Step Ahead is a place for parents to gather, to learn and to grow. It is a parent resource room driven by the needs of parents in the Itasca County area. Step Ahead is a project of the Children First! Initiative, a program of the Blandin Foundation.

Step Ahead, located next door to Baby Steps, provides high quality parenting videos, DVD’s, books, educational toys, and other resources for caregivers. Step Ahead has 166 different books and 61 audio visuals on a variety of parenting topics as part of its lending library. Items may be loaned to parents, grandparents, childcare providers, early childhood teachers or anyone else who provides care to children. Individuals who check out books or videos may earn coupons for Baby Steps merchandise.

Step Ahead also houses a toy lending library. Families may join for an annual membership fee of $5 or two coupons. Once a member, families may access a variety of educational toys and books as often as they wish for up to three weeks at a time.

In addition to the lending libraries, Step Ahead sponsors discussion groups and educational opportunities for parents and caregivers when requested and as appropriate. Some examples of offerings (co-sponsored with Baby Steps Boutique) include: Moms' Night Out, Parents of Multiples, Breastfeeding (in collaboration with The Lactation Club) and Infant Loss Group (with Hospice).

Step Ahead averaged 88.5 visitors per month in 2006, and checked out over 560 books, videos, and toys to visitors, with that nearly that many coupons being distributed as items were returned.

For more information, call Jaci at 218-326-1322.

The Baby Steps Boutique is an outgrowth of one of the original action teams of Children First! and opened in April 2001. The store looks and operates like a retail store, but coupons, rather than money, are used to “purchase” new merchandise for children ages 0-5. No money is exchanged at the store. Customers at the store find children's clothing, furniture (including strollers, cribs, mattresses, high chairs etc.), safety items, toys, books, diapers, monitors and many more accessories as would be found at a regular retail store.

Parents, along with extended family caregivers, earn coupons by active participation and/or compliance in programs that promote the well being of families. The boutique partners with social, medical and educational services that serve families in Itasca County that qualify to distribute coupons. Currently the store collaborates with 35 distributors. Our overall goal is to provide parents with information about services that benefit their families. An inviting environment is offered that promotes a sense of trust among parents and a safe place to share information about their lives which then enables the staff to provide informal referrals.

• The store is on target to have approximately 2,400 customer visits in 2005. On average the make up of customers is 88% female and 11% male.

• Since opening there have been 7,503 customer visits to the store as of August 31, 2005.

• Data collected indicate that buying merchandise is not the only motivation to come to the store. Receiving support and relationship building are important factors to the parents. Of 1,431 parents who have visited the store so far in 2005, 26% did not make purchases. Many of these visitors tell us Baby Steps/Step Ahead provide a support network not available to them elsewhere in the community. li>

• Baby Steps Boutique customer base includes 31+ zip codes.

The store is located in Old Central School, 10 NW 5th Street in Grand Rapids, MN and is open on Tuesdays from 9-4 and Thursdays from 12-7.

For more information, contact Sandy at 218-326-2300