ICAN Parent Café Offers East Valley Parents to Build Stronger Family & Community Relationships

August 22, 2012

This week we welcome back guest blogger, Alicia Perez, ICAN’s Family Programs Coordinator, regarding the upcoming ICAN Parent Café events starting next Tuesday, August 28, 2012!

Parent Café

On August 28^th ICAN will be hosting the first Parent Café from 8:30–10:30 am.  Parent Café creates a safe, comfortable place where parents can have their own conversations about the things that matter to their families, and learn about resources available in the community that can be helpful to them.  The Parent Café idea was created after several conversation with parents that participated in the Strengthening  Multi-Ethnic Families Program offered at ICAN.  They expressed the need to have support groups where they can share experiences and learned from other parents about issues they face with their children.

The sessions includes a time for open-ended questions guided by a facilitator, a presentation about the topic and the resources available for them, and a group discussion to share ideas and approaches that leads to stronger families.  Parent Cafes are also a great place to meet other people and make friends, and collaborate with others to build a stronger community for our families.

The topics for the Parent Café are suggested by the parents as well.  This month we will be talking about Bullying. The invitation is to every parent that wants to learn on how to prevent and identify bullying, share experiences on how to handle bullying situations, and want to help other kids that have been victims of bullying.

Building Relationships with Families

We all know that being a parent is not easy.  By building relationships with families, ICAN assists them in strengthening the protective factors that are already present in their lives.  The Parent Café will be a new way where families can get more information and the support they need to keep their children healthy and safe, and help them grow up to be successful members of their community.