We've seen happy mommies: the distribution of baby boxes has begun

The Pata 2.0 project team brought joy and a bit of hope for the first mothers who will benefit from a baby box, i.e. a set of objects needed for newborns. The activity is managed by the Department of Social Assistance and Medical (DASM) under the direction of the Cluj-Napoca Local Council, a partner in the project.

Baby boxes are delivered these days to the first 11 mothers out of 70 beneficiaries, and the rest will be distributed as other mothers enter the project activities. We are talking about mothers who have already participated in the support groups we organise for them", explains Cristian Iclodean-Lazăr, project coordinator from DASM partner.

A baby box consists of clothing (body, pyjamas, pants, blouses, outdoor overalls, hats, etc.) sleeping bag, polar blanket, cotton towels, powdered milk (three boxes), disposable diapers (132 pieces), bottles, teats, pacifiers, wet napkins, physiological serum doses, compresses of various sizes, creams, bath gel, set of scissors, a helmet, a helmet.

Such a layette costs 2,300 lei and is made available free of charge to young mothers from Pata Rât, who sign up to benefit from the services of the Community Social Center (CSC).

Moms get the baby box at CSC headquarters on 158 Pleven Street. I met Ginarca Lingurar here the other day, one of the first moms to come and pick up the baby kit. The baby box will be useful to take care of Narcis, the youngest of his two-month-old children. Narcis has one sister, five years old, and a brother, aged seven. “Especially the cart will be of use to us because we had no more, but also the rest of what we got, the pampers and the bathtub, the clothes, everything”, said the young mother.

The Department of Social and Medical Assistance (DASM) Cluj-Napoca plays a very important role in the architecture of the project Pata 2.0. The DASM team involved in the project manages the activities related to the Community Social Centre that was established within the project.

“CCS aims to deliver coordinated social services to Pata Rât, to reduce poverty and social exclusion. CCS has been functional since autumn 2020, being the main interface between project beneficiaries and DASM, but not the only one, because DASM also has a mobile unit, even in Pata Rât, where we also conduct a series of activities from the project”, explains Cristian Iclodean-Lazar.

The services provided through CCS include: Facilitating access to decent housing, social benefits/or employment incomes, income management, social assistance, health care and education.

DASM will prepare, during the project, 150 families for the resettlement process by providing such social services, using the case management method. Also, within the CCS, a multidisciplinary team (health mediator, social worker and psychologist) will facilitate access to primary and specialised healthcare services aimed at improving the health of the target group. At the same time, the multidisciplinary team organises support groups for women/young teenage mothers, regarding pre and post-natal period and newborn care.

The fact that the Social and Medical Assistance Directorate is a partner in this project is, in itself, a guarantee of the future sustainability of the results under the prerogatives conferred by law on the public social assistance service,” says Adrian Răulea, acting project manager.