Acknowledging Gratitude with Danielle Krupa, Founder of Moms for Moms NYC

Danielle Krupa is a mother of two with many years of outstanding work in health and wellness. Her expertise has been featured in Shape Magazine, NBC News, and The Kitchn, to name a few. But her work doesn’t stop in the health and wellness industries! Danielle is also the Founder and Executive Director of the non-profit organization, Moms for Moms NYC, whose mission is to provide support as well as newborn and postpartum recovery essentials to single mothers across New York City.

Before we jump into Moms for Moms NYC, we’d love to learn about your motherhood journey as a mom of two daughters.

Let’s rewind a bit to your pregnancy journeys: Were your pregnancy experiences different with each of your daughters? In terms of wellness, what adjustments did you make to your routine throughout each pregnancy? Today, what aspects of wellness are important to you, and how do you incorporate these into your family’s lifestyle?

Danielle Krupa: They were similar and different in so many ways. They were very similar in that with both, I carried the same way, had the same cravings (chocolate milk and watermelon!) and had similar comfort and discomfort levels. The major difference between them was that with my first pregnancy I took the time to fill my freezer with food before her birth, I still worked out consistently, I had a doula, I practiced hypnobirthing, and overall I was very Zen about it all. With my second pregnancy (less than 2 years later), a lot of that went out the window as I was now chasing a toddler around. I still tried to make time to practice self-care and maintain some level of fitness, but it was much harder and definitely more chaotic.

I think of my family’s wellness often and while yes, our family is active and we eat lots of fruits and vegetables, avoid too much sugar, etc.… I think more these days about our overall mental and spiritual wellness. I really value our quality time together as a family, phones off, meals together, weekend baking sessions, exploring art, music, and different cultures – those are the things that bring an overall sense of wellness to our family.

Your mother inspired the idea of Moms for Moms NYC after you became a mom. What’s one motivational outlook you learned from your mother that you hope to pass on to your daughters?

DK: My mom is an absolute gem. She is the kindest, strongest, most inspiring woman I know. She always taught me to believe in myself and that is something I definitely hope to pass on to my daughters. Also, the resilience, grit, perspective, and gratitude she raised me with – those are qualities I value in her and myself – and I one hundred percent hope to raise my girls with the same.

You founded Moms for Moms NYC in 2014. How has this non-profit organization evolved since its beginning, and what do you envision for it in the years to come?

BT: That’s a great question and I could go on forever about how we’ve grown and where I see us going. The biggest change from Moms for Moms inception is that we began as a small pay-it-forward initiative. We didn’t have a plan or an agenda. And we didn’t raise money outside of our own personal contributions. In that first year there were months when we gathered gift cards, back-to-school supplies, strollers, winter coats, and more and delivered them to local shelters. We just wanted to support mothers in any way we could. It wasn’t until a year later that I started to envision what is now our Newborn Baby Bundle and our partnership model. It was then I began the process of filing our 501c3 and it was then that I started to realize this was a much bigger issue than I originally thought. That I started to see the huge gap in postpartum and newborn essentials that exists in federal assistance programs. Now, over 7 years later we’ve grown exponentially, we’ve streamlined what we do, we’ve gained awareness, we’ve supported thousands of mothers, and we have a very clear vision for the work that needs to be done and how we can achieve it. Right now we are able to support approximately 800-1,000 mothers a year, but there are over 90,000 single mothers living in poverty in NYC alone. We are just scratching the surface, so I envision that over the next few years we can continue to raise funds, grow our team, increase our volunteer program, continue to expand our relationships with brand and corporate partners (like Matrescence!) and ultimately, the greatest goal, to reach an even larger portion of the mothers that are in need of our Newborn Baby Bundles and Postpartum Recovery Kits. 

"Right now we are able to support approximately 800-1,000 mothers a year, but there are over 90,000 single mothers living in poverty in NYC alone. We are just scratching the surface ..."

Moms for Moms NYC distributes Newborn Baby Bundles and Postpartum Recovery/Care Kits across the NYC area. In terms of postpartum self-care for mothers, what advice can you give to new mothers feeling challenged between being a new mom and taking care of themselves?

BT: Oh this is a tough question because I think so much of the care mothers receive depends on their living and family situations. But I do think that universally, all mothers need to have a support system around them. Becoming a mother is life-changing and it’s vital to the health of your newborn and yourself to have care and support. Trying to get sleep, nourishment, your mental health, all of that plays into it. That’s why we include in our Postpartum Recovery Kits the critical items a new mom needs most, but also cozy slipper socks, a reusable water bottle, protein bars, snacks, and a resource guide that has information on postpartum depression, lactation, and more. It’s so important to find that balance. And it’s ok to ask for help. Women shouldn’t have to do this on their own.

"Becoming a mother is life-changing and it’s vital to the health of your newborn and yourself to have care and support."

After each day of helping and supporting so many of NYC’s single moms and their babies, how do you finish your days in terms of self-care (skincare, reading, journaling, meditation, etc.)?

I value self-care in any way that I can get it. Whether it’s a long bath at the end of the night, cozying up with a good book, digging into a new show (I just finished Inventing Anna and Shonda Rhimes is a genius!), listening to a podcast, or my favorite, relaxing with my husband and chatting about our day. And I love a good skincare routine. Serums, creams, oils, exfoliators, masks, you name it, I love them all. But I also don’t take for granted that my self-care routine is a privilege. I know I’m able to do all the “right” things because I have access and resources. So at the end of the day, acknowledging gratitude is truly the highest form of self-care I can practice.

"But I also don’t take for granted that my self-care routine is a privilege. I know I’m able to do all the “right” things because I have access and resources. So at the end of the day, acknowledging gratitude is truly the highest form of self-care I can practice."