>> Announcer: Legacy Foundation is Lake County's Community Foundation.

For over 30 years, we've partnered with donors and non-profits focusing on youth development, the arts, the environment, health, literacy, and other causes that matter to you.

We're committed to Lake County forever.

(bright music) First Things first Porter County is dedicated to supporting families, healthy beginnings, and quality early learning, ensuring every Porter County baby is born prepared for a strong start in life.

Learn more at FirstThingsPC.org.

(upbeat music) >> I have a very strong connection to other students.

Everyone makes an effort to help each other.

I'll remember the feeling of being here, the feeling that I was a part of a family.

(upbeat music) >> Narrator: Routine visits with a pediatrician are vital to a child's development.

That's why at North Shore Health Centers, pediatricians provide quality care to every child every time, ensuring that your child is reaching their developmental milestones and are up to date on their vaccines.

Learn more at NorthshoreHealth.org.

>> Speaker: Doing as much as you can as quickly as you can is important to me.

Life is short, and the earlier we get started helping our community, the better off our community will be.

(bouncy music) >> Announcer: Additional support for Building Blocks is provided generously by Tom Sourlis and Sue Eleuterio, as well as Porter County Community Foundation, serving Porter County since 1996.

Additional support for local programming and Lakeshore Public Media is provided by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Dr. Mary Jane Eisenhower hosts candid conversation with local experts, practitioners, and policy makers, bringing focus to ways we can support our youngest citizens.

Find the Building Blocks podcast library at BuildingBlocksInfo.org.

(bubbly music) >> And I, believe it or not, remembered there was numbers to call.

Went downstairs, grabbed my little folder from my discharge nurse, and called the postpartum National Support Hotline for anxiety.

And just got a very calm voice on the other end.

Just talked me down.

>> Wow.

>> And just said, you just need to make it through tonight, and we'll just do it one night at a time.

And I just felt so much better.

It was not a cure by any means, but just felt so much better for just that little amount of time.

It let me regain myself a little bit, and that's when I decided to seek some more consistent professional help.

>> Sure, but in that moment, to have that resource to be able to pick up the phone and hear a warm, non-judgmental, compassionate voice on the other end.

>> And I wasn't expecting answers from this person either.

And they were just there to listen and to just tell me it's hard.

It's very, very, very hard, and that what you're feeling is not strange, and the intensity makes sense.

And so it was really comforting.

(bubbly music) >> We keep using the word resource.

And that's kind of a catchall term, isn't it?

It means a lot of different things to different people.

When you think of resources, what comes to mind?

>> Help, assistance, guidance, support, whatever it is that's going to help alleviate whatever their situation is.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah.

>> There is a lot out there.

We often say that we have, you know, we're resource rich, but systems limited.

There's just not one way to find that pathway to the help that you might need.

And every family needs something different.

>> Yeah.

>> And let's be real, like every family needs something.

>> Yes.

>> So you say you're a parent yourself.

You were a young mom.

What are some of the resources that you know about now that you wish you had known about when you had little ones?

>> There is diaper assistance.

There is daycare assistance.

You know, there is just emotional support.

There are mom groups.

There's groups for your children, playgroups.

There's lines that you can call or apps that you can just download to check your child's milestones.

And a lot of those things I didn't really know existed.

Sometimes you feel like you're just trucking through, you know, and yeah.

>> It can be pretty lonely.

>> Yeah, yeah.

>> Do you see that changing at all for families now?

>> I hope so.

I think that's the ultimate goal, to really reach as many, if not all of the families, to let them know that we're here and what we're here for.

Because that can start before that baby's even born, and then carry on through.

And I really hope to just be able to gain those relationships with our community members, and our families, and their children, just so that they know who I am, and who Help Me Grow is, and what we're here for.

So that when they're experiencing something, they're like, I know who to call, and at the very least we can offer support, you know?

(bubbly music) >> Tell us a little bit about those services that you do provide for families and children.

>> Absolutely.

