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Sharon
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| Primary Outcomes: Parents/Families and Children Secondary Outcomes: Communities and Youth Project Description The purpose of this CYFAR project is to strengthen families in the community surrounding the Quinby Street Service Center so that they can create a more caring and safe community that promotes positive, productive, contributing lives for all community members. As a result of CYFAR educational programs, parents/caregivers will be better able to meet the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual needs of their children, as well as better able to provide greater moral guidance and direction. One specific goal is to increase parent involvement in children’s learning, thus improving school success for the children. The Children, Youth, and Families Are Resilient (CYFAR) program encourages parents/caregivers to come together at Community Parent Involvement Team (CPIT) meetings to build their network of support and access parenting classes and resources in the Family Enrichment Center at the Quinby Street Service Center. Parents/caregivers and their K-3rd grade children participate in after-school and summer programs that include computer classes and enrichment activities designed to foster greater parental involvement in their children’s learning. Family Nights and field trips encourage all family members to build family strengths through participation. Parents are also encouraged to volunteer to assist with group activities for the children and youth. The CYFAR Program Adviser provides one-on-one mentoring for parents, as well as small group activities for parents and children. This year, the CYFAR project incorporated the Cooperative Extension 4-H youth development program that serves youth ages 8-18 and their families at this location. The 4-H program consists of the 4-H Future Explorers Club for 8-12 year olds and a teen 4-H SQUADS Club that advocates for prevention of tobacco use by youth. These 4-H clubs conduct meetings utilizing youth officers and complete 4-H projects. Members plan and carry out fund-raisers to support their projects and community service activities. Together, the CYFAR parents/families project and the 4-H youth development program at the Quinby Street Service Center reach out to children and youth ages 5 to 18 and their parents/caregivers. The CYFAR Program Adviser and the 4-H Youth Adviser jointly plan and conduct activities for families in addition to their respective programs for the children and youth. They provide the leadership for collaborating with other agencies to bring programs/services to the center for easier access by families. The primary collaborator for this community project is the Mercer County Housing Authority. MCHA contributes rent-free space in its community center for the program. The Shenango Valley Community Library has established a small children’s library at the center. The library and its staff are available to support CYFAR literacy activities for adults and children. In April 2001, these programs moved from the existing center into a 3-story apartment unit in the adjoining housing community so that the center could be razed in preparation for a new facility. However, in the meantime, space for groups is limited. Programs have been scaled to fit the available space until the completion of the new center in March 2002. Other community partners include the Mercer County Behavioral Health Commission’s intervention specialist, the Minority Health Advocacy Committee, Mercer County Housing Authority VISTA staff, and the Farrell and Sharon School Districts. The elementary school principal from the school that serves the Quinby community is more than willing to share information about curricula, as well as resources, staff, and space for activities, as needed. The principal recognizes that our target families have many barriers to school involvement and he supports our goal for the CYFAR program to create a bridge for these families to connect with the school. The Prince of Peace Center, a community food bank and service center, has donated food for CYFAR family dinners. The dinners are held to introduce new families to the programs offered by CYFAR. Program families are referred to the Prince of Peace Center when they need assistance with food, clothing, or shelter. Evaluation and Outcomes: Key Impacts for Primary Outcomes: Parents/Families and Children Parent Education The outreach to parents/caregivers in this community is a slow process of building trust and motivating adults to participate for the benefit of their children. The relocation of the CYFAR program to an MCHA apartment unit during the construction of a new community center has proven beneficial and valuable to CYFAR’s present success, in that parents who have been watching, observing, and learning about CYFAR are deciding to become involved and committed. It is anticipated that participation will greatly increase when the new community center is completed and CYFAR moves into space designed for our programming. Initially, CYFAR organized the Parent’s Forum to address children's and parenting issues. However, due to issues that parents wanted to address (social, economical, emotional, communal, and personal) the Community Parent Involvement Team (CPIT) was created. Nine parents have come together to meet formally as CPIT seven times. During several breakfast sessions, the CPIT wrote a mission statement, goals, and objectives to reflect both their role within the housing community and the goals of CYFAR. Three of the nine parents have taken volunteer positions as the CPIT Coordinator, the CPIT Secretary and the CPIT Inspiration Leader. A male member of CPIT has begun working weekly on teaching children drawing/art, the CPIT Coordinator is