Help Me Grow’s Hosts Successful Community Baby Shower

Chillicothe, OH – The Ross County Health District’s (RCHD) Help Me Grow Home Visiting program hosted a packed house at the Community Baby Shower for Ross County pregnant and new moms with a child up to 6 months old on Wednesday, May 13, at Adena PACCAR Medical Education Center from 2pm to 5pm.

Sponsored by Care Source, Humana Healthy Horizons in Ohio, and Molina Healthcare, the event drew over 100 attendees and served 52 mothers. “The event exceeded our expectations for attendance, over doubling in size of the event in 2024,” stated RCHD Child and Family Health Director, Amie Unger, who led the coordination and planning of the event.

“The collaboration from partners in the community to help pull together this event, from planning, to funding to donations, showed what community is really about!” Amie exclaimed. “The Help Me Grow team came together on the day of the event and helped pull everything together to make it a wonderful event for everyone,” she concluded.

Four pack-and-plays were distributed at the event through RCHD’s Cribs for Kids program, which works to prevent infant sleep-related deaths by educating parents and caregivers on the importance of practicing safe sleep for their babies and by providing portable cribettes to families who cannot afford a safe place for their babies to sleep. 18 Cribs for Kids referrals were made at the event, along with 4 referrals for the Help Me Grow Home Visiting program. Outside the PACCAR Center, Ross County Health District’s medical mobile unit was in attendance providing public health resources and car seat safety checks were available.

Bottoms Up Diaper Bank provided approximately 2,400 size 1 and 2 diapers to distribute at the event. Hopewell Grove donated a door prize along with Seventh Day Adventist Church Women’s Group donated 8 handmade baby quilts. Over 30 door prizes total were given away to new and expectant moms at the event.

“The response from the community partners that support pregnant women and new parents was wonderful!” Amie said. “Our community partners provided great information about what is available in the community and the families in attendance were eager to learn more!” she added. Twenty-five agencies attended the Community Baby Shower offering information and resources to attendees. Participating agencies included:

CareSource

Humana

Nationwide Children’s Hospital Healthy Start

Molina

Elizabeth’s Hope

Hopewell Health

Ross County Board of DD/Early Intervention

Help Me Grow Home Visiting Central Intake

Adena Women and Children’s Unit

Chillicothe Pediatrics

Ross County WIC

United Way

Ross County Community Action/Head Start

Easter Seals

South Central Ohio Job and Family Services Job and Family Services

Chillicothe Ross Public Library

A Future Look 3D/4D Ultrasound and Photography

RCHD Pathways and Public Health Nursing

KinderMusic and Church in Bainbridge

KidsClubhouse and Play and Learn Express

COAD for Kids

Aetna Ohio Rise

The Rose House

SANE Advocacy Program at Adena

For more information about RCHD’s Help Me Grow Home Visiting program or to make a referral, visit www.rosscountyhealth.org.

Two Home Visitors help baby shower attendees at a registration table.
RCHD Home Visitors Destiny Schlaegel and Ashley Cole (far right) assist baby shower attendees with event registration.
A woman speaks to a crowd of people gathered in a conference room.
RCHD Child and Family Health Director, Amie Unger, speaks to baby shower attendees.
A woman gives door prizes away to event attendees in a large conference room.
RCHD Child and Family Health Director, Amie Unger, distributes door prizes to a conference room full of baby shower attendees listening intently for names to be called.
A woman selects a door prize from a pile.
RCHD Child and Family Director, Amie Unger, selects door prizes for distribution at the event.
A woman smiles as she engages with an event attendee in front of her resource table.
RCHD Home Visitor April Krape provides Cribs for Kids resources to attendees.
A woman smiles at a baby being held by the parents.
RCHD Community Health Worker Sage Fout engages with a family in attendance.
A woman smiles while speaking with an event attendee.
RCHD Home Visitor Ashley Cole (left) engages with an attendee.
a pile of door prizes on a table
A selection of baby shower door prizes
a crowded conference room of baby shower attendees
Baby shower attendees listen for names of door prize winners.
a table of refreshments in the foreground of a lobby with people seen walking in the background
Refreshments were available in the lobby for baby shower attendees.
two WIC employees smile at the camera while sitting behind a WIC resource table
Ross County WIC’s Rylan Williams and Rebecca Townsend provided WIC information and resources to baby shower attendees.
A woman smiles while sitting behind a table covered in diapers to give away.
RCHD Home Visitor Sydney Doyle provides diapers to baby shower attendees.
Three employees stand smiling at the camera in front of RCHD's Medical Mobile Unit.
(L to R) RCHD Community Health Worker Sage Fout, RCHD Public Health Nurse Megan Stevens, and Mobile Unit Driver Clayton Cyrus provide public health resources at RCHD’s Medical Mobile Unit at the Community Baby Shower.
Two women smile and talk together while sitting at an event registration table in a lobby.
Home Visitor Destiny Schlaegel and Child and Family Health Director Amie Unger greet attendees at the event registration table.
RCHD"s Medical Mobile Unit is parked outside Adena PACCAR Educational Center.
RCHD’s Medical Mobile Unit attended the Community Baby Shower.

More information:

Help Me Grow Home Visiting – Ross County Health District

Cribs for Kids® – Ross County Health District

Child Passenger Safety – Ross County Health District

Medical Mobile Unit – Ross County Health District

WIC – Ross County Health District

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About the Ross County Health District

The Ross County Health District (RCHD), founded in 1979, is nationally accredited by the Public Health Accreditation Board that works to protect, promote, and improve the health of all people in Ross County. RCHD is governed by a seven-member board of health and consists of four divisions: Public Health Nursing, Environmental Health, Health Promotion, and Quality Improvement, and Administration. Learn more about the Ross County Health District at RossCountyHealth.org. For more information, please contact Sara Smith at sksmith@RossCountyHealth.org