Believe it or not, in the late 1800’s, society urged the poor to divest themselves of their “offspring” and send them into service or other forms of child labor. By contrast, The Floating Hospital took the then progressive approach that extreme poverty would not break the bond between a mother and her child, and that the key to the health of both was recognizing the importance of those relationships and giving them the means to thrive. The Floating Hospital’s annual reports from this era show incredible efforts by staff to educate the poor on nutrition, rest, and other essential life skills—and the equally incredible and heroic efforts by them to raise their children as best they could. Today, the poorest among need that same encouragement and support, and as we have been from our inception, The Floating Hospital is there to provide that helping hand. | |
