We recently connected with Nikola Reinfelds and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Nikola, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
Finding my purpose first started with pain. I was lost in new motherhood and in a new state and all the challenges that come with postpartum recovery and childcare without a village. I love my children, don’t get me wrong, but I am not fulfilled with them being my purpose. And, honestly, that is not fair for our children to make them responsible for our value and worth. Our worth is inherent, but purpose requires passion.
When I found Stork Support, I found a purpose that ignited a passion in me. I am truly passionate about ensuring every new family has access to pratical and essential needs during that critical time of the third and fourth trimesters and that first year of life because I was no differnt. Navigating new parenthood was really painful for me and I needed Stork Support to help relieve a bit of that stress. I absolutely love what I do because it was something I needed and now I get to provide it to hundreds of families.
I think often purpose comes from within. I knew what I needed and I became determined to provide that resource to others. And that was all it took to make a dream into an organization that serves a family every single day.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Stork Support of Northern Colorado is a local community-based nonprofit rooted in the belief that every new family is worthy of a strong start through support. Founded in 2018 it was run as a s-corp that freely offered baby items to anyone in need. When quarantine started in 2020 it became clear that Stork Support needed to be an official nonprofit to meet the rising needs in our community and that’s when I stepped up. I started as a volunteer and then became a client with our unexpected third baby born in the summer of 2020 and then our founder asked if I could keep Stork Support going. It wasn’t great timing. I had a newborn, my first born going through online Kindergarten, my middle child in what we called “winging-it preschool” at home and, you know, that whole pandemic thing happening. Regardless, I knew that I always wanted to work in the nonprofit sector and this was my opportunity to do so in a big and impactful way. Along with me having meaningful work that also allowed me the flexibility to raise my kiddos and be available for my family. So I worked eagerly to file for our 501(c)(3), which we were granted in March 2021.
Since that unforgetable moment when I finally recieved the letter of exemption from the IRS it’s been a continual whirlwind. There are days when I throw up my hands and say, “I have no idea what I’m doing!” But then I look at the impact we’ve made through Stork Support in the last three years and realize it really doesn’t matter that I don’t have it all figured out, or that I’m learning as I go, beause we are making a valuable difference now.
Whenever I hear someone say that they don’t know how to give back to their community or that they don’t have enough time or money, I love to share my story. I don’t have a lot of time or money either and yet since April 2021 Stork Support has put 97,151 diapers into the hands of neighbors that wouldn’t have been able to diaper their infant otherwise. I work out of my garage and even though the dream is to have a home for Stork Support where the community can gather, get what they need and network with more resources, I’m not going to stop serving just because the dream will take time. What matters is the family I helped today. They matter. I matter. Time and money are important variables, yes, but they are not limits to the difference you can make by simply choosing to show up with courageous love.
This year I am most excited to work towards expanding our Postpartum Recovery Kit offering to local partners. In 2023 we doubled the number of Postpartum Recovery Kits we distributed from 2022 and I want to see that trend continue. So many of our birthing neighbors do not have access to the period products, health items or personal care products they need to recover from birth with dignity. That is no OK. These kits offer the essentials, but also are a gift of love and care. The maternal mortality rate is on the rise in the US. Suicide is a leading cuase of direct maternal death between 6 weeks and 12 months after birth. Not having the everyday essentials to care for your own body has a significant impact on mental health. We also do not have paid maternity leave at the federal level and without an income, period poverty is a reality for many. My hope is that our Postpartum Recovery Kit is early intervention for asking for help with these products. That our recipients gain the respect and confidence to know that their biology doesn’t determine their worth and shouldn’t be a reason to be excluded from life and opportunities. I am not happy that period poverty exsists, but I am happy to see that the awareness of this problem is growing and that more organizations are stepping up to face this hygiene crisis and meet the needs. I believe in collective impact and I’m excited to link arms with more community groups to help fight period poverty and be the postpartum support every birthing person is entitled to.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Looking back on the last three years I think my tenacity has been the most important quality to Stork Support’s success. More than half of the nonprofits that start close their doors within the first five years and although I know we still have two more years to survive to make that five year milestone, I know that I will never give up.
My advice for anyone that has a dream of starting a nonprofit is to remember that infrastructure is important. I love service. My love language is definietly giving to others. I am empathetic and organized and can take a trash bag full of chaotic donations and turn it into a loving gift for a grateful family. But if I didn’t stop and invest in ways to make Stork Support sustainable, I would have had to close our doors long ago.
Find your passion and stay close to your why when times get tough. What I do is really hard. Like really, really hard. But I know that the lack of maternal support, diaper need, period poverty, these are not problems that I want my children to inherit. I want my children to always know that I did everything in my power to make our world a better place. Because, as they say, we do not inherit the world from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
As I said before I am a big believer in collective impact. There is absolutely no way we can meet the needs of our community alone. My goals are always to decrease stress and increase connection.
Stork Support is looking for more organizations, groups and businesses to partner with us in a meaningful way. Either through sponsorships, donation drives, kit building volunteer events, creating handmade gifts or whatever your skills and talents could assist with our growing organization. You have to be flexible and kind. I am still a stay at home mom of three frist and run Stork Support voluntarily in my pockets of time. You also have to really care about born babies and their families. We are here for the challenging third and fourth trimesters of life and also to end infant malnutrition in our community. That requires all of us to care and believe that babies shouldn’t ever go hungry regardless of the situation they were born into.
If what we do at Stork Support calls your heart to act, please don’t hesitate to reach out and connect. The fastest way to get a hold of me is to call or text message: 970-829-8627
Contact Info:
- Website: https://storksupportofnoco.com/index.html
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storksupportofnoco/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/storksupportfriends/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stork-support-of-northern-colorado