So as I said, about 80% of the work we do is in that early childhood space, early intervention and prevention.

So we are the organization locally that brings, for Lake County, we have the Healthy Families Program.

We do our Parents as Teachers program.

And then we have a specialty offset of our Parents as Teachers program called ETAP, or Empowering, sorry, Empowering Teens as Parents.

And so all three of those programs comprise our home visiting services.

We have a team of about 85 total employees.

About 55 of those employees are working in homes with families.

So I often tell visitors to our office, if you don't see anyone here, that means we're actually working, which is the opposite of what you would expect.

But they come in, and they dock, and they get their materials for the day, and they head out, and they work with families in homes.

And it's beautiful work.

And because of all the work we've done in this area, we are one of the largest home visiting agencies in the state of Indiana, which we're really proud of.

We serve anywhere from six to 700 families a year in home visiting.

And that small team of employees actually completes about 15,000 home visits a year.

So when people hear that number, that is really that point of understanding that we are deeply ingrained in the community and supporting families.

>> So you mentioned Families Connect with Mental Health America and your programs, whether that's Parents as Teachers, or Healthy Families, or the Teen Parenting program, in the hospital sometimes.

But what if that doesn't happen in the hospital?

What are the other ways that families might connect with you?

>> Well, there's the old fashioned way where they can absolutely just call us.

(Andrea laughs) So.

>> It is old fashioned.

>> It is old fashioned, right.

I'm showing my age.

No, they can certainly call us.

So we do receive referrals from different programs, like the WIC program, for example.

We are a referral source for them.

We have some relationships, and we are a grantee of some of the state programs and funding.

And so there's the My Healthy Baby Initiative in Indiana, and we are recipient of, in our area, referrals from there.

But I always tell people, if you think you might need help or you just wanna learn what it's about, give us a call.

We'll send someone out to meet with you in your home, or you can come in, or however you wanna do it.

And sometimes, you know, our team members will be out in the community socially, like with their families, and they'll meet someone and say, "Oh, you should hear about our program.

You just had a baby, you should-" You know?

And then they're like, "Come on in.

We have free resources."

And it's, there's no, you know, economically, we serve all sorts of households and all sorts of income levels.

And so, yeah, I think I like that old fashioned way where people can just pick up the phone and call us.

(bubbly music) >> Tell us about the work that you're doing right now with the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana.

>> Sure, so the mission of the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana is to feed people today and end hunger tomorrow by inspiring and collaborating with our community.

And I like to hone in on that, inspire and collaborate with our community, because that's really where the bread and butter of the work that we do in Lake and Porter counties come through.

So identifying ways that we can have an impact on bettering the lives of our friends and neighbors in Lake and Porter counties through nutrition.

And so I say that because oftentimes when people think about the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, they're thinking about maybe our mobile distributions where we're bringing a truck out to a sector of the community, or maybe they're thinking about our partner agencies, those food pantries, and soup kitchens, and community feeding areas that we are supporting.

We distribute about 8 million pounds of food every year and continue to grow that as the need continues to grow for emergency food supports.

But I wanna hone in on something.

We don't really think of ourselves as a charitable food organization.

We think of ourselves as a public health organization because we can't have a healthy community if we don't have proper nutrition.

>> I was reading recently that about 85% of deaths are related to nutrition related diseases.

So those things that underlying causes.

So talk a little bit about that food and that nutrition need that is so critical to our public health.

>> Yeah, so there's a few ways that we impact that at the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana.

We know that we are currently serving on average about 60,000 Lake and Porter County residents each and every month.

That's 60,000 people that are impacted by our programming.

And unfortunately, we all know this, right?

Calories are cheap.

It's really easy to get calories.

You can go to a corner store and get calories.

You can go anywhere in the region and get calories.

What's difficult to get is nutrition.

And so identifying ways that we can leverage USDA programs like the Emergency Food Assistance Program or the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which are bringing really nutrient dense products from American farmers to our communities is critical.

