“By supporting Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley, we are supporting our future,” says Kelly Ingli, President/Chief Financial Officer at OEM Fabricators. “It is very important for when we look at the future—eventually these kids are going to be grown up and contributing members to society. They need a baseline to be successful.”
OEM Fabricators, a manufacturer located in Woodville, was founded in 1986 by Mark Tyler and Jim Hauschild, both of whom have served on Family Resource Center’s Board of Directors. Mark Tyler is currently on the board and is the incoming president.
Dating back to 2007, OEM has provided monthly financial support to Family Resource Center. According to Kelly, OEM believes in the mission and recognizes the link between early childhood education and parenting support and developing a strong future workforce.
Programming that Family Resource Center offers to communities in Pierce, Polk and St. Croix counties promotes positive parenting practices, encourages nurturing behavior and increases parents’ knowledge of child development. Access to high quality learning in the early years is essential. By age 3, there can be a 30-million-word gap between children from a language-rich environment and language poor environment. Research shows this vocabulary gap leads to delays in kindergarten readiness.
“Mark Tyler has always preached to his Team Members that if you invest early, the payback is much greater,” says Kelly. “His passion has shifted to all of his Team Members as well. It feels good to support our Team Members’ families, the community, and our future.”
Giving monthly is the most efficient and cost-effective way to support Family Resource Center. If your business is interested in learning more about supporting Family Resource Center’s work in early childhood contact Keri at keri@frcscv.org.
As COVID-19 cases continue to surge our Family Resource Center Team is doing its best to serve families, stay safe and contain the spread. While we yearn for normalcy, we continue to demonstrate ingenuity in creating the new normal. We look to 2021 with hope.
Recently I had the opportunity to participate in a Parents as Teachers national conference virtual session about COVID-19 and Early Childhood, led by Wisconsin pediatrician Dipesh Nasvaria. An associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Dr. Nasvaria also serves on the board of Parents as Teachers National. He encouraged us to pay attention to the emerging scientific findings and to demonstrate calm, caring, and confident compassion for everyone who is “postponing life” during this difficult time.
Dr. Nasvaria shared an excerpt of an article he had written early in the pandemic, posing that limiting social interaction during this challenging time is an expression of love: “This, ultimately, is love. Love for our fellow humans that we may not know, nor ever meet. Love that we care for their well-being, their existence and their contribution to our society. It makes me happy to see that. These threats do not single out political affiliation, race, ethnicity, sex, religion or immigration status. They are human-endangering and require a human-protecting response. When we protect all, we PROTECT ALL.”
Transitions
Jeena Norenberg joined us in September as Office Manager/Program Administration Coordinator. Earlier in her career Jeena served as a parent educator at Family Resource Center. Jill Cordova joined our parent educator team in September and recently became certified in the Parents as Teachers home visiting model! Welcome Jeena and Jill. We were sad to see parent educator Erin Knegendorf leave us this fall to pursue new opportunities.
On behalf of the staff and board, thank you to Tony Gould for serving as 2020 president of the board. Tony was always there for guidance and counsel—especially as we navigated all the decisions surrounding COVID. Welcome to incoming president Mark Tyler who will take the reins in January. We are delighted to welcome Julie Foss to the Family Resource Center Board of Directors. Julie is the Vice President of Finance and Accounting at at Nolato Contour in Baldwin. A mother and grandmother, Julie and her husband reside in Clear Lake.
Our year end appeal was sent out in early November. Thanks to all who have donated so generously. Your support helps us strengthen children, families, and communities in Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix Counties.
New Program Focuses on Empowering Families and Building a Support Network
In July Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley was one of five family resource centers in Wisconsin selected to offer a pilot program called Early Childhood Education Families and School Together (ECE FAST) to families in our service area. The opportunity was made possible with a capacity-building grant from the Department of Children and Families Preschool Development Grant initiative.
A Little History Founded 31 years ago, FAST was one of the first prevention/early intervention programs offered in school settings to develop practical applications for mental health and family theory research findings. The Wisconsin FAST project supports a pilot of the newly revised Early Childhood Education Level. Family Resource Center’s entire parent education team, the parent partners and community partners received 16+ hours of training and coaching in the ECE FAST model.
The first eight-session ECE FAST program ended in October with a graduating class of eight families.
While the program is typically offered in-person, Family Resource Center team rose to the challenge of delivering the program virtually during the pandemic. Parent Educators Ashley Bruggeman and Jillian Cordova facilitated the group along with community partner, Michelle Johnson from Hammond Public Library. Two parent partners were also key members of the team, Robert Zubrod and Elizabeth Chapin. This FAST session focused on families with children age 2-4. It consisted of family-to-family interactions, parent empowerment activities, and weekly family meals. Program materials and prizes were delivered to participants’ doorsteps each week.
Jillian shares, “ECE FAST is an early childhood program partnership with families that is meant to strengthen the parent-child relationship. It empowers parents, builds connections, and creates a support network – something that I witnessed firsthand as a facilitator. The parents were truly empowered and led their children in all the activities set forth.”
“I was asked to be the father partner presenter and I have never been one to turn something new down,” said Robert. “While I know participants took so much away from this group, as a presenter I took just as much away. I learned that I need to slow down. Let my son take the lead; let him take control and I need to follow his lead, just as we coached the parents.”
“I was blown away with the amount we could accomplish in just an hour and half each week,” Elizabeth says. “This program really helps you see the world through your child’s eyes. It helps you understand how your child learns so you can cater to them and their way of learning.”
“I got a little teary-eyed hearing the affirmations at graduation and how powerful they are,” said Jillian. “This is something every parent needs to hear.”
“It doesn’t end at graduation,” says Elizabeth. “The families will continue to be involved together. They will still meet for support – weekly or monthly.” Families will continue to participate in follow-up meetings, run by the families, for 2 years.
“It was truly an awesome experience all around,” commented Michelle. “A good team will make any program. Working with Ashley, Jill, Robert and Liz was such a wonderful experience and it showed every week when we were together, how we worked together so well in hosting a program that the parents and children were engaged in virtually.”
“Families were surprised that their children were able to sit in front of their screens and take so much away from the program, “said Ashley. “While our lives have had to pivot in the last 9 months, Family Resource Center will continue to meet the needs in our community and help support children and families in any way that we can.” At the end of the training process Ashley will be designated as a FAST Trainer, certified to train facilitators in other FAST programs.
Join us… Registration for our next session, starting in January is open! Register today by going to our website, www.frcscv.org/register-today/
Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley held a book drive this spring, collecting 965 new and gently used books for area families participating in their Home Visiting program. Donations were received from many individuals, businesses and community groups, and new books were purchased with support from Thrivent Financial. Bethel Highlands delivered 496 books. Thanks to our generous communities for helping to make the book drive a success!
Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley participated in St. Croix County’s ‘Hands Across the Courthouse’ held as part of National Child Abuse Prevention Awareness month and Victims of Crime Awareness week.
We are proud to partner with county service agencies and other nonprofits as we work to strengthen children, families, and communities by offering education, resources, and support!
The emergence of summer brings new energy to our staff and to our programs.
In May we added a new evidence-based program to our service offering. Triple P —Positive Parenting Program. The Level 3 Primary Care program component of Triple P offers parents a brief and private way to get guidance on specific behavior concerns. In addition to one-on-one sessions with a parent educator, the program includes tip sheets for parents, focused on strategies to address the problem behavior. For now, the program is limited in scope. We will report back on the future for Triple P after evaluating our pilot program, which is sponsored by St. Croix County.
As we implement new offerings we continue to monitor performance and enhance the quality of our existing evidence-based programs. 2018 marked the twentieth year the Family Resource Center has offered an evidence-based home visiting model called Parents as Teachers. Recently I met with directors of other longstanding Wisconsin home visiting programs and state home visiting leaders to review the findings and discuss implications of a national report on the effectiveness of evidence-based home visiting programs. (See the MIHOPE Study at: https://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/MIHOPE_Impact_Report-Final2.0.pdf).
