How do I start a new program and get people involved in my community?

Question

I want to send low income parents, or just in need of help single mom's, home from the hospital with homemade baby quilts. They are easy and inexpensive to make. They are beautiful when finished and bring alot of warmth to a new baby. How do I get my community involved? I am not looking for a profit, just an idea of who to contact.

Answer 1

In my community, the YWCA has a quilter's club.



Also, some of the stores that sell fabrics have classes or can tell you where they are.



So, find the place where quilters go and see if they would be interested in such an endeavor. After you have a good idea of what you want to do, make a flyer to attract quilters.



People who can't quilt or don't have the time, can donate money or materials. So don't exclude anyone just because they can't quilt.



Here, we have a residential substance abuse program for pregnant women. They learn how to get and stay off drugs while they have a drug-free baby. There are quilters who make sure that all the women get baby quilts.



The only problem I see in what you are saying, is that hospitals have confidentiality issues and won't be telling you which mothers are single or poverty level.



So you have to be willing to just donate the quilts to a peri-natal unit, or to your local police or fire department. The fire department is actually a good option. The people they deal with often have lost everything in a fire, while even a single mom with money issues usually has a baby-shower and gets stuff.



Congratulations to you for being the sort of person who cares about others.

Answer 2

Contact the hospital. You may be able to set the program up directly with them. They should also have ideas about who does similar projects, and how you can contact them.



If you want to get the low-income community involved, try starting with the moms who get the first couple of quilts. Maybe in exchange for a quilt, they can donate some time to making one for another mom.

Answer 3

I would contact a local hospital and inform them of your desire to do this. Then I'd contact different organizations like the girl scouts, maybe nursing homes, local high schools girls sports teams for people to participate in making the blankets/quilts (I think you'd be most successful trying to get women involved). My even contact your local news or radio stations and let them know. Who knows maybe you can get lucky and get a little air time.

Answer 4

I would begin by using W.O.M. (Word of Mouth) method.

Applying W.O.M.-Advertising, ANYONE within your voice-range is a client,and then - depending

how "talkative" your first-level audience is, your message can spread from there.

Your first-line of contacts should be the "movers-and-shakers" (those who cause the most excitement) in your circles.



Your next level of Campaigning would involve creatively developed cards / letters explaining your efforts. - Explain your campaign strategy, your observation of the condition and what you are doing to remedy this condition. - Distribute these cards to EVERYONE!



In both efforts, include the "catcher" %Explaining W.I.I.F.M. (What's In It For Me) the helpers who you plan to help toward eliminating this issue.

Answer 5

if the hospital is local I would start there -

go to the administrator's office and explain what you would like to do -

you can try working through your local government - find out who your town council members are - call one of them, explain what you want to do, and ask them for advice - that is what they are there for