VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Two local moms are making it easier for families to find the support they need at every stage of parenthood — and they built an entire online hub to do it.
Laura Kelley and Jahnvi Thakkar, who met through their marketing careers, created the Porchlight Directory, an online resource for parents to find vetted businesses, services, and community connections.
"The whole point of Porchlight is to create a village," Kelley said.
The directory combines resources, businesses, and services for families starting from pregnancy — however that looks for them — through every stage of the parenting journey.
"We combine resources and businesses, services, [and] support starting at when somebody is getting pregnant or starting a family -- however that looks for them through their entire journey," Kelley said.
Between the two of them, their kids range from 22 months to 7 years old. Both Kelley and Thakkar said there was a lot they had to figure out on their own — and that was the driving force behind Porchlight.
"I would say 99% of these businesses that we've added to this resource, neither of us ever heard about what we were going through our pregnancies," Kelley said.
"We just want to share the resources and we just to help other women out there and not have to deal with what we went through," Thakkar said.
On the platform, moms can browse businesses by category, read verified articles, and connect with others through community groups.
"There's always a new set of parent going through this for the very first time," Thakkar said.
Those community connections are a core part of what makes Porchlight different, Kelley said.
"They might have a support system that you don't have. They might have kids a different age that you don't have. They might have some kind of diagnosis that your kids don't have or do have [and you can connect in this unique way]," Kelley said.
The team also runs what they call the "Weekend Glow," sharing women-focused events in the community.
"My biggest takeaway is you don't have to do this alone," Kelley said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Click here to see how we use AI at WTKR News 3.
