Reflections help us learn, grow, understand, and appreciate our experiences. Thank you to our staff, volunteers, community partners, and community members for sharing how you have engaged and the impactful and memorable experiences you’ve had with Breastfeed Durham this past year. We are so lucky to have you.
“This has been a very wonderful year with Breastfeed Durham. I have seen Breastfeed Durham reach so many parents this year alone. There were so many beautiful events and wonderful trainings that I attended this year. The stories touched my heart. From hearing parents talk about the good, the bad and ugly journeys of breastfeeding to learning more about advocating for breastfeeding communities and businesses and finding out that there are more people and families that are welcoming to breastfeeding. I can write a whole blog about the year of 2022 but I will let the newsletter show itself.”
– Bernadette Green, Executive Director
“As I reflect over 2022, a year ago we had a new Executive Director, exhausted board members, and no new funding in sight. But Bernadette brought energy and enthusiasm. She spearheaded a transformative community event with Breastfeed Durham’s 2022 Family Festival. We are thrilled to have this project continued on by community partners in 2023. It was an honor and a privilege to present at the US Breastfeeding Committee Conference in 2022. And then to be able to secure 2 years of funding for Bernadette. But July it seemed like there was so much work to do and so little clarity and direction. We had money for Bernadette, but no money to support the community. We all took a much-needed two weeks off and then we strategized. National Breastfeeding Month’s phenomenal presentations by Stephanie Amekuedi and Amber Crews reenergized us and clarified our direction. With Bernadette’s leadership, the board voted to use 25% of her funding to support work in the community. This was further powered by the photo shoot in September. A special thank you to Aubrey Delaney Photography, Scoville Photography, and all the families who volunteered to make it happen. Images are a powerful part of what we do at Breastfeed Durham and we use those images all year long. But the biggest transformational moment of the year was still to come at the end of September when, with less than 1 week notice, the Durham County Department of Public Health came to us with a phenomenal scope of work to be completed within 8 months–and starting in just a few days. As a result, it has meant collecting data in a whole new way and narrowing our focus for these eight months rather than thinking about all 10 steps to a breastfeeding family friendly community. We’ve been able to focus on specific portions of steps 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, and 9: health department strategic plan, health department and county lactation policies, the first food equity series, child care training videos, outreach events, new lactation spaces, newsletter development, affinity base resources/coalition building, addressing gaps in car care, building our peer to peer support network, participating in the community action team meetings, continued website development, June’s fertility clinic, and celebrating National Breastfeeding Month.”
“I started with Breastfeed Durham as a volunteer and now will be leading the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Lactation Support Coalition. I am excited to connect with local community members and organizations to expand the support for the AANHPI community in the area.”
“I am new to Breastfeed Durham but I have engaged by offering some Spanish translations and joining in on meetings, and I am really excited to help propel our Pro-Lactancia Coalition forward.”
“Breastfeed Durham was very instrumental in helping our facility achieve the Breastfeed-Friendly Child Care Designation Award, both locally and statewide. The impact that Breastfeed Durham had on our facility is that our staff learned so much more about how to normalize breastfeedingat our center. This all occurred when Breastfeed Durham came out and shared their expertise by looking over our breastfeeding policy, offering recommendations for materials we should include in all the classrooms and in our lactation room, and having meetings with the staff. The knowledge and passion Breastfeed Durham shared left a lasting impact on our program.”