teaching girls proper social and table etiquette, and the CPIT Secretary has volunteered to assist the CYFAR Program Adviser with the weekly Cloverbuds program. Recruitment at the Back-to-School Bash, an outdoor community resource fair for families sponsored by CYFAR in September, resulted in seven more parents completing applications to learn more about and to participate in CPIT. Parents worked with staff to develop rules and consequences to guide children’s behavior when participating in CYFAR programs. Staff then went over these rules/consequences with the children and youth in all programs and began enforcing them with parent support. The site programmers have seen a definitive improvement in the behavior of some of the children/youth, as well as better guidance techniques in use by staff and volunteers. To personalize its commitment to the family, CYFAR worked with three parents to develop rules to govern their children’s behavior at home. These rules focused on housecleaning/maintenance rules and discipline/reward rules. All three parents have said they have witnessed a change in their children’s behavior since these rules were established. Family Events With the initial focus and goal set on developing stronger family ties and communication, CYFAR set the theme this year as "Strengthening the Family." Several projects were initiated to accomplish this task. First, CYFAR offered computer classes to three adults and 23 children. The three adult participants improved their computer typing skills from zero to 20%, 30%, and 80% respectively. Children enjoyed hands-on computer activities while they learned how to properly use computers. One special activity that the children did and that parents responded very positively to was the "I love you… Mom/Dad" project. One parent told me she was so delighted to see her daughter make such a beautiful ‘I love you, Mom and Dad’ card that she and her daughter called her grandmother and aunts and gave them several cards. CYFAR initiated and hosted four ‘Family Fun Nights’ for families within the Quinby Street Community area. Nine families, with a total count of 31 in attendance, came to the first session, four families, with 16 in attendance, came to the second session, 21 were in attendance at the third session, and 19 were in attendance at the fourth session. Many positive comments were received from the parents participating in the Family Fun Nights. One parent commented, "I’m glad I came. I needed a place to go with my kids." Another parent commented, "Let’s move to a larger building and keep everything the same." To further work toward the goal of strengthening the family, CYFAR sponsored two family field trips for the families of the Quinby Street Community. Four families attended a morning bowling session, followed by a short teachable moment on cooperation. CYFAR also arranged for five families to attend the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA in April of 2001. Together, children and their parents/caregivers discovered the world of science through hands-on experiments. Perceived Impacts for Secondary Outcome Area: Children, Youth, and Communities Children Mercer’s CYFAR proposal was funded to increase the ability of families and the community to meet the basic physical, social, emotional, and intellectual needs of children ages 5 to 8 years old. The site programmer has been working directly with children in this age range at the Family Enrichment Center since he was hired in April 2000. As with the adults, the first step has been to build a relationship of trust with the children. Five children, ages 6-13, participated in the Talking With TJ, Conflict Resolution Program. Four (80%) of the five completed the entire 5-day, ten-hour series. At the end of the program, 100% of the participants were able to identify three ways (calm down, keep cool, and say the right thing) to control their anger when a conflict with another peer occurred. Four (80%) of the five participants believed that these steps might help them to resolve conflicts during summer school recess. CYFAR staff has observed children using these techniques and continues to reinforce conflict resolution skills. The CYFAR Program Adviser conducted one session with nine children (ages 5-11 years) on personal development and respecting the differences of others and their feelings. Discussion focused on observing and talking about the differences between all children present in the room: ethnicity, size, weight, hair-styles, dress-styles, likes/dislikes, and the money or lack of money each child present had in a piggy bank. Discussion then pointed out how much more each of them was alike than different. Examples of similarities included: favorite foods, living in the same neighborhood, same classroom, same gender, same external and internal parts that makes them human, emotional expressions, and intellectual abilities. As a result of the session, children stated that they understood and would try to respect these differences, similarities, and feelings in other children. Youth During CYFAR Year 4, the 4-H youth development program continued to expand and involve youth 8 to 18 years old in the Quinby Street neighborhood. This program is supported minimally by CYFAR funds, but is an integral part of Cooperative Extension programming to children, youth, and families in this community, and contributes greatly toward the achievement of the goals of CYFAR. Youth members of the 4-H Future Explorers Club worked through the Kids on the Grow, a child development curriculum this year. The gardening project group, Sprouters, continued within the 4-H Future Explorers Club. They prepared, nurtured, and harvested a vegetable garden in their neighborhood. During a summer day camp, twelve youth, between the ages of 8 and13, from the Sharon and Farrell communities participated and