BROOMFIELD, Colo. -- If you just moved to a new community, finding the best doctors, schools, or even restaurants can be hard.

Stay-at-home mom Cindy Gunderson just moved from Berkeley, Calif. to Broomfield. She said connecting with other moms in the community was difficult.

"Especially parents, or stay-at-home parents, when you don't have those automatic colleagues at work, or those automatic people that you're seeing everyday, it can be really isolating," she said.

To break the isolation, she built a new Web site using her home computer called the Broomfield Parents Network. The BPN, as members call it, is a free online newsletter full of community events and recommendations for kid-friendly businesses.

"It's especially for medical professions, childcare, schools, classes, things like that. I think those really have to come from recommendations. You don't just want to sign up with anybody," Gunderson said.

The Broomfield Parents Network is patterned after another BPN -- the Berkeley Parents Network -- in California. Gunderson said it was a valuable resource in raising her two sons, 3-year-old Landon and 2-year-old Parker.

"For especially new people moving into the area, I think that's really valuable, to be able to find that [information] first off without having to spend six months making friends first."

Other parents who have discovered the site say it makes Broomfield a better place to live.

"I think having an area where many parents in the area can connect is just building the community feeling," said BPN member Brian Bohman.

Mary Ann LeDosquet just moved to Broomfield in August. She said finding the network made the move much easier.

"It's hard to know what information to trust if you can find anything. I love it because you can find good restaurants, you can find a good preschool," she said.

The site started in October and keeps building each day with almost 100 parents now contributing questions and answers to the site.

Similar Parent Networks:

Broomfield Parents Network
MOMS Club – All Colorado Chapters (Mothers Offering Moms Support)
Larimer County Parent Education Network
Denver Moms
Stapleton Moms