The report finds significant benefits for home visiting families including improved quality of the home environment, decreased household aggression, fewer hospital emergency visits, and fewer child behavior problems. Our discussion group stressed that key to successful programs is attracting and retaining skilled parent educator professionals and supporting them by investing in reflective supervision and high-quality professional development. Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley is fortunate to have a professional, dedicated, and compassionate staff committed to strengthening children and families.
Talking about skilled parent educators, we are delighted to introduce two new members of our team. Devin Chladek and Erin Knegendorf had several weeks of shadowing certified parent educators before attending the Parents as Teachers model training and becoming certified in May. Welcome Devin and Erin!
This month we send a fond farewell to Development and Communications Coordinator Kristin Thompson, who has served the Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley since 2012.
Kristin has led the organization’s donor relations and fundraising efforts—including the Reach for the Stars annual gala, served as the editor of Family Matters newsletter, and led numerous Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley initiatives.
We appreciate all of Kristin’s contributions and wish her all the best as she embarks on her new career as Advancement Director at Landmark Conservancy.
Supporters raised $49,000 for Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley at the 14th annual Reach for the Stars event. The funds raised support the organization’s mission to strengthen children, families and communities through education, resources and support in Pierce, Polk and St. Croix Counties. The Reach for Stars gala is held in April every year to mark Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month.
More than 200 supporters donned flannel attire in the spirit of the Flannel Up for Families theme at the April 12 event held at Camp St. Croix in Hudson. The evening’s entertainment was donated by Baldwin-area band Crabgrass.
Young Mothers Share their Parenting Journeys
Featured speakers at the event included two parents who participate in Family Resource Center’s evidence-based home visiting program.
“We are inspired by courage and commitment demonstrated by Tianna and Madison, two moms who described their parenting journeys to the Reach for the Stars crowd,” said Executive Director Agnes Ring. “Their resilience and their demonstrated commitment to parenting and personal growth has strengthened their own families. We also know that we, as a community, are stronger for their parenting.”
Tianna of New Richmond shared that she learned of Family Resource Center programs at the age of 15, when she was a high school student in Osceola. She participated in the Young Parent group and continues with twice monthly home visits with her daughter Ava, now age 3. “My parent educator has never judged me or made me feel as if I was doing something wrong,” said Tianna. “This program has given me confidence. They believed in me. The Young Parent program has made this journey easier, one visit at a time.”
Madison of Hudson enrolled in home visits with the Family Resource Center initially as part of the Parenting Forward program sponsored by St. Croix County Treatment Court. She said she received helpful information regarding child development. She expressed appreciation for the support she received in achieving numerous goals. “My family and I are forever grateful for the everlasting support and friendship that flows through this program,” she said in closing. “To all of the people who make this possible, I thank you! You have made a difference in my life and for that I am grateful!”
Sharon Reyzer Honored with the Couglin Volunteer Award
The Family Resource Center St. Croix Valley Board of Directors recognized Sharon Reyzer for her leadership, dedication and service. The John M. Coughlin Volunteer Award honors the memory of Coughlin’s extraordinary leadership, dedication and commitment to the well-being of children and families in the region, as well as his vision to create a comprehensive early childhood system through United Way St. Croix Valley and Success By 6 initiatives.
Board President Mary Sue Ash of Hudson presented the 2019 award to Reyzer, who was a founding board member of the Family Resource Center in 1998.
“Sharon provided quiet, persistent leadership in the early years of the organization and has continued to be a champion for the Family Resource Center through her role as Public Health Supervisor/WIC Director at St. Croix County Public Health,” said Ash. “She has a passion for improving and supporting the lives of others, especially parents of young children.”
Community Support is Key
Board member Mark Tyler, of Woodville, told the crowd that the investment in early childhood pays dividends many times over.
Ring expressed appreciation to all the people who contributed to the success of the fund raiser. “The generous financial support provided by local businesses, individual donors, and community leaders at this event – and throughout the year – reflects a caring community,” said Ring. “As a community we must work together to strengthen children and families. The number of children being removed from their homes in our three counties is staggering. There is no single agency—no government entity or nonprofit organization that owns the problem alone or that can solve the problem alone.”
Funds raised at the event help fund Family Resource Center’s parent-child groups and home visits in its three-county service area.
Agnes Ring
