When a new baby enters a family, joy arrives--but so do challenges. Sleepless nights, shifting routines, medical decisions, and the constant question every parent faces: Am I doing this right? For families with limited income, transportation barriers, housing instability, or complex medical needs, those worries can become even heavier. For 35 years, Child Health Partnership (CHP) has stepped directly into those moments, offering steady, informed support where children grow and learn first: at home.
Founded in 1991, CHP was created with one goal in mind--to help local families raise healthy children. Hilary Bryan, Advancement Director at Child Health Partnership, explained that the timing of support matters as much as the type of support. “Child Health Partnership was founded to help families facing challenges in our community have support to raise healthy and happy children,” she said. “The program reaches babies and young children in their critical early years, when 90% of brain development takes place, to give all children a healthy start and is still central to our work.”
Over three decades later, the core mission remains intact. However, as Bryan describes, the organization has refined its approach to meet the evolving needs of children and parents. “Over the past 35 years, the core of our mission has remained consistent: to support families to build stable and nurturing homes to promote the health and well-being of young children,” she said. What has changed is how support is delivered. “We have evolved to using more formal curriculum and evidence-based tools to assess the development of babies and young children and support their growth.”
CHP’s staff consists of nurses and trained family support specialists who bring a broad skill set into each home. Bryan emphasizes that the program is built on respect, not prescription. “We believe that parents are their children’s first and best teachers and that our job is to support a strong bond between babies and their parents, based on their goals and priorities,” she explained. Rather than focusing on limitations, CHP builds from strengths. “Our core values include respecting families and believing in their abilities and resilience.”
Unlike organizations that rely on clinic visits or classroom programs, CHP delivers its services directly to families in their own living spaces. “Child Health takes our services to families, meeting in their homes where they are most comfortable and where we can build strong, trusting relationships.”
Beyond the importance of building trust, there are more reasons that meeting families in their homes is essential to CHP's mission. “Providing home visits also means that families do not face the barriers of child care and transportation to meet with our nurses and family support specialists,” Bryan explained. “Families are just more comfortable and open in their homes. They often feel more empowered.” While office visits are typically short and transactional, CHP’s visits are personal and meaningful. “Seeing someone for 10 minutes in an office is just completely different than visiting someone for an hour in their home.”
Child Health Partnership now serves over 350 children per year and has reached more than 5,750 children and over 3,600 families with approximately 80,000 home visits. Bryan described the people behind those numbers. “We see all kinds of families: first-time parents, newly arrived refugees, unhoused folks, parents with children with complex medical needs, young moms who grew up in foster care, rural families, a real cross-section of our community.”
Some families begin the program during pregnancy, while others join after a child is born. Economic challenges are a common thread, but Bryan stressed that each family brings something priceless to the table. “Since we are a voluntary program, I like to say that the one thing all our families have in common is the desire to build a better life for their children.”
CHP helps parents learn how to support early development with a focus on regular interactions. According to Bryan, “Just the common everyday activities are so important--talking to your baby, reading regularly, describing the world around them.” She added that parents often need information more than anything else: “Children learn through these loving connections with adults, and many of our parents just need the knowledge and confidence to be that person.”
But CHP’s support extends beyond child development. Babies thrive when a household’s basic needs are met, and CHP helps families access stability. “Babies also need stable housing, food, access to health care--so we help families learn to problem solve and know how to access the services they need.” That includes establishing consistent medical care. “Our nurses really focus on helping families establish a regular medical home, and learn how and when to get the needed care.”
As families’ needs have grown more complex, CHP has strengthened its partnerships. “We work closely with a wide array of community partners, helping families connect with and use their pediatricians, find dental care, access food, enroll in preschool, and qualify for needed benefits.” This community network spans healthcare, education, faith groups, civic organizations, and local businesses, many of which provide essentials like coats, food, backpacks, and safety supplies. “We couldn’t do this work without all our community partners,” Bryan said.
This year, CHP is marking a milestone: 35 years of service to local families. That celebration is also a reflection of leadership. “In those 35 years, we have only had two directors,” Bryan shared. She also noted the extraordinary longevity of many staff. “We have our staff members right now who have each been working on behalf of families for over 15 years.”
Bryan credits one person in particular for laying the foundation. “As we celebrate our 35th anniversary, my hat's off to our founding director, Judy Smith. Judy is a public health nurse who dedicated her life to Child Health and shepherded the organization for our first 25 years. What a legacy!”
While CHP is proud of its history, it also has its eyes on the future. Bryan acknowledges that family needs may change. “2025 is a challenging time to be looking too far ahead; it’s hard to know what new challenges families may be facing in 5-10 years.” Even so, CHP is preparing by expanding mental health and nutrition support, and looking toward areas where services are scarce. “We know that there are communities around us that don’t have these supports for families, and the need is great.”
Through every transition, CHP's mission to help families give children a healthy start remains strong, and they've seen success in many forms, from babies who have grown up and gone to college to teen parents who have worked to secure professional careers. As Bryan reflected, “It’s not dramatic success stories that inspire me the most, but parents working hard to be good parents every day.”
It’s not dramatic success stories that inspire me the most, but parents working hard to be good parents every day.
Since we are a voluntary program, I like to say that the one thing all our families have in common is the desire to build a better life for their children.