<div><strong><em>From MamaKanto to the Next Step: </em></strong><em>Creating a Family Center for Families</em>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In Greece, pregnancy, birth, and early parenthood are often experienced without continuity, without everyday support, and without community.
</div>
<div>Many women and families lack a physical space where they can get informed, meet others, ask questions, and simply pause and breathe — from pregnancy through the early years of parenting.
</div>
<div>This gap is not only about medical care.
</div>
<div>It is about daily life, isolation, emotional load, and the absence of a supportive environment where parenthood can be lived with dignity, safety, and connection.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Who I am</strong>
</div>
<div>My name is Antonia Drougkou. I am a mother of three and co-founder of MamaKanto.
</div>
<div>After the birth of my third child, I personally experienced this lack of support — not only after birth, but already during pregnancy.
</div>
<div>Out of this lived experience, MamaKanto was born.
</div>
<div>Not as a business idea, but as a response to a real need: to create a space where women, parents, and families do not have to walk this journey alone.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>MamaKanto today</strong>
</div>
<div><em>MamaKanto</em> already exists and is active.
</div>
<div>It is a growing community and a real space where:
</div>
<div>gatherings, workshops, and seminars take place
</div>
<div>pregnant women and parents can receive information and support
</div>
<div>families feel safe, welcome, and accepted
</div>
<div>People who come to MamaKanto tell us they feel good there.
</div>
<div>And this is the most important part: it works.
</div>
<div>At the same time, our space and resources are limited — while the needs of families continue to grow.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Why we want to grow</strong>
</div>
<div>This is why we want to take the next step:
</div>
<div>to evolve MamaKanto into a Family Center.
</div>
<div>A shared space for families that offers continuity of care — from pregnancy through birth and into early parenthood — through different but equally important pillars.
</div>
<div>What we want to create
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>☕ <strong><em>Baby Café</em> – <em>the heart of the community</em></strong>
</div>
<div>My role and responsibility within this vision is the creation of the Baby Café.
</div>
<div>The Baby Café is not a playground.
</div>
<div>It is not a loud space with sugary drinks, junk snacks, and chaos, where bigger children overwhelm smaller ones and parents simply try to endure the visit.
</div>
<div>It is a calm, protected space, designed specifically for babies, toddlers, and their caregivers.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>In the Baby Café:</strong>
</div>
<div>children have access to high-quality, safe, age-appropriate toys
</div>
<div>the environment is designed to avoid overstimulation
</div>
<div>parents can sit, rest, connect, and truly take a breath
</div>
<div>The Baby Café will also offer high-quality, age-appropriate food, respecting children’s developmental needs as well as families’ values.
</div>
<div>Nutrition is treated as part of care — not as an afterthought.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Activities &amp; workshops</strong>
</div>
<div>All MamaKanto activities will take place within the Baby Café, making it the stable and living core of the community.
</div>
<div>These include:
</div>
<div>gatherings for pregnant women and new parents
</div>
<div>workshops and educational sessions
</div>
<div>small group activities for parents and children
</div>
<div>The Baby Café is not an add-on.
</div>
<div>It is the living heart of the Family Center.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><em>Small-scale Birth Center</em>
</div>
<div>The Family Center will also include a small, human-centered Birth Center, focused on respectful, continuous family care, with separate scientific responsibility and funding, in collaboration with experienced midwives.
</div>
<div>How the funds will be used
</div>
<div>This fundraising campaign is dedicated specifically to creating and equipping the Baby Café, as a core pillar of the Family Center.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>The funds will be used for:</strong>
</div>
<div>space renovation and setup
</div>
<div>furniture and essential equipment
</div>
<div>high-quality, safe toys
</div>
<div>creating a warm, calm, and functional environment for families
</div>
<div>Every donation has a direct and tangible impact.
</div>
<div>Why we are asking for your support
</div>
<div>We are not asking for help to start something from scratch.
</div>
<div>We are asking for support to grow something that already exists and works.
</div>
<div>By supporting this project, you:
</div>
<div>help MamaKanto evolve
</div>
<div>support families from pregnancy through early parenthood
</div>
<div>contribute to the creation of a community space that is deeply needed
</div>
<div>Care is not an individual responsibility.
</div>
<div>It is collective.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><em>You can already find and follow our work through MamaKanto on social media:</em>
</div>
<div><em>Facebook: </em><strong><em>MamaKanto</em></strong>
</div>
<div><em>Instagram</em>: <strong>@mamakanto</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Thank you for becoming part of this next step.</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>

Eleni Raptidou

Malvina Anninou

A Safe Place for Babies and Parents to Breathe

Still €4,715 to go. Help us build momentum.