Bright Start, the CHS Nurse Home Visitation program, works with first-time mothers and their families. Program Director Amy Carter shares this story of how Bright Start impacts families in unexpected ways:

Although the nurses at Bright Start are still working remotely, on occasion, they come into the office. One morning our nurse Hollie happened to be at the office getting some work done after one of her clients cancelled her appointment. She was the only person at the office when the doorbell rang. 

Hollie answered the door to find a man and his newborn baby standing there. She recognized him as the father of the baby and the boyfriend to the mother who is enrolled in the Bright Start program. 

She quickly discovered that the father did not speak English (and Hollie did not speak his language), so understanding why he was there and what he needed proved to be challenging. But, with a great deal of patience, online Google translation service, and eventually an interpreter, Hollie learned he was in crisis and looking for help.

The mother of the baby had been arrested, but he didn’t know why because he didn’t understand the police. The father was now caring for this newborn by himself, uncertain what to do. Because the baby was so young, he couldn’t take the baby to day care, so the father was not able to go to work. Without working, he had no money to pay his rent and was also in need of diapers and formula.  

Hollie spent over three hours with the father—making phone calls, connecting him to community resources, teaching him how to care for the newborn, and just listening. This is a great example of why the Bright Start program is so important to at-risk families with limited support. It is also an example of a tenacious, caring nurse who went above and beyond because it was the right thing to do!