“She Lifts Me Up”: A New Mom Finds Strength in Home Visiting
“When I first got pregnant, I was so scared … didn’t know what to do.”
Like many first-time mothers, Eniya was nervous about bringing a child into the world. She already had her own personal struggles, and now there were all these questions about caring for a newborn. But when she gave birth at Antelope Valley Hospital in northern L.A. County, she learned that free home visiting services were available to her. She signed up at the hospital, even though she felt some trepidation about having a stranger come to her home.
But when Alisha showed up for their first visit, Eniya could see she was there to help, and she felt comfortable enough to ask her back. Eventually, “it was like talking to a best friend,” Eniya says about Alisha, who works with Child and Family Guidance Center in Palmdale. (Read a profile of Alisha.)
The home visiting program taught Eniya many useful things about caring for her daughter, but also helped her manage stress and deal with her personal struggles.
This is Eniya’s home visiting story:
Eniya’s story is just one of many that tell the benefits families receive when they enroll in home visiting services.
Child and Family Guidance Center is one of many agencies in the Family Strengthening Network, a First 5 LA-funded network of agencies and hospitals that provide free home visiting services to families throughout Los Angeles County. In the 2017-18 fiscal year, 15,876 families received these services.
For a directory of home visiting programs available in L.A. County, visit eDirectory.HomeVisitingLA.org.