Families and community advocates gathered in Liberty last Friday for a special community baby shower with a purpose.
Hosted by the nonprofit Maternal Infant Services Network (MISN), the celebration brought together free community resources, gifts, and free food for expecting and new families with children under two.
Jennifer Divine was one of several parents who joined the celebration with her two children, Isis and Jacia. She says she especially appreciates community events that support pregnant women. For her, Divine says her favorite part about being a mom is just “being a mom.”
“[There are] surprises all the time raising two kids, especially by yourself,” said Divine, a Hurleyville resident. “With my daughter being the youngest, I’m learning more and more from her every day. She has Down syndrome. It’s always different milestones.”
MISN provides insurance navigation, lactation services, and other community-based health support for families across Orange, Sullivan, Ulster, Putnam, and Dutchess counties in upstate New York.
Lauren Kropf-Zuckerman, community health advocate and marketing coordinator for MISN, said transportation remains one of the biggest hurdles for starting a new family, especially in more rural areas.
“Transportation, specifically in Sullivan County, has always been a barrier. Transportation to seek medical care – that’s very much needed within the first year of a baby’s life,” said Kropf-Zuckerman. “Luckily, our community health workers bridge the gap and often are able to assist in finding resources such as transportation and the best providers.”
For Cecilia Reyes, a Loch Sheldrake resident, Friday’s community baby shower was the second one she’s attended. She told Radio Catskill in Spanish that she first heard about MISN through a community health worker when she was pregnant with her first child.
“I liked the baby shower a lot because there were many programs I didn’t know about before. I now have a two-year-old, so when I learned MISN was doing it again, I decided to come,” said Reyes, a mother of two.
About a dozen local and state organizations provided resources and information at the event, including Fearless!, Sun River Health, Sullivan 180, and the Upstate New York Poison Center.
Emilie Felicia is a public health educator at the Poison Center, a free 24/7 confidential helpline for anyone with concerns about poison prevention. Felicia says the nonprofit often receives calls from families where young children confuse prescription pills with candies.
“We encourage families to make sure that they keep medications, whether it’s over the counters, prescriptions, supplements, making sure we keep those up high in a way out of sight, out of reach of children, just because of how much it looks like candy.”
MISN will host its next community baby shower in Kingston on April 24.
Image: Basket giveaways for attendees at MISN’s Community Baby Shower in Liberty on April 17, 2026 (Photo Credit: Kimberly Izar)