But aside from that, we also have Food as Medicine programming.

So we have specifically medically tailored grocery programs.

And our initial launch was to work with having an impact on infant and maternal health, primarily wanting to reduce the infant mortality rates in Lake and Porter counties.

We've got programs built for promoting better health in terms of heart disease.

And we have programs for diabetes.

And I'm really excited to mention this, that in the start of quarter one of 2025, we'll be partnering with the Lake County Health Department to do a medically informed box to promote mental health.

So we're really excited about this new partnership that we have.

Here's the challenge though, as we're talking about social determinants of health, is a lot of the families that are enrolled in a program like the Prenatal Assistance Program, they are struggling just to go see their doctor.

So being able to provide that food support right on site and not say, okay, we know you need some additional food supports.

Now go down the street here, or now go there when they might not be open, or family may be working two jobs or working shift work and just can't access that grocery support.

So we've received numerous feedback on how, one, the quality of the product, but two, that we make it easy to access this support.

And one of the really cool things we're doing with HealthLink and Valparaiso is we are one of the first food banks in the country to leverage automated refrigerated smart lockers.

And so our Valparaiso HealthLink project is a Food is Medicine project.

It's not necessarily geared towards infant maternal health.

That one's more geared towards heart disease and diabetes.

But it's a similar concept in a way that we can mitigate that transportation barrier and really provide that support when it's appropriate for the patient or our neighbor instead of saying, you need to come when we're open.

>> Of course.

Talk us through that process.

So storage, food locker, all of these things.

What does that look like?

How do people access that?

Give me the process of what that, how that happens.

>> Yeah.

Yeah, so it's called our Order Ahead Smart Lockers.

You can go to OrderAhead.org, and you can register online, and you can see which lockers in Northwest Indiana are available, and you schedule a day and time to pick up your groceries.

All of our lockers have different programs, but the easiest way to think about it is picture that automated locker you might see at a grocery store or a retailer to pick up maybe a distribution or something that was going to be shipped to you.

It's the same concept.

It's a locker system.

Ours are refrigerated.

And so when you enroll into program, you get a QR code or an alphanumeric code if you don't have a smartphone, and you just go up to the kiosk, scan your phone, it tells you Bay 12 is open, you open bay 12, pull out your groceries, close the door, off you go.

And so the advantage there is for our families that United Way would call an ALICE family, those asset limited, income constrained, employed.

What I like to say is folks who are working and are just struggling to get by, this is a great solution for those families.

Because again, they might be working two jobs.

They might be working shift work.

They might not be able to get to a mobile distribution or a food pantry when they're open.

But with the smart lockers, they get to pick when they're picking up their product.

So if that's at two in the morning, if it's at five in the morning, if it's at two in the afternoon, it's what's appropriate for their family.

>> That's, again, individualized, really thinking about the dignity of the family, dignity of the individual, what that family needs in that moment.

It's so empowering and so respectful.

(bubbly music) That's such important work.

And I know the occupassion that you have for that is really making a difference, not just for children, but also for those educators who are working so hard, and it is exhausting.

They're putting 10,000 steps on, and their voices are gone, and they're singing, and oftentimes considered babysitters.

And I wonder if you can respond to that notion of babysitting.

>> We do not sit on babies.

We do not sit on babies.

We are not, in our programs, you know, there are no televisions.

There is activity from the moment they walk in to the moment that they leave.

And so we do definitely have to change the mindset of the parent who is coming in and just thinking that it's not big Ma's house.

It's not grandma's house.

You know, this is not where you get to just do whatever you want.

We are a school, whether it's operating in a home or it's operating in a center.

It may not look like your traditional school setting as some facilities may not.

But work is happening inside those rooms, and teachers are invested, lesson plans are being done, documents are being taken, parent/teacher conferences are being had.

And so we are a school, and we're not sitting on babies.

We're developing babies.

We are growing babies.

We are implanting information that they need.

