The Family Corner- Home Safety
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Home Safety Month is a perfect time to prepare yourself and your
family for an emergency. Planning ahead can keep you and your family
safe if a flood, fire, flu pandemic or other public health emergency
strikes. Take these steps to prepare for an emergency:
- Do a walk-through of your home.
- Check your smoke alarms, child safety locks and first aid supplies.
- Get an emergency supply kit.
- Make a family emergency plan.
For more information, visit this link to Home Safety Council website for more tips.
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Program Highlight- Family Partners
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you struggled with a problem, in an area that you know nothing about? What if
it relates to one of your loved ones, a child, his health or mental health?
Your whole family is in turmoil, you know you need help and advice. You start
asking around; friends, school officials, your physician, but you feel that you
are getting the runaround. While everyone has answers to part of your
questions, no one has them all. You begin to think that you're crazy and
you suspect that everyone you talk to thinks so too. You're alone and
frustrated. This
is the situation that so many parents of children with serious emotional and
behavioral problems too often find themselves in. It is the problem that Family
Continuity's new " Family Partners" program is designed to
address. Funded through the Children's Behavioral Health Initiative
(CBHI) the program is formally known as "Family Support and Training",
but the term "partners" captures the core mission and value of the
program so much better. Family
Partners provide peer support to parents of children with Severe Emotional
Disturbance (SED). They are peer mentors to families, supporting them through
parent training, advocacy, behavioral support and family decision making. All
Family Partners are (or have been) themselves caregivers to children with SED
and use this experience to help others facing similar challenges. They've
lived through them and have come to gain a real understanding of the system of
care and insights into the fears and confusion that parents feel. This
program has been offered in Lowell and Lynn, and as a large part of Family
Continuity's Hyannis services for almost a year now. Feedback from
families is unanimous that this support has been crucial in their gaining
control over their lives and help for their children. In the next year the
agency will begin offering Family Partners at all of its hub sites. For
more information, log on to our website www.familycontinuity.org,
or call the information line at 866-219-3320.
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Service Recoginition Awards
| This past month, Family Continuity's leadership took time to recognize the staff members who were celebrating their
five year, ten year and 20 year anniversaries of working at Family
Continuity. We are honored to have such dedicated employees. Below is a photo of Jennifer Harrison, left, receiving her 20 Years of Service Award from COO, Kathleen Englehardt.
20 Years of Service
Jennifer Harrison, Caris-Desveaux House
10 Years of Service
Sean Daughtry, Beverly Clinic
Melvin Hollinhead, Caris-Desveaux House
Carole Johnson, Whitinsville Mental Health Clinic
Carolyn Judge, Plymouth Counseling Services
Craig Maxim, Whitinsville Mental Health Clinic
Martha Roberts, Plymouth Counseling Services
5 Years of Service
Ana Abreu, Lawrence Home Based Team
Amy Bernard, SAIL Program
Linda Blair, Whitinsville Mental Health Clinic
Diane Campbell, Hyannis Home Based Team
Robert Ebersole, Beverly Home Based Team
Brandi Fraser, Caris-Desveaux House
Marcia Gray, Beverly Home Based Team
Heidi Herrick, Caris-Desveaux House
Cheryl Maxim, Whitinsville Mental Health Clinic
Kathleen Mooney, Plymouth Home Based Team
Susan Murati, Hyannis Mental Health Clinic
Kevin Nicastro, Regional Director
Gloria Pierce, Whitinsville Mental Health Clinic
Candace Savage, Plymouth Counseling Services
Claire Sparks, SAIL Program
Stacey Trull, Lawrence Home Based Team
Joseph Yarid, Lowell Wrap Program
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Volunteers Needed
| You don't need to be a professional to
change the lives of families, children, elders, and other of your neighbors.
Family Continuity provides services at almost 20 sites around Massachusetts,
and each one offers opportunities for volunteer work that can make an important
contribution. We are looking for men and women for volunteer work in our hub offices
to support the important work that we are doing in the community by performing
light office work.
For additional information,please call our
Information Line at 1-866-219-3320.
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Real Stories |
Real Stories are submitted by clients who want to share the success they had thanks to the support and services provided by Family Continuity.
Andrea's Story
My name is Andrea and I have a four year old son Sam who attends our
local school's special education preschool program. I am a single
parent whose job requires me to be at work before Sam goes to school.
Luckily, Sam has been going to a family day care home about two blocks
from our home. Just as school was ending in June, I started to hear
rumors that our town was going to stop providing transportation for
children in day care homes. I was told that he would have to be
transported to and from my home. I was lost and did not know where to
go for answers. One of my relatives told me about Family Continuity and
the services they offered. She said that although the person she knew
had lots of experience in special education laws, her office was
located about sixty miles away.
I contacted the Lowell Wraparound Director and explained my dilemma.
In this economy, I could not take the chance of losing my job, but I
also could not allow my four year old to stay home alone waiting for
his transportation to school in the morning. The director asked me to
send her Sam's education plan and any other documentation I had so that
she could review his records. A few days later, she contacted me asking
if we could possibly meet to discuss the situation. The only day we
could do it was on a Saturday, but that wasn't a problem for her. Read More.
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Family Continuity's Mission Statement:
Supporting family success in every community by empowering people, enhancing their strengths, and creating solutions through partnerships to achieve hope, positive change and meaningful lives.
Agency Values: Family, Community, Advocacy, Leadership, and Change Treatment Philosophy, founded on the belief that positive change is always possible:
* The most effective treatment provides a continuity of care, acknowledging that connected, relevant supportive services to clients/client families promote recovery, stability, self advocacy and permanency in the midst of changing needs.
* Therapeutic change occurs in the context of a dynamic treatment partnership between clients and helpers that is founded on choice, respect, honesty, and a shared responsibility for and participation in the development of solutions.
* Effective treatment is empowering and strength-based, recognizing that all clients possess resources for change and that change is possible when these resources are utilized.
* Creating meaningful lives starts with identifying goals and connecting that to individualized, flexible and creative treatment planning that incorporates a client's family/community relationships, culture, and context. |
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