Video: My #HomeVisiting Experience: Araceli and Yani

Araceli, a mother of three, says things are different now.

When she had her son 13 years ago she didn’t know how important it was to read and talk to a baby. She was busy, and she regrets not making time to play and interact with him. “He has suffered some consequences because of that,” she says.

When she gave birth to her third child, Araceli learned about home visiting. And that, she says, has made her a better parent.

She delivered at Citrus Valley – Queen of the Valley Hospital — one of 14 “Welcome Baby” hospitals in L.A. County — which connected her to Foothill Family’s free home visiting services.

Araceli says she learns something new at each visit with her Family Support Specialist, Yani Cardoza. Sometimes it’s about child development, sometimes it’s an activity that she can do with her kids. She says the program even helped her keep her kids safe in their car seats. (Hear her tell that story in the video.)

Now, she says, every day “before bedtime I tell them, ‘Let’s read a book!'” Sometimes her daughter beats her to it: “Mommy, aren’t you going to read to me?” And the answer is always the same: “Of course!”