We are asking those open-ended questions.

You know, we are on the floor.

We are doing the work to make sure that their children hopefully have a better- I think my children are better off even now with the things that I knew, but hopefully we are giving them what they need to just be better at whoever they're designed to become.

(bubbly music) >> So I have a new baby.

What do I need to know about coming to Women, Infants, Children?

>> Oh, as a mom who used WIC twice, I'm a big fan of the WIC program.

So it starts at prenatal care.

Hopefully doctors are telling us that, "Hey, WIC is available for you."

WIC is a program where there's some eligibility requirements for that.

But if you are a single woman and you're pregnant, you can make $39,000 a year and qualify for WIC.

It really is a preventative nutritional program that gives your pregnant self and your future child the best beginning for nutrition and education for iron, and vitamin C, for a lot of different, breastfeeding even, pieces to give your child a healthy start.

So if you're pregnant and you go to your local WIC clinic, and they're all over Northwest Indiana.

We have 11 locations for moms to go to.

And if you go to that location, they help you out.

They do a screening.

They give you other supplements that you might need, talk to you about prenatal care, really give your pregnant self the strongest start for when you become a mom.

>> And we know, we know healthy moms make healthy babies.

>> Absolutely.

Absolutely.

And so for the WIC program, you come to these visits, and you're able to get like a debit card, right?

And you can have a debit card.

There's benefits on that.

You even can get fresh produce at farmer's markets in the season.

And then you meet a dietician, and you meet a registered nurse.

And the people that we have in the clinics just, they love babies, they love pregnant mamas, they love five year olds.

They really enjoy and understand how those beginnings, those first beginnings are so critical to set a whole path for a healthy life.

So you come to your appointment.

You get all the support that you need.

Between appointments, you can use your debit card and use that at different places to get nutrition and benefits.

And the biggest thing that we do in that first year is we offer formula for moms who aren't breastfeeding.

And if you are breastfeeding, which we are pro breastfeeding.

I should have worn my breastfeeding t-shirt today.

We're pro breastfeeding.

And so we help moms breastfeed and pump, but not all moms can do that.

So then we supplement with formula support, which is really helpful for the cost, right, for having a newborn.

And then when you get to about 12 months, that formula benefit, that is done.

That is no longer needed.

And now we're introducing a diaper benefit.

So this is our pilot.

This is our experience, our new grant that we're trying to increase our WIC mamas and families to use the WIC services beyond 12 months.

These services are good from zero to five.

What we find though, is around that 12 month mark, after that formula benefit goes away, or after maybe they stop breastfeeding, demands in life can sometimes outweigh the challenge to get to your WIC appointment.

And that's real.

>> That's life, yes.

>> So we found that if we can offer diapers, and we can do packs of 50, right?

So if you come to that 12 month visit, you can get 50 diapers when you get your check in for all the nutrition things and other supports that you might need.

And we're looking to do that even more frequently.

Are they toddlers at 12 months, Mary Jane?

>> No, almost.

If they're moving around, we call 'em toddlers.

>> Okay, so hit or miss there.

So the 12 month olds, you know, if they are pretty established, and they're healthy, and the weight looks great, well then they only need to come to the WIC clinic a couple times a year.

So we're trying to help our mamas that with those visits, you can have diapers at each visit.

We just started.

We've got lots of diapers, But you know what, we serve like 16,000 people a month.

So we wanna make sure that those diapers are available for all the moms that eligible.

So we're gonna assess that for these next couple months, and then see how many we really can give based on the shipments and the demands.

(bubbly music) >> Rachel, you mentioned First Steps, and I know that that's a big part of your professional obligation.

Tell us what is First Steps and how do families, why would families want to interact with First Steps?

>> First Steps is our state's early intervention.

We support kids from the day they're born till the day before their third birthday.

I'm gonna say that again.

We can start the day they're born.

We can offer supports for a range of concerns from eating concerns, sleeping concerns, mobility concerns, and communication is a very common one.

