Parents Find Solutions During Crisis

This pandemic has not been felt equitably.

Our country’s most vulnerable children are suffering the most.

The silence is frightening, and experts are discussing lifelong achievement and health problems. This is why Families First began rapidly exploring with parents to find solutions for them. We found disproportionate gaps in at-home learning experiences rendering child development stifled by increases in stress and traumas.

With the help of concerned parents, church ministry, individual, and corporate donations, the Cabarrus County Community Foundation/FFTC COVID-19 Response grants, and United Way of Central Carolinas, together we:

• Delivered 100’s of learning activities to homes while remaining open for essential workers and providing 100’s of zoom, recorded readings, and more to ensure continued learning occurred in homes.
• June 15th – Started our Critical Summer Learning Recovery Project: Free Preschool this summer for families who missed intervention therapies and are typically the highest risk.
• Launch of our Front Porch Recovery program for our Celebrating Families group(s)!
• Launching a 3-year commitment to at least 750 families (Core and Trauma). Services are in English and Spanish. This program follows our children from birth through 8 years old! What an excellent partnership to nurture, empower, and strengthen them for generational success.

Ready4K Parent Flyer – TI – English

Ready4K Parent Flyer – TI_Spanish

Examples and More on Ready4k

Below are examples of age-appropriate texts families will receive on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday where parents find solutions every day to help their children learn. They also receive personalized contact information for community resources right to their phones. What a game-changer for our community!

The family engagement curriculum supports the whole child from birth through 4th grade. Each week, parents and caregivers receive age-appropriate text messages in English, Spanish, or Arabic with fun facts and easy tips on how to promote their children’s development by building on existing family routines. Content focuses on language & literacy, math & science, social & emotional learning, and physical development, health & safety.

During these times we are facing, children are suffering an increased and more intense adverse childhood experiences (ACE). When unaddressed, these potentially traumatic experiences can result in both immediate and lifelong negative impacts. Luckily, we can mitigate the adverse effects of trauma. Designed to help parents and caregivers find solutions during this crisis and buffer the effects of trauma by strengthening the five protective factors: Parental Resilience, Social Connections, Knowledge of Parenting & Child Development, Concrete Support in Times of Need, and Social & Emotional Competency of Children.

Personalized Learning is an individualized family learning program based on children’s results on the Ages & Stages Questionnaires®, Third Edition (ASQ®-3) referrals supplement services. Text messages support healthy growth and development measured by ASQ-3: Communication, Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Personal-Social, and Problem Solving.