completed a Family Living 4-H Health and Fitness Program entitled "Double Dutch" at the Minority Health Advocacy Committee site in Farrell. These youth focused on (1) Food and a Healthy Body (2) Exercise and a Healthy Body and (3) Teamwork: Understanding that in a team, Together Everyone Achieves More! The youth are now teaching others how to double-dutch and practice it during their spare time as a result of this curriculum. The 4-H Youth Adviser learned about this curriculum at the 2000 CYFAR National Conference. Twelve members from the Quinby community 4-H Clubs organized a pancake and sausage breakfast for Make-A-Difference Day. They participated by designing and selling tickets, serving, and setting up for the breakfast at the Sharon Senior High School. The money raised was donated to Catholic Charities/Women in Need for baby items. This is a group of women who have decided to give their children the gift of life instead of having an abortion. The 12-member Mercer County 4-H SQUADS Club has continued working on tobacco prevention and advocacy skills. Five club members were able to participate in the Great American Smoke Out during the month of November. They went into the Sharon Musser, Case and West Hill Elementary Schools, and Farrell Elementary School. Their main purpose was to educate youth in grades 3-4 about tobacco products and the hazards of smoking. Their theme was "Be Smart Don’t Start." The 4-H S.Q.U.A.D.S. Club organized a community candlelight vigil for the Kick Butts day in April. The candlelight vigil was held at the City of Sharon Municipal Building. There were approximately 50 community participants. Tobacco/smoke-related statistics and facts were read out loud as each candle was lit. At the completion of the vigil, there was a small reception and at the heart of community participant discussion were the alarming facts and statistics that had been stated throughout the evening. During the month of March, nine 4-H S.Q.U.A.D.S. members completed the Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU) Curriculum. These youth were able to develop skills to teach younger children about tobacco use and become advocates for a tobacco-free community. They are planning to utilize these skills during the upcoming year by working with other youth clubs and organizations throughout the community. In May, eight SQUADS members assisted Minority Health Advocacy Committee members with an educational campaign on the hazards of secondhand smoke entitled, "Not in Momma’s Kitchen." The youth helped distribute pledge cards to mothers at 6 churches on Mothers Day, then tallied the survey results. Mothers who signed the pledge to make their home smoke-free were given a plant to symbolize life. Later, at a luncheon for all those who made a pledge, a 4-H youth presented a program on the hazards of second-hand smoke. Communities A goal of CYFAR is to bring educational programs and other resources to families in this high-risk community. A natural partner in this effort should be the housing authority. Cooperative Extension has made significant progress in getting the housing authority to collaborate in the development of the people along with MCHA’s properties in this community. Impact for CYFAR Year 4 includes recognition by the authority for the quality of programming Cooperative Extension delivers to children, youth, and families to the extent that CYFAR and 4-H each have distinctly identified office space on the blueprints for the new community center. CYFAR staff has been consulted in the planning for the new center. This indicates that we have made progress in engaging a major community partner in our mission to strengthen families. With the location and basic programs established, we are now ready to partner with other community agencies/institutions more actively. Community residents are coming to the center looking for assistance and are also offering to help with CYFAR activities. CYFAR staff assesses the interests/talents of these adults and connects them to children’s and youth activities. This is a strong step in building a sense of community among families in a neighborhood that is very disconnected. Plan for Sustainability This project has support from the Project Director/County Extension Director and the Regional Director to seek funding to move the CYFAR site programmer position into a Children, Youth, and Families agent position. However, due to reductions in Extension funding, the possibility of new monies for the CYFAR salary, wages, and fringe benefit expenses is less promising. Other sources are being investigated. The county Cooperative Extension budget would support other program costs. Since county commissioners approve monies for the county budget, extensive efforts are made to keep them informed of the impact of the CYFAR program. They are already supportive of the 4-H program at the Quinby Street Service Center and provide funding for a major portion of the salary/fringe benefits for the 4-H Youth Adviser staff position. Due to the high number of risk factors in the area, county commissioners agree there is a need to reach out to the families of children in this specific community. The Mercer County Housing Authority is in the construction phase of building a new community center at the site of the former center. CYFAR staff has been included in the planning meetings, and at this time there are offices for both the 4-H Youth Adviser and the CYFAR Program Adviser in the plan. Additionally, the library and multipurpose room spaces are being designed to accommodate Family Enrichment Center activities. The CYFAR program is recognized as a partner in the authority’s plan for the redevelopment of this community. Efforts continue to build this collaboration, thus securing rent-free space to ensure sustainability. |
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