Thanks to the United Postal Service, Hudson Cradle, a Jersey City-based charity that cares for babies temporarily separated from their parents, will be able to improve its facilities. The UPS Foundation, the charitable arm of the United Postal Service, donated $25,000 to the organization.
“Funds from the UPS Foundation support our mission to provide an environment in which infants feel valued and loved and are provided with the means to develop emotionally, socially and cognitively,” said Sallie Porter, executive director of Hudson Cradle. “Hudson Cradle’s staff is committed to operating a comprehensive program capable of nurturing the infants in our care.”
According to Porter, the $25,000 donated by UPS to Hudson Cradle will be used to upgrade the sunroom and playroom in the facility, which is located at 1805 Kennedy Blvd.
“We have three major play spaces at the center on Kennedy,” Porter explained. “The sunroom and playroom are two of them. We’ll be replacing the carpet and adding gross motor skills equipment.”
Porter elaborated that gross motor skills are the movements a baby makes with its major muscle groups, located in the infant’s arms and legs.
“Gross motor skills equipment would help the babies with walking and running,” said Porter. “We would have toys like walkers and small cars for the infants to play with.”
Porter described the Hudson Cradle as taking care of “boarder babies.”
“These are babies who have been released from the hospital, but have no home to go to,” said Porter. “Many of the parents of the ‘boarder babies’ are drug addicts or are homeless.”
The facility houses between 30 to 40 infants per year, Porter added, caring for the children’s health and developmental needs. The age range of children who come to the Cradle runs from newborn to 18 months, Porter said.
“Many of the infants who are coming to us recently have been exposed to drugs in the womb,” Porter said, adding that many of the parents use drugs at the time of pregnancy.
Ten years old
Formed in March of 1992 by the combined efforts of the Jersey City Medical Center, the Division of Youth and Family Services and the county of Hudson, the Hudson Cradle takes in babies from area hospitals.
“The children are referred to us by DYFS,” Porter stated. “DYFS is told about the boarder babies by the hospitals themselves.”
According to Porter, the large majority of the drug exposed babies shared the heroin or cocaine their mothers were using during the pregnancy.
“The children are actually withdrawing from the drug dependency,’ Porter stated. “We treat them with tincture of opium.”
Porter said the babies with pre-birth drug exposure often suffer from stomach cramps, sweats and spitting up as part of withdrawal.
Another, smaller group of children at Hudson Cradle are infants exposed to the HIV virus in the womb. These children are treated with AZT, according to Porter, to prevent the HIV infection in the child from the mother.
Porter said that infants are cleared of the virus with treatment and eventually grow to their normal birth weight. “We take care of these babies, but they are not up for adaptation,” Porter stressed. “Most of the children find permanent foster homes, and a smaller group of them go home with relatives.”
Patrick Durkin, UPS Foundation spokesman, said the foundation makes a total of nine donations of various amounts in the metropolitan area. The Hudson Cradle was one of the seven area organizations which received $25,000, Durkin said.
“One organization receives a $100,000 donation, while a second gets $50,000,” Durkin explained.
On a yearly basis, UPS employees collect the names of non-profit organizations, like Hudson Cradle, to nominate for the grant, Durkin explained.
“To date, the UPS Foundation has donated $40 million to charities in the metro area,” said Durkin, noting that the Foundation was founded in 1951.
“Many of our employees have gotten involved with charities on a personal level,” Durkin stated. “It can be a truly eye-opening experience in some ways.”
According to Durkin, many UPS workers based in Jersey City have donated their time to Hudson Cradle.
“Some of the volunteers have spent time holding babies in rocking chairs,” Durkin observed. “The time our people have put in has helped form a relationship many non-profit organizations in our area.”
To contact Hudson Cradle, call (201) 332-7879. The email address for Hudson Cradle is www.hudsoncradle@aol.com.