But families can find our website.

You can go to First- Well, just FirstSteps.org, talking with other moms and other trusted adults.

Moms and dads, trusted adults.

Many of our local pediatricians are becoming so much more aware and just kind of sharing like, "Hey, first Steps is out there."

But there's still work to do.

There are many families that when I go into the home with one of my colleagues as like a, as an assessment team member, first visit, they're over two, and they're like, "I had no idea you guys existed.

Why didn't anyone tell me about this?"

>> Wow.

>> And that just always kinda like kills us a little bit.

'Cause it's like, we're here.

>> Sure.

>> We've been here for years.

So if I can shout it from the rooftops, if you have any kind of questions about your kid's development, you can start a referral.

Parents start the referral.

You don't need our pediatricians.

And God love our pediatricians.

Ours are the best and I love 'em.

But they're doing enough, or they do a ton all day long.

>> Mary Jane: Of course.

>> Right?

So you don't need a pediatrician to start the process.

>> So walk me through that.

I'm a mom.

Actually, my family used First Steps for one of our children.

>> Rachel: Yeah.

>> So I understand the process.

But for those out there who may not be familiar, I know in our case we weren't clear.

I had knew a little thing about child development, and my little one wasn't crawling and wasn't moving.

>> Rachel: Ooh, yeah.

>> So what would you tell me?

>> I would say, let's get on the First Steps website and do an online referral form.

>> Okay.

>> You write down your identifying info, your contact info, and an email, and then your concerns.

And then somebody from our First Steps office.

And so for our area in Cluster A, our office is in Crown Point.

We've got some of the best service coordinators and case supporters.

And then somebody contacts you directly.

And we go through an intake process.

>> Intake process.

>> Intake process.

That's gonna be a lot of paperwork, going through all the nuts and bolts.

You know, your address, your family history, your concerns, the who, where you live, things like- >> The language that you speak.

>> Yes, yes, absolutely.

The familiar language is very important.

And then they'll say, okay, like we can get you set up, and we'll schedule an assessment for you.

And then two of our colleagues would come and do an in-home assessment.

>> Mary Jane: Okay.

>> We also offer virtual assessments.

Many families request virtual even to this day, right?

So we have all options.

We can meet you at a library.

We can meet you at a park.

We can meet you at your home.

We can meet you, we will come to you.

>> Okay.

>> We literally want to come and help in any way we can.

>> All right.

>> These services are available.

They're open to everybody.

Every single person in the state of Indiana, we are here to help.

>> Mary Jane: Okay.

>> So FirstSteps.org, fill out your referral form, and someone will contact you.

>> Mary Jane: And then the team shows- >> Announcer: Legacy Foundation is Lake County's Community Foundation.

For over 30 years, we've partnered with donors and nonprofits focusing on youth development, the arts, the environment, health, literacy, and other causes that matter to you.

We're committed to Lake County forever.

First things first, Porter County is dedicated to supporting families, healthy beginnings, and quality early learning, ensuring every Porter County baby is born prepared for a strong start in life.

Learn more at FirstThingsPC.org.

(upbeat music) >> I have a very strong connection to other students.

Everyone makes an effort to help each other.

I'll remember the feeling of being here, the feeling that I was a part of a family.

(upbeat music) >> Narrator: Routine visits with a pediatrician are vital to a child's development.

That's why at North Shore Health Centers, pediatricians provide quality care to every child every time, ensuring that your child is reaching their developmental milestones and are up to date on their vaccines.

Learn more NorthShoreHealth.org.

>> Speaker: Doing as much as you can as quickly as you can is important to me.

Life is short, and the earlier we get started helping our community, the better off our community will be.

(bubbly music) >> Announcer: Additional support for Building Blocks is provided generously by Tom Sourlis and Sue Eleuterio, as well as Porter County Community Foundation, serving Porter County since 1996.

Additional support for local programming and Lakeshore Public Media is provided by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(bubbly upbeat music) (chiming music)