Five years ago, Amanda Wohlford found herself pregnant, homeless and on her own. She was 24 years old, couch-surfing and in and out of a relationship with the father.
"I was so emotional I didn't want to be pregnant," she told the NOW. "I was always depressed, I was always upset."
She heard about Burnaby Family Life's pregnancy outreach program through a friend and joined the group in New Westminster.
Wohlford attended the weekly sessions, learned about proper nutrition and what to expect after giving birth.
When her son was born, Wohlford cried a lot and didn't sleep much because he had trouble latching while breastfeeding. Through the pregnancy outreach program, a public health nurse would sit by her side and tell her to breathe, relax and try again - everything was going to be OK.
"They just listened. When I cried, they comforted and listened, and that helps a lot when you don't have anyone," she says.
Even after she graduated from the program, when her son was six months old, Burnaby Family Life still helped. Her child was banging his head and suffering from nightmares. Wohlford would show up at the group in tears, not knowing what to do.
It turned out her son has autism, and Wohlford is convinced she was able to get him diagnosed early because of what she learned through the group about childhood development. Again, Burnaby Family Life helped with the paperwork, since she struggles with reading and writing. They also helped her get into B.C. Housing's rental assistance program, and she now lives in Burnaby.
"They never shut the door on me. I would go in there crying and upset, and they would sit me down and tell me what to do," she says. "All that information they gave me, I don't know where I would be without it."
A couple of years ago, Wohlford started volunteering with the New West group and now helps other women with similar experiences.
The pregnancy outreach program is for the most vulnerable women who are pregnant or have new babies. The moms may be struggling with English or literacy, they are most often poor or isolated, suffering from depression, abuse or even homelessness.
The program runs weekly support groups in Burnaby at the Edmonds Resource Centre and New Westminster at the Olivet Baptist Church. Women who attend get a nutritious lunch, an hour-long education session on things like nutrition, the importance of breast feeding, infant care and the effects of substance abuse on babies, both pre and post natal. There's also one-on-one counselling from an outreach worker, dietician or public health nurse. They also receive bus tickets, gift cards for groceries, vitamins and organic produce. The babies are weighed, and there's child care available for older siblings. Everything is free for the women who attend.
The program cost $313,000 to run last year. The women stay in the program till their babies are six months old. It's funded through the Public Health Agency of Canada, Fraser Health and the CKNW Orphans' Fund. The Burnaby Food First Committee also contributed some money.
But the funding is still not enough to meet demand. Last year, Burnaby Family Life turned away 58 women because there wasn't enough money to help them.
"Essentially, (they) didn't get the intense support that all the other women got in the pregnancy outreach program," said Michel Pouliot executive director with Burnaby Family Life.
Burnaby Family Life had $3.7 million in revenue last year, and only $57,581 left after total operating expenses.
"We're always having to subsidize the program," Pouliot said. "As a whole, we're not able to continue to subsidize programs all the time, and our budgets are getting tighter every year."
Pouliot said the group wants to provide more services to women and expand in the North Burnaby area, because there's demand there, too.
Burnaby Family Life launched a FundAid campaign with Glacier Media, the Burnaby NOW's parent company.
Burnaby Family Life is hoping to raise $20,000 to help the program. On Day 10, they had raised $2,500 online, with another $1,500 in offline donations - but there's still $16,000 to go.
How to donate:
- Go to www.fundaid.ca/burnabyfamilies and click on the Contribute button.
- $25: Provides food coupons for healthy milk and food supplements.
- $50: Provides a healthy lunch for all the women in one of the programs.
- $75: Provides five women in the program with essential vitamins to maintain the health of their babies.
- $100: Provides the services of a dietitian to help the women in a program learn about and maintain healthy eating habits throughout their pregnancy.
- $1,600: Covers the cost for one woman to attend the entire program.
