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 Since
1994 FNC has made significant progress in spreading comprehensive
family support activities, developing innovative programs to strengthen
families, increasing leadership capacity of parents and professionals,
and promoting partnerships on behalf of families and children.
Here is a sampling of our accomplishments:
- Developed a successful proposal and plan for Smart
from the Start, an innovative public-private collaboration
between the Family Nurturing Center, Boston
Centers for Youth and Families, the Boston
Housing Authority, Mayor
Menino's Office and key community partners. The goals of Smart
from the Start are to increase the school readiness of Boston's
lowest-income children and their families and to build the capacity
of Boston's communities to support school readiness.
- Received the 2006 Mayor's
Award for Excellence in Children's Health for the development
and coordination of the Allston
Brighton Family Network which provides parenting education,
support and advocacy for families with children 0-4 years old.
- Formed a new partnership with Boston Public Schools' Countdown
to Kindergarten to develop a new Parent-Child Playgroup program
for families with young children. These groups take place in an
elementary school and provide a wonderful way for parents and
young children to get comfortable in a school setting prior to
kindergarten.
- Worked with community partners to secure a grant from the Department
of Education to develop the Even Start Family Literacy Program
in Allston Brighton. The project celebrated one year of work in
March, 2007 and includes ESOL classes, weekly parenting workshops,
an interactive literacy activity time for parents and children,
monthly home visits and the development of a Family Action Plan,
and monthly field trips to expand vocabulary and broaden life
experiences.
- Established High Point/Stony Brook CARES in Roslindale, providing
comprehensive family support for residents in a privately managed
mixed income housing community. This work serves as a valuable
model for supporting families where they live and has been showcased
at several local and statewide conferences.
- Successfully worked with the Massachusetts
Department of Social Services to spread the CARES (collaboration,
advocacy, resource development, education, support) model for
family support to other communities. As a result, a network of
more than twenty community coalitions now offer comprehensive
family support in the highest risk urban and rural areas of the
Commonwealth through the Department's "Community Connections"
program. (Link to DSS)
- Delivered over 700 training programs on a variety of topics,
including the nurturing philosophy and programs, working with
teen parents, brain development, infant-toddler activities, team
development, interagency collaboration, and family support strategies.
FNC trains more than 1,000 people each year.
- Developed and offered a graduate level course at the Harvard
Graduate School of Education on "Comprehensive Strategies
to Promote Healthy Human Development". Mentored 25 graduate
students from Harvard Graduate School of Education, Boston University
School of Social Work, Bridgewater State College, Curry College,
and Wheelock College in year-long or semester internships on family
support, social work, and non-profit management.
- Assumed a leadership role in addressing the needs of Boston's
youngest children when we served as the coordinating partner for
Connecting the Dots for Boston Tots ("Dots"), funded
from 1996-2000 by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. FNC worked
with others to increase access to and expand quality child care,
health care, and family support services. FNC leveraged these
funds to obtain support from the Massachusetts
Department of Education for a Boston Family Network to expand
neighborhood-based Circles of Caring for families with young children.
- Developed and piloted innovative new services to support families
with young children: Prenatal Nurturing Programs, a 9-week series
of groups that addresses attachment issues, breaks social isolation,
and teaches expectant parents about the nurturing philosophy before
babies arrive; Welcome Baby home visits to families with newborns,
including beautiful gift baskets donated and assembled by community
residents, free books and resources for literacy promotion, and
linkage to community resources; a 12-week Nurturing Our Babies
program especially designed for families with infants; Nurturing
Workshops on child development, nurturing discipline, and other
important topics; and parent/child play groups.
 Worked
in collaboration with DSS to develop and pilot a new 12-week Nurturing
Program for Birth and Foster Families for children who are in
out-of-home placement. Goals are to increase positive communication
and co-parenting skills of both birth parents and foster parents,
as well as improve outcomes for children experiencing out of home
placement.
- Piloted Boston's first Nurturing Father's Program to help dads
create healthier relationships with their children and their children's
mother. Enormously successful, this program is now spreading across
Boston and into western Massachusetts.
 Funded
as part of the federally supported Boston Learns I & 11 Collaborative,
developed to support families in creating nurturing home environments
that promote language and literacy development.
- Selected as one of Boston's Compassion Capital Fund sites to
design and deliver high quality family and youth support programs
in partnership with Boston's faith based community.
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