About Families First
CJP Panel Discussion
Families First hosted the panel Engaging Families in Diverse Communities on January 31, 2012, for a delegation of visiting Israeli leaders as part of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies’ (CJP) Boston-Haifa Connection. The Boston-Haifa project brings together major institutional Israeli partners to create programs targeting parents with children aged pre-natal to 6. On the panel were Sister Denise Kelly, Program Director at Bethany Hill School in Framingham; Families First parenting educators Doug Weinstock and Pam Bailey; John Kelly, Executive Director of the East Boston Social Center; and Randi Walsh, Families First’s Director of Programming.
The panel shared expertise from a variety of perspectives on how Families First is successful. Sister Denise Kelly explained that the residents of Bethany Hill (which serves families at risk for homelessness) benefit greatly from Families First workshops because many residents “…have never been ‘parented’ themselves.” Doug Weinstock spoke about aiming for cultural proficiency—a necessary step beyond cultural competency—while serving a variety of populations.
Families First was honored to lead this panel and hopes to collaborate on additional international parenting education projects in the future.
