MANSFIELD — A chance meeting with a 17-year old mother changed everything for Brittany Baxter.
A teen mom herself, Baxter had her first child at 18 and her second at 19. Two summers ago, she met a 17-year-old mother with no parental guidance and no clear path forward.
“She was just a young girl with a baby,” Baxter said. “That’s when I saw the need and the Lord showed me this.”
That moment sparked the vision for Village at the Arc, a local initiative providing free baby items and support for families with infants.
Baxter said the name came naturally.
“We’re the village and we’re at the Arc — so Village at the Arc,” she said.
“It’s new and we are still structuring it, but it’s about to explode,” Baxter said. “I know that because the Lord said it is about to explode.”
Open to everyone, removing barriers for families
We are for everybody. It doesn’t matter your income or who you are. Everyone is welcome.
Brittany Baxter, founder of Village at the arc
Baxter emphasized Village at the Arc, located inside the ARC Empowerment Center at 378 Park Avenue West, is open to everyone.
“It doesn’t matter your income, who you are,” she said. “Everyone is welcome.”
When Baxter had her children, options like Village at the Arc did not exist. The places she used often required classes before receiving help. Village at the Arc removes that barrier — if a family needs something and it’s available, they can get it.
Her passion for the work comes from her heart for foster children. Baxter said she knows many young parents lack someone to guide them or explain what to expect, and that realization helped shape Village at the Arc.
“Eventually, we would like to do support groups, but that’s a little further down the road,” she said.
She also pointed to gaps in existing community resources, including long waiting lists at places like the health department.
“I waited three months. It’s unfortunately not an immediate thing,” Baxter said. “Here, if we have the product, you can just come get it.”
Families can access Village at the Arc through referrals from community health workers.
Donations and community support fuel Village at the Arc
Community Health Worker Pam Hargett said Village at the Arc does more than distribute supplies — it meets families where they are.
“We bring our clients here and they can shop for whatever they want,” Hargett said. “We don’t say you can’t have this, you can’t have that.”
Increasing community involvement remains a major goal. Donations from businesses, whether financial or physical items, help keep the room stocked and allow the ministry to grow.
All donated items must be new or unopened.
“Donations could even include postpartum items for the mom,” Hargett said. “Blankets, burp cloths — anything for a kid up to 2 at the most. We are trying to stay under that toddler age.”
To get started, Baxter said they purchased items they knew families needed most. Even so, Village at the Arc remains in need of baby food, strollers, car seats, diapers and baby carriers.
Hargett added there are no crib resources available in the county, making those donations especially critical.
“We can kind of establish with the parents and find out what they need,” she said. “If there are resources available in the community, we can connect them. If it doesn’t involve anything for a baby, we can still help them. Anything for a baby is all free.”
For emergent needs, such as someone lacking a car seat, Hargett said the team steps in immediately. Families seeking more general help can be connected with a community health worker to address broader needs.
“There’s lots of people to help,” she said. “Somebody is here usually all the time.”
Hargett can be contacted at PhargettProjectOne@gmail.com. Monetary donations by check should be made payable to ProjectOne, with “The Village” written in the memo line.
For Hargett, service is at the heart of Village at the Arc. Seeing people’s relief when they realize the items are free fuels her passion.
“That’s how this place runs,” she said. “All the people who work here are just servants. If we can take time and serve somebody else — that’s just who we are at the Arc. We are just being the hands and feet of Jesus.”
(Photos of items in the Village at the Arc room. Credit: Hannah Martin)
