, RI– Last January, newborn Maia Leate arrived home from the hospital with her mother, but just three days later her mother, Fabiola, began feeling ill. Hearing the weakness in her mother’s voice during a referral call, Maia’s FSRI First Connections nurse urged her mother to call her doctor. Just hours later, Maia’s mother was lying in the ICU with Covid Pneumonia, unexpectedly leaving Maia in the care of her elderly grandmother for three weeks.
Because Maia and her mother had been referred to First Connections, nurse Deb Quinton was able to step in to support Maia and her grandmother with at-home visits during this stressful time, weighing and tracking Maia’s progress, coordinating with her pediatrician, offering her grandmother expert support, getting in touch with WIC, and providing the formula and diapers she needed as Fabiola recovered.
“She was extremely helpful,” Fabiola Leate said of Quinton’s support.
“It’s almost like a blessing that I got put into the right place at the right time for Fabiola and Maia,” Quinton said.
FSRI’s goal is to provide 500 at-risk babies with any necessary resources they need to grow and thrive by raising money for their early childhood programs. Donations will help our most vulnerable Rhode Islanders get the head start they need to reach their full potential.
Last year Family Service of Rhode Island (FSRI) received nearly 3,000 referrals for early childhood services for at-risk newborns and kids in the Greater Providence area like Maia, and the number has outpaced funding for these programs, putting babies’ lives at risk.
Funds raised during 401 Gives on Friday, April 1st go directly to providing vulnerable caregivers, newborns, and toddlers with continued support from a team of educators, social workers, nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, nutritionists, and interpreters that serve vulnerable newborns and kids.
