Community Resources
Support from Your Community
Lancaster County and the surrounding areas have dozens of community agencies, nonprofit organizations, and programs to provide you with the support and assistance you need to thrive, including resources for:
- Food & meals
- Housing
- Clothing
- Legal assistance
- Transportation
- Healthcare
- and more!
Contact us for more information.
Other Available Resources
By law, unpaid maternity leave of a total of 12 weeks is granted to all new moms and dads in Pennsylvania by the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA).
Healthy Beginnings Plus
If you are an expectant mother who is eligible for Medical Assistance, Healthy Beginnings Plus (HBP) is a free program that may help you have a healthy pregnancy and give your baby a good start in life. As a participant in HBP you will have a healthcare team dedicated to your individual needs. The HBP team will include a doctor or certified nurse midwife, a nurse care coordinator, and a social worker.
HBP helps assure you and your baby receive the best medical care possible. In addition to checkups, they offer childbirth, exercise, nutrition, and breastfeeding classes.
Eligibility
- You are pregnant
- You are eligible for medical assistance—Apply for Benefits
If you do not have insurance, or your insurance does not fully cover prenatal care, please contact them for more information at 717-544-4305.
Nurse-Family Partnership
Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP) is a free program that helps first-time, low-income mothers and their infants receive healthcare services, health education, emotional support, and guidance. When you enroll, you will be connected to your own personal, registered nurse who will visit you in the privacy of your home throughout your pregnancy and until your baby is two years old. Your nurse will provide the support, advice and information you need to have a healthy pregnancy and baby, and be a great mom.
If interested, please call them 717-544-1952 before your 28th week of pregnancy.
A father has clearly established legal rights and responsibilities to his child, including a duty to support his child financially and the right to have visitation. However, when a child is born to a woman who is not married to anyone at the time of birth, there is no legal relationship between the father and the child.
The State of Pennsylvania can help you to establish legal paternity, which grants the family access to certain benefits, including listing the father’s name on the birth certificate, health care benefits through the father’s employer, social security benefits, and more.
Establishing paternity also allows the State to collect child support if necessary.