HUDDLE UP MOMS

BY MARGARET ASHBURN

Being a mom is… rewarding, humbling, exhausting, emotional, fulfilling, overwhelming, beautiful. I could go on and on but the truth is that it’s hard to put into words the full experience. Merriam-Webster defines “mother” as “a female parent.” When I read that, my jaw dropped because how can you summarize what our life is like that simplistically. To be honest, words simply fall short.

I am a mother of an 18-monthold little boy and get asked all the time what that is like. My answer depends on the day. When I think back to those early days, it’s a blur. And while I had friends and family supporting me through it all, something I acknowledge many women don’t have, there were so many times I found myself looking to Google for answers. In those early days my search history would have looked something like “why won’t my child latch,” “is it normal to feel like this,” “postpartum depression” – the list goes on and on. Now my questions are more along the lines of development. I’ve said it to many of my friends and family, there’s plenty of support for the children, but what about the moms? Our partners don’t fully understand what we’ve been through, even our best friends don’t because each experience is so different. At the time, I prayed for a community of women in Roanoke that I could turn to, where maybe someone shared some semblance of what I went through. Little did I know then that there was something like that.

In 2019 Huddle Up Moms was formed. Kimberly Butterfield, the Director of Community Outreach and Public Relations was a big part of that, “We know people feel alone. We know they feel disconnected. We know they don’t have the things to thrive.” She along with its now Executive Director, Jaclyn Nunziato saw a need to develop a community-based organization in the Roanoke Valley that supports women on their motherhood journeys. “There’s not many organizations that we’ve found solely dedicated to the mission of supporting moms,” Butterfield explained. Their focus would be on all mothers (non/biological, step, adopted, foster) regardless of education, ethnicity, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, nation of origin, age, religion, ability, opinion, or culture. They joined together with other women in medicine, public health, research, and community engagement – to provide resources they wish they had and know women are looking for. They also reached out to the community and various groups for collaboration efforts.

Education and support is a primary driver of Huddle Up Moms because when it comes to resources they are few and far in between. “It’s super disjointed. There’s moms that qualify for WIC or those sorts of things and there’s pockets of information that gets to them. And then there’s the organizations that have traditionally focused on the child and in a roundabout way support moms so that’s where we come in,” said Butterfield. Through panels, content and community groups, the hope is that can provide women the information they need to feel supported through each of their unique journeys. One of the great things they’ve created are mom “huddles.” These allow you to connect with like-minded women for a powerful support tool. Groups include:

• Working Moms

• NICU

• Single Moms

• Children with Special Needs

• Breastfeeding Moms

• Moms of Loss

• Pandemic Moms

• Stay at Home Moms

• Postpartum Support

• Adoptive/Foster Moms

• Moms of Multiple

• Moms of Teens

• LGBTQ+

Butterfield tells me they’re always looking to expand that list, but to make these things happen, they need volunteers. The organization is entirely supported by women offering up the little free time that they have. They especially need volunteers when it comes to their biggest project right now which is ensuring women have formula. Store shelves still remain essentially empty for the most popular brands. Huddle Up Moms baby formula exchange and donation program provides this essential to those who can’t afford it and those desperately trying to track it down. “We’ve been taking donations for that. We’ve been purchasing formula to connect it to moms who need it,” said Butterfield.

Additionally the organization recently set up a partnership with Walmart to accept donated women’s clothes, baby clothes, and household items. Huddle Up Moms will utilize its office space at the Haven on 5th and Elm Street in downtown Roanoke as a place where moms can come to shop and pick up formula. “We had a mom reach out over the holidays who had a house fire. They lost everything so we loaded them up with dishes, skillets, and clothes. So we’re hoping to see that grow,” said Butterfield.

Huddle Up Moms has also received a $50,000 grant from the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors. They’ll use that to support the Moms Under Pressure program which supports pregnant and postpartum women diagnosed with hypertensive disorders. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, preeclampsia accounts for 7.4% of US maternal deaths. To help lower those numbers, the organization will provide free self-measuring blood pressure monitoring systems, create educational material to understand and prevent preeclampsia, offer care-coordination and provide moms with local resources for a healthier pregnancy.

To make everything they do happen, collaboration is key. “The mission of supporting moms just resonates with people. We joke you should support us if you are a mom, love a mom or have a mom. If there’s a mom in your life you should care about this,” Butterfield said. There are many local and regional groups they work with, including Postpartum Support Virginia, United Way, CHIP, Department of Health, Roanoke Women’s Center, and Planned Parenthood. They’ve also gotten a lot of support from local businesses. “We hope we can be that hub, that meeting point for moms to ask those questions and connect with those resources,” said Butterfield.

When Butterfield looks back at all the things they’ve done since 2019, one moment sticks in her mind from their fundraiser last year, Taco Fest. During a live television interview with a cook, Kimberly McBroom from WDBJ7 asked him why he was supporting this mission and he teared up. Butterfield described what happened next, “He said, my mom was a single mom and I just think about if she had more support what she could have done.” Moms struggle in a variety of ways. Everyone knows someone who has and that’s why Huddle Up Moms continues forward on their mission to provide an essential resource to all who need them.

For information on events, how to join a “huddle,” who how to volunteer go to huddleupmoms.org.