A Warm Welcome

Photograph by Chris Takagi

Anyone who has brought home a newborn knows how daunting the first few sleep-deprived months of parenthood can be.

Shalom Baby, a program of the Robert E. Loup Jewish Community Center, in Denver, seeks to make the experience a little less overwhelming for new parents through child-rearing classes, social activities, and other services. Many of the group’s efforts are aimed at strengthening Jewish parents’ connection to other Jews, though non-Jewish parents can sign up for classes and some other activities.

“The line that we like to use is: Our intent is to meet, greet, and engage every new Jewish parent in the Denver area,” says Caron Blanke, the program’s director. She estimates Shalom Baby has served 200 families since it began operating in January 2002.

The program was started with a three-year, $500,000 grant from the Rose Community Foundation.

Jewish parents in the program receive a visit from a Shalom Baby volunteer who provides information on health, nutrition, and community resources and activities, and a Warm Welcome basket, which contains, among other things, baby gifts, child-development information, and a child-rearing guide and lullaby tape. The families also receive a one-year free membership to the Loup community center.

Shalom Baby classes and activities are offered to expectant and new parents for a fee. In addition to other offerings, a six-week Jewish Baby University for first-time parents combines childbirth education with an exploration of Jewish traditions and rituals.

The program, which costs about $500,000 a year, recently expanded to the Boulder area, says Ms. Blanke, who adds that she hopes the program will eventually be copied across the nation.

“A program which caters to middle-class families is not an easy sell,” Ms. Blanke says, “but we believe a lot of what we do is Jewish outreach.”

Here, a group of new mothers and their babies take part in a Shalom Baby class.