Rx Kids mom Yaquelin Vargas with baby Hope.
The last thing Rx Kids mom Yaquelin Vargas and her husband were expecting heading into 2024 was to be parents again.
The family already had three children, ages 8, 6, and 2, and didn’t plan to have more. In fact, Vargas’ husband had a vasectomy and Vargas herself didn’t think she could get pregnant again.
“I was definitely not planning another child in my life,” she said. “This is my unexpected baby.”
Plans changed, though, and baby Hope was born in the spring of 2024. One of the biggest immediate needs for the sudden family of six was a larger vehicle. With multiple young children still requiring car seats, their previous vehicle wasn’t large enough for the family to fit everyone for trips to appointments, school activities, appointments, grocery shopping, and other necessary trips. That’s where Rx Kids came in.
Rx Kids mom Yacquelin Vargas and Dr. Mona Hanna with baby Hope.
“I had a small car that four kids would not fit in,” Vargas said. “The first Rx Kids payment we got helped us get a bigger vehicle.”
Vargas, who has lived in Flint for about 10 years and works as a medical assistant and phlebotomist, said that Hope was also born three weeks premature. Cash prescriptions from Rx Kids allowed her to take more time off from work than she was able to with her other children.
“With my other children, I was back to work in about 14 days because I had to make a living,” she said. “With her, I could take my time and not rush back to work or make myself get a new job before I was even fully healed.”
Creating fewer burdens for moms and babies while empowering families to use the cash prescriptions in ways that best meet the specific needs of their households is exactly what Rx Kids was intended to do when it launched in January of 2024. Since then, the program has already served more than 1,000 families in Flint and provided more than $3 million in cash payments to support Flint moms and babies.
Luke Shaefer, co-director of Rx Kids and director of Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan., has been encouraged by how quickly a tangible the immediate impact has been on Flint families.
“We are thrilled with how well-received the program has been in less than a year,” Shaefer said. “Families have been able to secure essential household and baby-specific items that they otherwise may not have been able to access. The program is removing immediate burdens and barriers from moms all over Flint, alleviating the many common financial stresses and concerns related to having a baby.”
Vargas loves being a parent, particularly watching how babies learn and grow rapidly.
Rx Kids baby Hope during the Rx Kids Mother’s Day photo shoot in June of 2024.
“We learn with every single child,” she said.
But she also noted that babies are very expensive, and having a program like Rx Kids could potentially help many families.
“It is very expensive,” she said. “I try to coupon as much as I can, but it’s still difficult. So, this program has definitely helped me, and it would help a lot of families.”
During a speech at the Rx Kids Donuts, Diapers & Data event on September 19, Vargas also discussed her involvement with and support of The Luke Project 52 Clinic Flint, a ministry launched in 2016 out of love for mothers and their babies. The Luke Project provides prenatal and postpartum care to moms in need. The ministry and clinic’s staff adapt to the cultural needs of the patients they serve. More information is available on their website.