In Northern Kentucky by Helping Moms

It’s no secret Northern Kentucky has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic. In 2016, Northern Kentucky had 1,584 heroin overdose visits at St. Elizabeth emergency departments. There were more than 200 drug-related overdose deaths and more than 200 babies born to addicted mothers.

As a longstanding member of the Northern Kentucky community, Cove Federal Credit Union saw this as a problem that we could, and should, help with, even if in a small way.

Cove was originally chartered as SEMC Federal Credit Union in 1970 by a small group of employees of St. Elizabeth Hospital in Covington, Ky. It was through our nearly 50-year partnership with St. Elizabeth Healthcare that we found a way to do our part in fighting the drug epidemic in our community – supporting the Baby Steps program.

St. Elizabeth’s Baby Steps program provides education and support to women with Opiate Use Disorder. The program provides information about being healthy while pregnant, and provides education to better understand the risks of newborn withdrawal and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. In essence, it provides these women with the support and tools to be successful.

So, what can a credit union do to support an incredible program like this? We asked the program managers and the answer was simple: diapers and wipes. The diapers and wipes are given to the women who participate in the program as an incentive to continue with Baby Steps to manage and fight addiction, for themselves and their babies.

This is our second year collecting diapers and wipes for the Baby Steps program. Last year, our collection supplied the program for nearly six months! We’d like to do even better this year.

With the holidays approaching, we’re asking the community to help us supply diapers and wipes to the Baby Steps program for 2018. Helping is easy: 1. Buy diapers and wipes. 2. Drop them off at Cove Federal Credit Union, on Dudley Road in Edgewood, Ky. 3. Fight addiction in Northern Kentucky by helping moms.

To learn more about the Baby Steps program, call (859) 301-2501. To learn more about Cove Federal Credit Union, visit www.covefcu.com.