Touching Young Lives, Incorporated is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that focuses on the health and well-being of infants and children by providing best practice education and essential resources to both parents and caregivers. Founder and Executive Director, Shantell Roberts, participated in the John Hopkins University Social Innovation Lab, an accelerated business incubator, to develop a comprehensive and efficient model for launching the Portable Alternative Crib initiative. In April 2017, Touching Young Lives launched the Portable Alternative Crib initiative and was awarded $25,000 from the Johns Hopkins University Social Innovation Lab.
A Portable Alternative Crib is an eco-friendly cardboard box with a padded mattress at the bottom that can be used as a safe separate sleeping space for infants. In November 2017, Shantell Roberts was selected as an Open Society Institute Community Fellow to grow the Portable Alternative Crib and expand the Portable Alternative Crib model across the State of Maryland. To date, over 5,000 Portable Alternative Cribs have been used in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Cecil County, Charles County, Dorchester County and Frederick County.
In addition to providing parents and caregivers with Portable Alternative Cribs, Touching Young Lives also provides information on infant/child care best practice education, packages of gently used clothing, and diapers. Follow-up assessments are performed for infants at 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months to track the usage of the Portable Alternative Crib and any shifts in caregiver safe sleep practices.
Check us out here: http://foxbaltimore.com/news/cover-story/why-put-baltimores-babies-in-a-cardboard-box Any donation domination will be accepted but please consider 1 of the following:
*$50.00: sleeps 1 infant!
*$100.00: sleeps 2 infants!
*$250.00: sleeps 5 infants!
*$500.00: sleeps 10 infants!
*$1,000.00: sleeps 20 infants!
Please donate and help us touch a young life today!!
Kind Regards, The Touching Young Lives Crew
