Looking Forward to Atlanta!
Oct 15 2009My whole self felt welcomed, cared for, and invited to participate at the first Summit and I couldn’t imagine waiting two years for the next one. Well surprise, surprise the two years just flew by! A lot has happened in Washington state as a result of the Summit. Fatima Gonzales is another parent coming from Washington, and another guest-blogger here. She and I look forward to sharing her story. We will be bringing many other parent stories to add to the collective wisdom. It seems that more people were involved in conceptualizing and planning the Summit this year, including parent volunteers. Perhaps this is another indicator of how many more meaningful relationships were created around the Strengthening Families movement since we last met. I am imagining right now, a room full of kindred spirits!
May “ka makani olu olu” (a sweet gentle breeze,) be at your back as you travel to Atlanta! Aloha.
Counting Heads
Oct 14 2009Given the very difficult budget situation that most of the Strengthening Family Washington (SFWA)partners find themselves in these days, it is amazing to me that at last count 21 Washingtonians are registered for the Summit. While not all of the Summit attendees will be in Atlanta to represent SFWA (there’s a lot of talent in WA that gets tapped by national organizations), the notion of such a large contingent is so promising for the prospect of continued advancement of our work. The SFWA Steering Committee met yesterday to work on the mapping excercise and other ways to communicate key aspects of our state level work. As always, it was great to see the synergy/energy that results when parent partners and representatives of public and private entities spanning systems and services get togeher. We are eager to showcase our accomplishments—and also to hear from others about how to get ‘unstuck’ in areas where we need help.
See you in Atlanta!
From a Parent Participant: A Little Scared, but Very Excited
Oct 14 2009My name is Fatima Gonzalez. I have been part of the community cafe group in Olympia, WA for almost two years. I have learned a lot through this experience and have met many wonderful people. I believe in listening to what everybody has to say and share helps me grow in my personal wisdom. When I get together with others in a community cafe setting I can take the best ideas and use them in my own life. I am very excited to be able to attend the summit in Atlanta. It is a new experience for me. I hope to bring back many new ideas and share them with my friends and colleagues.
I have been preparing myself mentally because this is the first time that I’m participating in a national summit. I’m a little scared, but I’m very excited about it. I hope to bring a lot of wisdom back to the Community Café groups in Olympia that will help us with our dreams and actions. I hope to meet wonderful people and have many wonderful conversations! I will be attending the community café presentations that I’m very happy to be a part of this wonderful opportunity!
Georgia Family Forum
Sep 15 2009Building on parent-engagement efforts already underway in Atlanta and the state, Strengthening Families Georgia will invite a diverse group of people – all members of families with children – to come together on October 27th to begin a discussion about improving the well-being of all children and families in Georgia. The vision is that such statewide discussions will take place across the country and result in an agenda that can be used by state leaders, policymakers, practitioners, and families themselves.
This gathering of parents, grandparents, foster parents, aunts, uncles, and other members of families will celebrate the unique and essential role that families play in the lives of young children, gather their wisdom, and lift their collective voice to create an Agenda for Families in Georgia.
This effort has grown from an idea to reality with the help of Strengthening Families Georgia partners. With only a commitment as of May 2009 to go forward, partners have since come together to raise over $25,000 to make this event happen!! It has been a fantastic experience being a part of something where people are pulling together in true partnership to contribute time, resources and ideas to ensure that the Family Forum will be a great event!
Mapping a Strengthening Families Initiative
Sep 02 2009
On Monday we sent out a set of materials to Strengthening Families state leads in the 29 states where we know there are initiatives working to incorporate the Protective Factors framework into early childhood policy and practice. The tool is designed to get state teams thinking about how far their work has come and the events that have supported or hindered their progress. Using clever icons to represent pivotal moments in the development of their Strengthening Families work, teams map out the course of their initiative, illuminating pathways that led to success, as well as those that hit dead-ends. As a reflective tool, the mapping exercise will help states look at what has worked in the past as well as what hasn’t - valuable insights during these times when funding for social programs and initiatives for children and families are working to do more with fewer resources.
The maps will be central to the Strengthening Families Leadership Summit in October. States will bring present their maps to one another, highlighting their strengths and presenting the lessons they have learned that others might use. We will begin to identify patterns in the many Strengthening Families states that have supported the development of what has become a nationwide initiative to build Protective Factors in families. Using tools, information, and insights gained at the Summit, state teams will also have an opportunity to look forward and imagine what their maps might look like in one year, three years, even five years into the future.
Although the mapping tool was designed for use by state teams, local Strengthening Families efforts may also find the exercise valuable in sparking reflection and planning for the future. The full set of materials is available for download here:
