On September 16, 2014, Pebbles of Hope was awarded a Social Innovation grant from Udemy, Inc. The grant is awarded in the amount of $2,500 for the creation of the first module of the Pebbles of Hope Thrive Guide for parents of premature babies in underserved areas. The Thrive Guide will be an interactive tutorial – to be made available online through Udemy’s e-learning platform, on CD-ROM and via mobile devices — for mothers of premature babies in underserved areas to learn the techniques for providing effective care and promoting the proper development of their babies. This course will include instructional videos and detailed suggestions to guide parents in the care of their premature babies. The first module of the Thrive Guide will cover nutrition, breastfeeding and Kangaroo Care – skin -to-skin contact between mother and baby – and is expected to launch in early 2015. This grant will help cover some of the costs of developing the course content and videos.

Udemy is an online learning marketplace where over 4 million students are taking courses on almost any subject and in over 50 languages. In July 2014, Udemy launched its Social Innovation program. The program aspires to support nonprofits and entrepreneurs by offering monetary grants to help them create internal Udemy courses for their employees and open courses accessible to the broader public. Pebbles of Hope was one of two organizations awarded the Social Innovation grant for the month of September.

We are excited to have been selected for this award, and we thank Udemy for their support of Pebbles of Hope!