“Please let me drop everything and work on your problem,” read a plaque in Maryhaven’s Delaware office.
It quickly becomes evident that this motto reflects the way in which Courtnie Howell lives her life.
Howell has worked to bring the “Stable Cradle” program to Delaware.
The Stable Cradle program works with pregnant women and new mothers to help them to with, as Howell put it, “everything that we as human beings pretty much deal with.”
This includes assistance with everything from medical concerns to finding housing and anything else that the mother needs. “The goal’s just to have a healthy mom and a healthy baby,” said Howell.
The Stable Cradle program has been active in Delaware for less than a month and has already helped several expecting or new mothers.
One of the first women to partner with Stable Cradle in Delaware was Tasha Adams, mother of 3-month-old Richard Smith. As Richard snored softly in his sleep, Adams explained her high hopes for the Stable Cradle program.
She hopes that, as more women join the program, she will be able to help them by sharing her own experiences with them. Her hope is that the women will be “to an extent, like a family,” she said.
Women who are interested in the program may call 740-203-3800. Howell said she is happy to meet interested women wherever it is convenient for them. “Transportation is not a barrier,” she said.
Cost is also not a barrier as “the services are all free for the moms,” according to Howell.
Howell said she hopes to expand the program to include more women. “Really, the more I can get the better,” she said. “I see this going somewhere, I see this being needed.”
Adams said she encourages women who are considering joining the program to give it a chance. “I would honestly just say ‘try it’ — because you never know if it might be beneficial. You don’t have to make a commitment, you can investigate it,” she said.
Adams said that she has enjoyed the program so far and that, for her, “it’s not so much of a chore of ‘Oh, I have to do this, I have to deal with this person.’ It’s ‘Oh, I get to deal with this person.’”
Howell said she is excited to continue to expand the program. “I hope within a year we’ll be where these dreams and thoughts that I have all day [are],” she said.