Jack’s Basket Expands Nationally to Provide Local Parent Support
As we start February, we are excited to share that we will celebrate our 2,000th baby this month. Just a little over 5 years ago, the idea of celebrating Jack’s 1st birthday with a basket for a new family was just that, an idea. What we discovered was a need, as many families left the hospital without a congratulations, no resources or connection to the community; meeting the need became a passion. The work began in Minnesota, reaching medical providers that were at a loss for what would be the best encouragement to new families. After many meetings with healthcare providers to build awareness about our baskets, the requests for Jack’s Basket started coming in…all over the world. Celebrating the birth, congratulating the parents, and connecting them with a local parent and a link to the supportive programs became available to caring providers.
This past fall, Jack’s Basket launched our expansion plan. After numerous requests to bring the program to other areas around the US, we were able to create, plan, and implement the program to provide Jack’s Basket Region Lead Parents and Basket Delivery Parents. We’ve created a training portal, videos, and materials that make the program successful for this parent led program across the USA. We’ve established partnerships with local Down syndrome organizations that provide support to families for a lifetime, by training their local parent(s) to reach the providers that care for new families.
*Regional Lead Parents/Basket Delivery Parents and/or local Ds Organization Partnerships
Also in 2020, our medical outreach committee of healthcare clinicians and parents will be traveling around the US presenting our Grand Rounds presentation on provider bias when sharing unexpected news. Jack’s Basket has empowered providers by creating strategies to use when sharing the news with new families. Changing the experience at the time of the diagnosis directly impacts families and we are excited about the work we are doing in the healthcare community.
If you are a provider, parent, or Down syndrome organization and wanting to learn more about bringing the Jack’s Basket program to your area, please visit www.jacksbasket.org/volunteer. Applications for Regional Lead Parents or Basket Delivery Parents and other information can be found at that link.
Our vision that every baby uniquely created with Down syndrome would be welcomed, their family congratulated and connected to the supportive community, and provided the resources that are available to them is something we are working hard at. With our national expansion plan, we believe that vision will be a reality. Find out more at www.jacksbasket.org
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