Blog - Infant Crisis Services, Inc.

Our volunteers do amazing things, and it's very rewarding when they get recognized for their hard work.

Martha King is one of those dedicated community servants who has a true heart for helping others. So it was no surprise to us that she was recognized by Home Instead Senior Care as the recipient of the 2013 Salute to Senior Service award. With the award, Martha was given $500 to donate to the charity of her choice. She will now be entered into a national contest as Oklahoma's representative, and will have the chance to win $5000 for her charity.

Martha's community service has been a lifelong commitment. She served as the executive director of another nonprofit, Neighbor for Neighbor, in the 1980s, and then worked for World Neighbor until she retired. 

After retirement, she came to us as a volunteer. She interacts so beautifully with the babies and toddlers as well as the staff and other volunteers.

"I enjoy the atmosphere and the culture of Infant Crisis Services the most." Martha said about volunteering, "Positive interactions with staff and other volunteers and seeing the sweet babies keeps me coming back."

We are honored and grateful for Martha's commitment to her community and to our babies and toddlers. This award is well deserved!

Congratulations Martha!

It's that time of year! Temperatures are climbing, the sun is shining and many families are looking for ways to keep their little ones cool in the summer heat.

When I was a little kid, I loved the water! Sometimes my parents would pull out the kiddy pool or the slip 'n slide (remember those?) and my sister and I would spend hours splashing and having a blast. I still remember the bathing suit I wore when I was just a tiny tot. It was bright pink and had a picture of Miss Piggy on the front (thanks mom), but I loved it! Those memories have stuck with me for decades. This week, when we put out the baby and toddler swim wear in our "clothing shop," all of those great memories came flooding back.

It's great to know that the babies and toddlers we help will have a bathing suit this summer. Hopefully, when they grow up, they'll remember exactly what it looked like, and have a million great memories to go along with it.

This week, we have some special volunteers working at Infant Crisis Services. The men and women who serve on our Board of Directors are serving in a different capacity. They're dedicating their time and man hours working in our HUB. Pat Lewis stocked shelves while Ronnie Grant, Polly Fleet and David Cottrell sorted and cleaned the donated toys, replaced the batteries and made sure everything was in working condition. They even worked with clients, played with toddlers and held babies! The board's dedication and commitment to Infant Crisis Services and our mission is evident in how they choose to spend their time.

By volunteering, they get to see firsthand how Infant Crisis Services is impacting the lives of our tiniest and neediest citizens of our community.

To our board members: Thanks for serving in so many ways!

Last Friday, our Client Services Coordinator, Ana Davis and our Family Services Coordinator, Meg Standerfer, met a couple of wonderful ladies who came to us from the Salvation Army. The two met, and even though they spoke different languages, formed an immediate friendship.  

Not only does Infant Crisis Services help babies and toddlers in need, we also help connect their families to additional resources, so they are better equipped to get out their crisis. Every time we see new clients Meg meets with them about to discuss other services they may need. During the short survey inquiring about additional resources, one of the women wrote the words “domestic violence." Meg gave her as much information as possible on the topic, and directed her to other organizations in Oklahoma that would be able to help her get back on her feet. In talking with the woman and her friend who accompanied her, we quickly realized, despite their differences, the two had similar pasts. Both had escaped domestic abuse. Both were staying at the Salvation Army to seek a safer life for themselves and their children. Both found a friend in the midst of a very dark situation. Naomi and Karla were brave enough to leave their situations and brave enough to share their stories.

These woman aren't alone. Around the world, one in three women is a victim of abuse. If you are being abused by a family member there is help.

I'm revealing a secret that not many people know... In fact, I've worked at Infant Crisis Services for months, and didn't even know about this until just a few days ago... We have our very own vegetable garden!

It may not be the most impressive garden. Currently, we are only growing tomatoes and cucumbers, but as someone who has always wanted to try her hand at growing produce, this was exciting news for me!

Now that we are finally done with winter (hopefully) it is time to plant our vegetables, and we had some great helpers lend a hand.

A group of volunteers from the Disney Store came out this week to dig, till and fill our three small planter boxes.

They brought the cutest little helper on the planet too! Her name is Layla, and she is full of personality! She wore a Disney princess shirt, carried a bucket and shovel and sang Taylor Swift songs while she worked. Now, here is the best part of the story: Layla is a former client. It is so great to see her thriving in life, knowing at one point, we helped her in a time of need. It's also great to see her at such a young age already on the path to helping others. 

This group was so much fun to have at Infant Crisis Services. We are so appreciative for all of their hard work to help our little garden and our littlest citizens grow!

Communication is an important aspect in any profession, but at Infant Crisis Services it is critical to be able understand and serve the clients and families we help on a daily basis.

That's why our entire staff took a course this week on communication styles. The class was taught by Teresa Fugitt, the senior human resources learning and development specialist with Devon Energy Corporation and Ron Prince, owner of Prince Ciples, Inc.

It was interesting and very helpful to learn about how different people communicate, how to recognize social cues and how to make adjustments to our own social styles to be better communicators.

We would like to thank Teresa and Ron for the informative and fun training session!