Parent Empowerment Program Wants Parents to Become Child’s First Teacher

Bloom Township Youth and Family Services is offering a free Parent Empowerment Program for Chicago’s south suburban families who might be in need of a little extra support. The program is presented by Child Serv and led by local parent educators that are available to assist families who are currently pregnant or have children under 3 years old.
Bloom Township Youth and Family Services is offering a free Parent Empowerment Program for Chicago’s south suburban families who might be in need of a little extra support. The program is presented by Child Serv and led by local parent educators that are available to assist families who are currently pregnant or have children under 3 years old.

Parent Empowerment Program Wants Parents to Become Child’s First Teacher

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

Bloom Township Youth and Family Services is offering a free Parent Empowerment Program for Chicago’s south suburban families who might be in need of a little extra support. The program is presented by Child Serv and led by local parent educators that are available to assist families who are currently pregnant or have children under 3 years old.

Child Serv is a Chicago based organization that works to protect, heal, and educate children and families so that they can build better lives.

“In our program, we do a lot of early intervention. We communicate with families who are either pregnant or have children that are under the age of 3 and we do one-on-one home visits with the families. We come to them and make sure the children are developing okay and we also check to see what’s going on and how we can help them to be a better parent,” said Darrin Bolling, parent educator for the Parent Empowerment Program in Bloom Township.

The Parent Empowerment Program not only offers advice on child development, but it also helps create a support system for the families that participate.

“A lot of times, we work with single moms or teenage moms and they don’t know what to do or who to go to or who they can look to when they have questions because their support system might not be that great,” said Bolling.

“As a parent educator, we come in and we become that person that they can communicate with and reach out to when they need somebody.”

The program holds monthly meetings where parents and children can come together and learn new positive ways to interact with each other. The ultimate goal is to help parents become their child’s first teacher.

“Every month we have a nice activity that usually involves parent and child interaction and forces the idea of having some type of communication with their child or even some stuff that they could do at home with their child. Usually, in the summertime or in the fall, we might go on a field trip,” said Bolling.

The monthly community building events are optional for families, but they are also all free and include food and fun learning experiences. Whether or not a family attends the monthly meetings, the Parent Empowerment Program is a place that they can always turn to in times of need.

“We provide resources like if they need help finding jobs or if they need diapers and wipes, clothing for the child, help to get to a doctors appointment or even if something is going on and they just need to talk to somebody,” said Bolling. “Parents can have somebody to help support them and they don’t have to support themselves and they are able to meet other people just like them so they don’t have to feel alone as a parent.”

For more information on joining the Bloom Township Youth and Family Services Parent Empowerment Program, call Darrin Bolling at 773-391-3810.

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