{"id":176887,"date":"2026-03-03T22:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/176887\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T22:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T22:00:14","slug":"a-quiet-place-to-breathe-new-nurseries-bring-comfort-to-shelter-moms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/176887\/","title":{"rendered":"A quiet place to breathe: New nurseries bring comfort to shelter moms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/xtrlhsx7qo2xhiik.jpg\" alt=\"Metropolitan Ministries' community nurseries\" class=\"sr-only\" data-v-4292be72=\"\"\/>    <\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">TAMPA &#8211; Metropolitan Ministries has opened two trauma sensitive nurseries inside its family residential shelters.<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">The spaces are designed to give new moms privacy, dignity, and peace while caring for their babies.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/vlcsnap-2026-03-03-11h52m41s672.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>   <\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">In a quiet corner of the family residential shelter, Keishawn Simpson rocks her one-month-old daughter, Jane, while her nine-year-old son plays nearby. For her, the nursery is more than just a room.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">&#8220;When I first came here and checked it out, and I first sat in this chair, the comfortability of this chair, it felt like all the weight was off my shoulders and all of my problems was gone,&#8221; she says, describing the relief of finally having a calm place to breastfeed and bond with her baby.<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">READ: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/news\/florida-medical-freedom-act-would-allow-parents-opt-out-school-vaccines-personal-beliefs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Florida &#8216;Medical Freedom Act&#8217; would allow parents to opt out of school vaccines for personal beliefs<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">Metropolitan Ministries President and CEO Dr. Sarah Combs says that sense of relief is exactly the point. &#8220;We provide a space that feels warm and inviting and dignified. We want our moms to be able to come into this space and feel like they\u2019re loved, and there\u2019s a special place for them to be calm,&#8221; Combs explains.<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">Dig deeper:<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">The nonprofit has opened two nurseries specifically for clients who are pregnant or parenting young children.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">Each space is trauma sensitive and designed with natural light, rocking chairs, books, and small play areas for older siblings.<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">Families can use the nurseries for feeding, soothing, reading, or simply stepping away from the noise that often comes with shared living spaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">The rooms also offer breastfeeding support and education on healthy sleep habits, helping parents build confidence as they work toward stable housing.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/vlcsnap-2026-03-03-11h53m26s759.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\">For moms like Quanshae Howard, who stays at the shelter with her young daughters, the nursery offers something simple but powerful: a place where her children can play, and she can find a moment of peace.<\/p>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13&#8217;s Corey Beckman and Mark Wilson.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/series\/whats-right-with-tampa-bay\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">What&#8217;s Right with Tampa Bay<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/us\/fl\/hillsborough\/tampa\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-06e3e0fd=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tampa<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA &#8211; Metropolitan Ministries has opened two trauma sensitive nurseries inside its family residential shelters. The spaces are&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[47,629,115,405,135,137,136,628,3970],"class_list":["post-176887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-fl","tag-hillsborough","tag-news","tag-series","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-us","tag-whats-right-with-tampa-bay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}