Stable Housing and Newborn Brain Development
When a newborn baby joins your family, things can seem pretty simple on the outside. Your newborn needs to be fed and changed and usually sleeps 14-17 hours a day (your baby may vary). Most parents with a newborn are very concerned about the baby’s physical well-being (naptime, diaper rash, falling from the changing table, germs), but perhaps less aware of what is going on inside. In the first few years of a baby’s life, his/her nervous system is forming more than 1-million connections every second. If things go as expected as they grow, these connections help babies graduate to smiling, babbling, rolling over and interacting with you. Then, your baby will be laughing and crawling and then become a toddler who is talking and walking.
Helping Your Child’s Brain Development
The foundation for your child’s learning, behavior and health is also being built during these key early years. Before your child turns 5, most brain development is already underway, making these early years a critical time to create lasting impact. This is why doctors encourage you to talk, read and sing to your baby while their brain and nervous system are being built. Your baby’s brain develops in concert with their body’s other systems. If brain development is disorganized, it is likely that corresponding body systems will be too. Most babies in a stable home with loving caregivers will mature and develop into toddlers and then preschoolers who are ready for more formal education. Eventually, they grow into teens and adults who can care for themselves and benefit society.
How Does Trauma Affect Brain Development?
But, what if a baby doesn’t have a stable home or loving caregivers? What about babies who experience trauma in these key formative years? This trauma can be anything from living in poverty to witnessing or experiencing abuse. Studies have shown that these babies grow into adults who are predisposed to a variety of physical and emotional health issues. These include addiction, diabetes, obesity, autoimmune diseases, heart disease, depression and PTSD. Communities and governments often pay the price for taking care of adults with these issues. It doesn’t have to be that way.
How Early Education Helps Children
Early education can help protect babies and toddlers and make up for the support that they lack outside of the classroom. There is no better or easier way to change and improve the lives of children. When children, including those who have experienced trauma, participate in high-quality, early learning programs, they are more likely to succeed in school, graduate and contribute to the workforce.
Communities benefit from quality early education with reduced long-term costs in education, healthcare and social services. High-quality, birth-to-5 programs can generate a 13% annual return on investment in terms of what these children contribute as adults. Families benefit from having access to trusted, high-quality care. Parents can work, pursue education and build stability to help their children continue to improve.
Nelson Mandela once said, “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.” There is no better investment for a community’s growth and productivity than early childhood education.
How Mary’s Home Offers Housing for Single Mothers
While there are many benefits to high-quality early education, there are fewer places that provide this service, let alone facilities that will work with children dealing with trauma. Mothers with children under age 6 living at Dream Centers Mary’s Home know the struggle of trying to find the care their babies and toddlers need. Some of these women and children were homeless before finding Mary’s Home. Others are survivors of abuse. All have experienced trauma with their children. Mary’s Home provides them and their children a safe place to live, recover and grow. However, the mothers are responsible for finding Head Start programs or pre-schools for their children.
With your support, these mothers will have more options, whether it’s more paid staff and volunteers at the on-site daycare center or fees for an off-site daycare, Head Start or pre-school program. With community support, a baby who experiences trauma can still grow into a child and adult who is a benefit and a blessing for their family and society.
