Raising children can be a full-time job with many responsibilities. Some local families need a little support through their parenting journeys, which is where the Athens Birth Circle, a non-profit organization, comes in.
Athens Birth Circle, located at 217 Columbus Rd., began in 2002 with a meeting at the Athens Public Library. The meeting welcomed parents and parents-to-be to share their challenges and tips and exchange birth stories.
The organization provides new and existing parents with various resources and classes to prepare them for the arrival of newborns and connect with other families across town.
Of the multiple workshops offered is the Prepared Parents Workshop, where parents and soon-to-be parents can learn essential skills including infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid, parental self care and infant care and safety.
Courtney Knoch, executive director for the Birth Circle, understands it can take a “village” to raise a child and strives to be the village for locals.
Knoch has a 6-year-old daughter and discovered the Birth Circle last summer after donating a baby-bump henna certificate from her personal business for the organization's resource fair. Henna is a “temporary tattoo” and “hair dye” made from a henna plant, according to WebMD.
“In the three months that I've been at the Birth Circle, I have met so many different people, and it's just amazing because we're not income based at all,” Knoch said. “No government funding. We were all fundraising and grants. So I have families (and) both parents are doctors. I have a family that it's a single mom with their four kids, and they're homeless. They all come and play together or interact with each other.”
The Birth Circle holds monthly events like One World, Many Stories, which is a gathering for international families to connect and enjoy a meal together. This month’s meeting is Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Richland Avenue Park, with food from Mauvette’s Caribbean Cuisine.
Knoch said the organization always provides catering from a local ethnic restaurant and encourages all people to attend.
“At the end of the day, everybody just wants to live their lives and raise their kids or be peaceful and happy,” Knoch said.
Knoch said attendees can learn about other cultures, mentioning how a mother from Ghana taught another mother how to wrap her baby in a traditional Ghanaian way.
Namaganda Zaharah, a second-year doctoral student at Ohio University, is from East Africa, a mother to two children and actively involved with the Birth Circle.
Zaharah wrote a letter to the Birth Circle, thanking the organization for its support and advocacy for families.
“The (One World, Many Stories) event involved a lot of sharing, learning and connection,” Zaharah said in the letter. “I learned about other cultures, available community resources and additional work that the Birth Circle does that I was previously unaware of. I felt a strong sense of belonging and acceptance, and I appreciated how everyone was treated with respect, without discrimination, regardless of background or skin color.”
In terms of future events and groups for the Birth Circle, Knoch said the organization is interested in starting a dad’s group, as dads can sometimes feel excluded in a larger group. She also has plans to begin a bilingual story time to teach children about colors, the alphabet and a new language.
Birth Circle volunteers strive to provide local families with resources and multiple Athens locals show support of the organization’s mission in return. Kayla Arielle is a local photographer and impressionistic artist who donated clothes to the Birth Circle recently.
Arielle decided to organize the Whimsy Ball, an event welcome to anyone interested in conversing with friends and wearing a “whimsical outfit.”
Arielle decided to donate $5 from each ticket to the Birth Circle.
“(The Birth Circle) really cares about moms and kids,” Arielle said. “It really aligned with the heart of the event, which is about nurturing connection and creating something meaningful, not just entertaining.”
The event is at the Zenner House, located at 30 Utah Place, May 31. Tickets cost $111 for a single attendee, and the event is for those 17 years old and above.
