Take5 Newsletter - Summer Issue 2007
In This Issue
Take1: Commission Chair Cora TomalinasTake2: What's New - Resource-Rich FIRST 5 Website
Take3: Updated Kit for New Parents
Take4: Program Spotlight - Community Engagement Partners
Take 5: Partner Spotlight - Eastern European and African Populuations
Success Story - South County Partnership
High 5 - Special Recognition
Take1: The Busy Life of Commission Chair Cora Tomalinas
FIRST 5 Santa Clara County is fortunate to have Cora Tomalinas as our newest Commission Chair. Cora is a self professed “community person” who prides herself on getting to know people on a personal level, which is how she makes things happen.“People are hungry for more personal connections. My role is to get to know people and break down barriers that isolate people by ethnic groups,” said Cora. “When we stop talking from our minds, but instead from our hearts, we do better.”
Cora is not only Chair of the FIRST 5 Commission, but also serves on a number of important boards, commissions, task forces and community advocacy groups: the Catholic Foundation, Catholic Charities Board, San Jose Education Foundation, Early Care & Education Commission, and the Mayor’s Gang Task Force, among others. Cora’s personal goal for her community service is to promote seamless systems integration…..connecting systems and services, so they are more effective working together, allowing ordinary people easy access to these services. Her end-goal is to free up time for parents, so they can spend more quality time with their children and families.
As FIRST 5 Commission Chair, Cora has been busy in the community promoting the importance of the first 5 years of life. One of the highlights for her was serving as Ringmaster of My First Circus, held May 19th under the Big Top at Discovery Meadow. My First Circus was attended by over 1,000 families, many from the Gilroy and South County communities. The circus featured clowns, acrobats and other fun entertainment specifically geared for children age five and under.
In celebration of Mother’s Day, Cora was interviewed on KBAY radio and promoted the Kit for New Parents as an awesome resource and free gift for mothers.
Another highlight for Cora was speaking at the graduation ceremony for the San Jose State Philippine Student organization. Cora’s keynote address guided the graduates to embrace their legacy, live up to their commitments and responsibilities to their family, reinforcing that healthy, happy children and families begin at home.
Cora is a true community connector with a mission. “It is my responsibility to represent people who don’t know they have a voice, help them understand that voice and gain the courage to use it.”
Take2: What's New - Resource Rich FIRST 5 Website
How do I choose quality childcare? What do I need to do to prepare my child for school? Is preschool important? What activities are available for families and children in our county? These are commonly asked questions by parents and caregivers of young children. FIRST 5 Santa Clara County has recently upgraded their website linking parents to information and answers to these questions and more.The new website serves as a central hub connecting families and the community to resources that help raise healthy kids. Created with four audiences in mind – parents, partners, community and media – the website features parenting tips, information on how to find a pediatrician, access to health insurance, family success stories, and a community events calendar among others. The home page also features a “website and book of the week” plus the developmental asset we are promoting. For the summer months, it is “Family Support.”
“Our families need to know there is a place they can go for easy access to information,” said Cora Tomalinas, FIRST 5 Santa Clara County Commission Chair.” Our new friendly and easy to use website connects families to information, answers and services that help them through the challenges of parenting.”
Have you seen FIRST 5’s media campaign promoting our upgraded website? As part of the campaign, there have been street pole banners flying in San Jose, theater ads, bus-side ads, etc. --- and as a result, hits to the FIRST 5 website have more than tripled!
Summer time is Movie Time! Watch for FIRST 5 ads in theaters near you promoting the importance of early literacy, making music and engaging your child in conversation. The ads run June through August. We hope you have the chance to see all 3 ads at the theater. Let us know what you think! To view this month’s ad clip, visit www.first5kids.org.
Take3: Updated Kit for New Parents Available in English & Spanish
FIRST 5 Santa Clara County has joined with First 5 California to launch the updated Kit for New Parents, a free comprehensive parenting resource that includes everything from practical advice on prenatal care to information on a child’s first years. The free parenting resource, valued at $75, is currently available in English and Spanish. Asian language versions of the updated Kit will be released later this year.
“Babies don’t come with an instruction manual. If they did, it would look like the Kit for New Parents,” said Jolene Smith, Executive Director of FIRST 5 Santa Clara County. “What could be a better gift for a new mom or dad than a resource filled with all the advice and useful tips a new parent needs?”
A key component of the Kit is an educational DVD with parenting advice from prominent child development experts and celebrities, such as talk show host Cristina Saralegui, actors Rob Reiner, Phylicia Rashad, Jamie Lee Curtis, Andy Garcia, and singer Gloria Estefan. Parents and caregivers can order a Kit by calling 800-KIDS-025 or 800-50-Niños for the Spanish version.
FIRST 5 continues to work with hospitals and partner agencies to distribute the Kit throughout the county. If your agency or organization would like to become part of our ongoing distribution team, please contact Char Caudle at 408-260-3718.
Visit www.first5kids.org for more information on the Kit for New Parents.
Take4: Program Spotlight – Community Engagement & Education Partners
The upgraded FIRST 5 website was designed to provide access to parenting and early childhood information and services to a broad audience in our county. However, we realize not all families have access to the web. The Community Engagement and Education (CEE) strategy was designed with this in mind.The nine FIRST 5 funded CEE agency partners have undertaken a countywide charter to spread the word about the importance of the first 5 years. These agencies are bringing information and resources to locations within targeted regions that families with young children are known to frequent (community centers, early care and education facilities and neighborhoods) and helping to identify gaps, barriers and/or issues that interfere with the healthy development of children.
CEE agency partners include: Bring Me A Book Foundation, Catholic Charities, Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose/