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Dear Friends of Ready Ready,
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and this year’s efforts are focused on how surroundings impact mental health. Mental Health America suggests we look around and look within. Wherever you call home, it should give you feelings of comfort, support, and calmness. Stable housing allows us to develop routines and connections to our community, which helps our mental health.
And if it helps our mental health as adults, imagine how important it is for babies and toddlers whose brains are rapidly developing. You’ve heard us say this before: Brain science shows clearly that the first 2,000 days of a child’s life – from birth to kindergarten – sets the foundation for social-emotional, communication, cognitive, and physical development. Positive experiences help boost brain development. Negative experiences can lead to health problems later in life for children.
Ready for School, Ready for Life is pleased to have helped bring an evidence-based multi-generational program to Guilford County. You read about Child First at Family Solutions in our newsletter last month. This month, we’re featuring the program at Family Service of the Piedmont. Both teams are working to provide caregivers and young children with mental health services through at-home visits, behavioral advice, and referrals to services families need to thrive. Read on for this information.
Our community partners, like the Kellin Foundation, are also offering Guilford County families important mental health resources. This month they will hold a free workshop featuring the Community Resilience Model (CRM) that helps children and caregivers develop the skills needed to regulate their emotions, reduce stress, and help children get ready for school.
As a backbone organization, we are working with local government, organizations, and nonprofits to help families with young children get the resources, support, and information they need to thrive. Building a system of care allows us as a community to demonstrate our support for families as they raise our next generation.
We cannot have a flourishing community and society without investing in babies and toddlers from the very beginning. Thank you for your interest and support for this mission.
Sincerely,
Charrise Hart
CEO
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Parent leaders rally in Raleigh
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Guilford Parent Leader Network (GPLN) members joined other childhood advocates in Raleigh on April 20, 2023, for a rally on child care costs and educator wages. More than 500 people urged lawmakers to support high-quality, affordable, and accessible child care in North Carolina.
“I was blown away by how many people are lending their voices to this cause, and especially happy to see Guilford County lawmakers support higher wages for early childhood educators,” said Sanaa Sharrieff, Ready Ready parent liaison who accompanied GPLN members. “It makes me feel supported in my work as a parent liaison because I know that our families are being heard.”
The rally took place just days after President Joe Biden signed an executive order that seeks to increase child care access and improve the work-life of caregivers.
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Parents graduate from community advocacy training
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Congratulations to the most recent graduates of Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI) Phase 1 training on April 15, 2023. Rooted in the belief that parents are among the real experts best equipped to solve issues affecting their children and families, COFI Phase 1 helps parents identify their needs, goals, and action plans. Then they work to build teams to accomplish those goals.
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Do you know a parent or caregiver in Guilford County with a child between 0-8? Tell them about the Guilford Parent Leader Network (GPLN). The GPLN is integral to the decision-making structure for Ready for School, Ready for Life. Families who participate are valued consultants, partners, and change agents who work on priorities important to their families and other families in Guilford County.
We gather on the third Monday of the month from 7-8:30 p.m. The next meeting is Monday, May 15, 2023. We are currently holding these meetings via Zoom. When meetings resume in person, we provide child care to alleviate barriers to participation.
If you’d like to attend or want more information, please contact Yuri Alston, family engagement manager, at (336) 579-2977 ext. 2008 or yuria@getreadyguilford.org.
The GPLN has also launched Fathers Ready to Grow, a group of fathers who meet to offer support and networking. If you’d like more information on joining, please get in touch with yuria@getreadyguilford.org.
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Basics Guilford Focus: Explore through movement and play
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Outdoor Play - More Than Just Fun in the Sun
Playing at a park is definitely fun for kids and few will turn down a chance to climb or swing. However, research tells us that outdoor play has a host of other benefits for young children, such as:
- Easy Science Lessons - Watching ants, collecting acorns, planting seeds, or following birds in the sky invite great conversations about how the natural world works.
- Promoting Physical Health - Fighting obesity and other chronic diseases starts in childhood. Establishing a routine of climbing, learning games or sports, and running can help fight childhood obesity - estimated at 14% of children in the US.
- Helps Children Sleep Better - Exposure to natural light and physical exertion that comes from playing outside has been shown to help children ages 2-5 sleep better.
- Teaches Collaboration and Social Skills - Practicing social and emotional skills with other children in different settings is invaluable. Children could be learning a new outdoor game, taking a safe risk by going down a slide, or exploring a garden together - all provide opportunities to learn how to encourage other children, how to take turns, and much more!
Click here for more ideas on how to Explore Through Movement and Play with young children!
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Get Basics tips delivered via text or email
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Get science-based insights to boost your child’s brain development. You don’t need an app. No monthly fee! Monday’s texts tell you a scientific fact about your child’s development, and Wednesday’s text gives you an idea for an activity to do with them.
These messages are customized for your child’s age and will help you support your baby’s growth during the critical years of 0-3. If email is better for you, get a tip each Tuesday from The Basics Guilford. Click here to opt-in to texts and/or emails from The Basics.
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Would you like to be trained in The Basics Guilford?
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As we share information about the Basics across Guilford County, we need your help. We’re offering virtual or in-person training on the Basics for teams of five or more at organizations that interact with young children. Each session lasts 30-45 minutes. To schedule a training session or learn more about Ready Ready and the Basics Guilford, please get in touch with Literacy Coordinator Megan LeFaivre at meganl@getreadyguilford.org.
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Mark your calendar for PlayDaze
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Ready Ready, The Basics Guilford, and Greensboro Parks and Recreation have teamed up for a PlayDaze event at Barber Park.
PlayDaze celebrates the value of play and is designed to provide diverse play oportunities for all ages, from toddlers to grandparents. Please join us in Barber Park on Saturday, September 9, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
So far, activities include a variety of outdoor play activities, museum exploration, reading opportunities, animal adventures, food trucks, and more! If your organization would like to join us or you have a suggestion about a group we should connect with, please contact Literacy Coordinator Megan LeFaivre at the links below.
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Partner Spotlight: Child First
Family Service of the Piedmont
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For more than 80 years, Family Service of the Piedmont (FSP) has been empowering individuals and families to resource hope, achieve stability and thrive through quality support services, advocacy, and education.
“It’s better to build a healthy child than repair a broken adult,” said Andrea Huckabee, FSP family support division director. “The work we are doing with Child First is a comprehensive and holistic approach to helping families in our community.”
Since June 2022, FSP has offered Child First in Guilford County. It is an evidence-based program based on scientific research that tells us early trauma and adversity lead to biological changes in young children that damage their brains and metabolic systems – which leads to long-term problems in mental health, learning, and physical health.
“The community has been very supportive of offering preventive services like Child First,” said Huckabee. “When we can offer help to families with young children – birth through age five – we can help the caregivers become healthier parents and break cycles of abuse and neglect or offer actionable steps children need to thrive.”
“Early brain development is a crucial time for good mental health in the family,” said Abrianna Trower, Child First clinical supervisor. “Working with multiple generations, we frequently find young parents with children who are living with their parents. We can work with up to three caregivers, so it may be a parent, a grandparent, an aunt, or an uncle; we can redefine what the definition of a family is and focus on support for the child or children.”
Read the full story on our website.
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Do you know someone who should be reading our newsletter? Please forward this email and encourage them to subscribe!
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Our mission
Ready for School, Ready for Life (Ready Ready) is a collaborative effort to build a connected, innovative system of care for Guilford County’s youngest children and their families.
Equity Statement
Ready for School, Ready for Life (Ready Ready) promotes equity, justice, diversity, and inclusion, which are woven through our mission, values, and principles. We stand against racism in all of its forms. Ready Ready will work with our community to address the structural inequities that drive disparate child and family outcomes and work towards an environment where equity, justice, diversity, and inclusion are core values. When we are working to address these structural inequities, Ready Ready will be bold in our actions.
When Guilford County Black and Indigenous children and families of color (BIPOC) feel welcomed, heard, respected, safe, supported, and valued, all of our community and our society benefit.
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