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Is your Equipped session going to be only for moms at your parish or moms in your area?

 

For example, we attend one of the largest Catholic churches in the country, but we have always opened up Equipped to moms in the DFW area. This has ensured that we have enough new moms to fill an in person session, 2-3 times per year, plus this has opened up the volunteer pool of potential people who can help. We still do registration through the parish we attend, but moms from all over can attend. 

 

Where are you going to host Equipped?

 

We have found that the best situation for the DFW Equipped is to be hosted in a home. It is more comfortable with the couches, places for the babies, homey feel, and it also has been a more neutral gathering spot for moms who are away from their Catholic faith, or aren’t even Catholic! This is not to say that you can’t host it at your church, just keep the comfortable and a non formal experience in mind for this to potentially be an evangelizing opportunity too. Couches, carpet for babies to crawl and play on, and a homey feel is very important to the ambiance. 

 

Is someone going to help lead it with you?

 

You can definitely do it by yourself, but life is a lot more fun with a friend and it makes it less of a burden on you when you can split the duties. 

 

Are you going to utilize the videos we provide or are you going to find your own speakers to speak on the 7 specific topics?

 

You can even do a mix! If you know a great mom who has a lot of wisdom to share, use her! Decide which topic you would like to hear her speak on, and ask her to speak! Ideally, women who are participating in Equipped can get to know your speakers to have resources within your own parish if they have future questions or need support. We have included basic outlines for each talk with important points for the moms to hear, and then they can fill in their own stories, experiences, and flair!  But if you can’t think of anyone or maybe want to start simply, just use the videos provided. That is what they are there for! You can always change it in future sessions! 

 

What dates is it going to start and end on? Are there any weeks you need to take a break because of holidays or school holidays for the volunteers? Will it run in the morning or at night?

 

Equipped is a 7 week series. Ideally it is run two to three times a year to allow moms on maternity leave to attend and to make sure that you only have moms with babies within the 0-12 month range. There may be a week that you need to “skip” because of a holiday but we don’t recommend skipping more than one week a session. On that skipped week too, it is a great idea to encourage the moms to get together outside of Equipped at a coffee shop, someone’s house, a playground, etc. Also, we have found 9:30-11:30 am to be a great time to host Equipped but that doesn’t mean you can’t do a night session either! Do what works best for your moms! Sometimes this is a mom’s first outing outside the house with her new baby, so you want to make it convenient for her to attend. 

 

What do I need to get started?

 

You need this leader handbook and the new mom handbook, speakers or videos to use, volunteers, a marketing mindset to intentionally invite new moms, and a love for new mamas and helping them develop community. 

 

How much should you charge? 

 

Here is a sample budget based on what we use to cover our costs (group registration fee, handbooks, etc). Feel free to make it work for you! Typically we ended up charging $35 and it always evened out in the end. Also, we ask people to donate the food for breakfast, so if you don’t have that option, make sure you factor that into your budget. 

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