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Alison Stewart: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. While some of our favorite actors are on strike and we can't talk to them about their projects, we can talk to them about issues or causes they care about and support. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, we've been calling this series, But Enough About Me.

Today my guests are Uma Thurman and Julie Burns who work to support parents and babies, especially those who have challenging economic circumstances. Room to Grow is a nonprofit that helps low-income families through the first three years of a baby's life from practical items like strollers and answering questions to bigger-picture issues like access to housing. The organization is celebrating a milestone, 25 years, and next week is its gala. Here to talk about their work together and to help us cut through some of the noise around parenting are Julie Burns. Hi, Julie.

Julie Burns: Hi.

Alison Stewart: And Uma Thurman. Hi, Uma.

Uma Thurman: Hi. Hi.

Alison Stewart: Hi. Hi. For full disclosure, I used to volunteer at Room to Grow back in the day, long time ago.

Julie Burns: Ooh. Did you love that?

Alison Stewart: Yes. Such a great organization. Uma-

Uma Thurman: That's fantastic.

Alison Stewart: -this started in a very New Yorky way. You had a question for your neighbor, Julie. What did you want to know?

Uma Thurman: Okay. My neighbor Julie, who is beautiful, slender person, kept collecting baby items in the hallway of the brownstone and I was also doing so because I was becoming a mother for the first time. Finally, I was so confused by it because she was not getting any bigger, but the baby items were just piling up. I said to her, "Excuse me, what's going on with all the baby stuff?" She was like, "I need to talk to you about this. I'm starting an organization. There's a massive gap in the system for children in New York City and surrounding areas. Let's talk." That's where it started for me.

Alison Stewart: Julie, how did it start for you? How did Room to Grow-- how was it born?

Julie Burns: Well, I, at the time that Uma is talking about 25 years ago, which is unbelievable I think to both of us, I was a social worker and working with school-aged children and recognizing that many of the challenges that I was seeing with a number of the children who were coming from low-income circumstances at the clinic I was working at, that so much of what I was seeing really could in many ways be prevented. That if we were able to engage their parents from the very beginning of their lives, that we might really have an opportunity for prevention as opposed to later intervention.

Alison Stewart: Uma, having a neighbor who knows about early childhood experience and development is a godsend for a new parent. This is 25 years later, you're still involved in the organization. What happened in those early days that helped you really invest and deeply support Julie's work and Room to Grow's work?

Uma Thurman: Well, Julie was actually talking to me about how pregnancy is actually a time that the female brain opens up and actually has a growth spurt. I think emotionally, I just locked-- in some ways, I used to joke that you become a citizen when you become a parent because you start to see every person as being someone else's child and just seeing the value in each person on a-- at least I did on a deeper level, I think, than I had been more self-involved before becoming a parent.

For me, understanding what I was going through and imagining going through it without proper nutrition access, without the comfort of knowing you can provide a blanket, resources, even just being able to ask people questions who are informed. These types of things, for me, I felt it in my heart what it would be like to be going through this without any support. It became a passion for me then to want to help change that for children being born who I saw as my children's peers, their generation. Their whole generation needs to have a chance and be enriched.

Alison Stewart: Julie, when we talk about the support that is provided, we talked about some of the practical stuff, the strollers and the binkies and the bottles, but when you talk about wraparound services that offer support, what does that mean and what does that entail?

Julie Burns: What that means is Room to Grow, unlike anything that I had seen at that time and honestly even to this day is quite unique in that this holistic approach engages parents with what we call three pillars of support. Specifically, as you alluded to, we provide all the needed material items for the parents growing children over the course of the three years.

We also offer high-quality evidence-informed parenting information. What any parent would expect from a Mommy and Me class or other references in their lives, et cetera, things that many other families have access to. That's what we are providing in the form of coaching and guidance for the families every three months over the course of their time with Room to Grow.

Then thirdly, we facilitate for them community connections. That will help caregivers achieve their larger goals and support the full family system. That could look like stable housing, helping them find employment, childcare, and so much more.

Alison Stewart: My guests are Julie Burns, founder and president of the Board of Room to Grow, as well as Uma Thurman, founding board member. Gee, I believe you're hosting the gala next week, is that right, Uma?

Uma Thurman: We are. Julie and I, we are doing it together. We are a team so we're doing it together. It's at the Ziegfeld on the 25th and it's a beautiful time. Julie's work and what she's created, it's an awesome social tool that could be employed in every city in America as a way for a community to help support their fellow person and bring the entire community along together.

Alison Stewart: Julie, we talked about this. We talked over it a little bit, but I want to circle back to it and drill in a little bit. Why focus on zero to three?

Julie Burns: Yes. So I think it's pretty well known mainstream, but it's quite well-researched and understood that the first three years of life are extremely important for a child's continued growth. We know that 80% of the human brain develops by the time a child turns three. Also, a million neural connections are made every second within those first three years.

What that means is that a child's ongoing social, emotional, physical wellbeing, they're all deeply impacted by what takes place at this foundation of their lives. Also, at this time, the primary relationship is with their caregiver. Being able to support the caregiver to enable a secure and stable early foundation is critical where the child can experience a stable and reliable first attachment. These are all just so important.

Then I would say as well that research also tells us that in the absence of intervention, that children who are born into poverty on average by kindergarten will likely have cognitive scores that are 60% lower than those of a child not born into poverty. That's in the absence of support by way of certainly the material items, but also all the other aspects of our work that we can help secure and enrich the lives of these children.

Alison Stewart: Uma, not everybody can afford a gala ticket or is comfortable going out right now. If someone wanted to help out in some way, if they wanted to give back, or they wanted to get involved with Room to Grow, what are some of the things they can do?

Uma Thurman: Well, like you did, you can volunteer. It’s so wonderful that you did that. You can volunteer. Go to our website, roomtogrow.org, which will give you many different options and directions. People can donate their own lightly used baby infant items, books, toys. We have mail-in bags that make it really easy for a person, all that accessible on the website. One can even, I think access, witness the gala online, and which is all there at roomtogrow.org.

Julie Burns: Yes, those bags are really cool. A lot of people are doing them with upcycling and thrifting, but it's the same idea. You put it in the bag and it's prepaid. Is that the idea, Julie?

Julie Burns: It's $15 but with a prepaid label, a return label. It could not be any easier.

Alison Stewart: The name of the organization--

Julie Burns: And fills up a lot.

Alison Stewart: I'm sure, and also keeps stuff out of the landfill on top of that.

Julie Burns: Yes.

Uma Thurman: Yes.

Alison Stewart: My guests have been Uma Thurman and Julie Burns. We've been talking about Room to Grow. The gala is next week and Happy 25th anniversary.

Uma Thurman: Thank you.

Julie Burns: Thank you.

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