Five organisations collaborate to support vulnerable new mum.

A local organisation has recently partnered together with four other Christian organisations to offer support to a vulnerable young mother of a new born baby who recently escaped an abusive relationship.

Support was offered to the woman in question through an intricate network of relationships and connections and the story demonstrates the incredible impact we can have on the most vulnerable in our communities when we work in partnership together.

The story began when a local hospital contacted Brierley Hill Babybank requesting support for a new mum who had no family support since fleeing an abusive relationship. The young woman was living alone and was particularly isolated due to Coronavirus lock down measures. As a result she was in need of practical help.

Maz, who runs Brierley Hill Babybank, was able to call the woman in question and provide her with a baby-essentials and toiletries pack, which was left on her doorstep due to Coronavirus visit restrictions. During the phone call, Maz identified that the woman was in need of other support too and had perhaps slipped through the net of standard services. First of all, she wasn’t eating properly and had very little food in the house. Maz quickly made a call to Stacey Simpson at the Christian-run Brierley Hill Project, who was able to provide a food parcel for the woman from Black Country Food Bank.

Maz then contacted family charity Safe Families to ask whether someone from a local church could befriend the young woman and offer some further support. Unfortunately Safe Families do not currently have a contract to work in the area where the woman lives which meant the referral could take a long time to process. Instead, Safe Families suggested Maz contact Deb Chamberlain, Love Black Country’s Next Gen Champion, who may know of local churches that could help more quickly. Maz contacted Deb, who was able to contact a local church near to the woman’s house to see if the they could offer support. They happily agreed, since they already have a particular heart to work with victims of domestic abuse and several members of the church are now involved in befriending the woman and providing pastoral and practical support.

The story is a wonderful example of how 20+ years of networking across the Black Country has helped to provide crucial support at a very dark time in one woman’s life. Such connections are a result of the incredible network of churches and Christian organisations who intentionally work collaboratively together across the region.

Deb Chamberlain is extremely encouraged by the impact that working together can have on the most vulnerable in our communities. “This young woman is now being offered vital support during a very stressful time in her life, all because of the power of partnership and working together,” explains Deb. “It’s just such a wonderful example and encouragement to us all to continue to collaborate and work cohesively with others in order to have the greatest impact in these crazy times.”

If you work with an organisation who offers support to the vulnerable, please get in touch via our Coronavirus Activity Form and share the work you’re doing during the Coronavirus Lock Down.  Communicating what other organisations are doing allows crucial relational connections to be made like those featured in this article and we would love to help connect as many people as possible as we seek to serve our area both now and in the future.

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