HelloBaby Identifies Site For A Second Location
HelloBaby Identifies Site For A Second Location
By Tia Carol Jones
Debbie Frisch founded HelloBaby after being a short-term foster care provider and seeing how necessary certain resources were when it came to raising children. She decided to create a space where parents, guardians and caregivers could receive necessary resources and children would have a place to play, which Frisch said is at the foundation of learning.
HelloBaby opened its Woodlawn location at 600 E. 61st St. Now, it has found a space for its second location in Avalon Park at 8507 S. Stony Island. Frisch said the anticipated opening for the Avalon Park location is Spring 2026.
Frisch estimates that during her time as a short-term foster care provider she had 50 babies in her care. Those babies were between the ages of birth to five-years old, with most of them being from birth to 1-years old. She said she saw how much harder it was in communities where there wasn’t as much access to resources. Instead of taking the babies into her home one at a time, she developed HelloBaby. She said putting the first HelloBaby in Woodlawn really helped the community because it provides the foundation children need to be school ready for lifelong learning and success.
HelloBaby offers a free-of-charge drop in play space for caregivers and children, which is designed for children from birth to 3-years old. Frisch said that while Universal Pre-Kindergarten begins at 3- years old, the space can benefit children that age, as well as children up to 5- years old. She said the process for registering the first time is simple and once they register caregivers can bring the children in whenever they want. HelloBaby operates from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, with the last play visit taking place at 3 p.m. Caregivers stay with their child.
Frisch said that too many children are dependent on cell phones and media nowadays. She doesn’t fault families who use these tools to entertain their children, but she does acknowledge that these families need resources to support them in raising their children. That’s where HelloBaby comes in. HelloBaby provides diapers, wipes, clothing, as well as enrichment for children.
“Our goal is to really eliminate play deserts in Chicago and to go into neighborhoods that we feel we could serve well and that could benefit from our services,” she said.
Frisch said that at the Woodlawn facility, there are between 500 to 600 play visits a month, which she said amounts to about 120 to150 each week. She said the Avalon Park location will use the model as the Woodlawn location; it will have the same programming and a nature garden.
Frisch said a lot of the families who were coming to the Woodlawn location lived near the Avalon Park neighborhood. She said the goal is to be accessible without having families travel too far to take advantage of the resources that Hello Baby has to offer. She said she wants the Avalon Park location to be a community hub for the families. She said that play is the work of childhood, so it is important for children to have spaces and places where they can play and interact with other children.
For more information about HelloBaby, visit https://hellobabychgo.org.
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