Grantee Profile: North Valley Caring Services Plants Seeds of ChangeMarch 17, 2008 |
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 A year ago Rosario Garcia began taking care of her extended family's three young children in her home. "Easy enough," she thought. Young, with no children of her own, Garcia began to struggle with disciplining the kids. Luckily her sister-in-law, a participant in the North Valley Caring Services (NVCS) Family Literacy program, told her about the new First 5 LA-funded Families Friends and Neighbors (FFN) program at NVCS. Six blocks from her Van Nuys home, the program helped Garcia develop a new way of working with her children. Rosario takes a child development class every Saturday morning and works with her mentor, Augustina Nunez. "I have grown so much in this program, both personally and professionally," said Rosario, who has participated for almost one year now. "I have learned how to discipline the kids without punishing them, and how to build a positive relationship with my own children when I have them." The classes have also taught her age-appropriate activities to do with the children, dispelling her previous notion that they were too young to understand her. The youngest, now three, has gone from being non-responsive to loving books and begging to have story time.
"So many of our FFN participants have come from our other programs," says Leonora Barron, executive director of NVCS. It came as no surprise to her that many of the Family Literacy participants wanted to take part in the new FFN Program. "They are building on what they have learned in Family Literacy." North Valley Caring Services is in a high density area, with 19,000 residents per 1.5 square miles; many are new immigrants from Central and Latin America. The small non-profit serves more than 2,000 people a year, through their Family Literacy, afterschool programs, and basic needs 'safety net' program. To learn more about North Valley Caring Services, visit their Web site or contact Leonora Barron by phone at (818) 891-0481 ext. 24 or by email at Lbarron@nvcsinc.org.
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"Children can understand adults as long as the adult articulates properly and at a level they can grasp - we teach our (adult) students how to articulate in an age-appropriate manner," said Irma Martinez, the Project Director for the FFN Program. Martinez coordinates the Saturday class schedule for 22 unlicensed caregivers, and also works with the programs four mentors. Class topics range from safety and literacy to developing gross and fine motor skills for children. Mentors visit the students' homes once a month to assess the environment, give recommendations, and talk about what is being covered in class. 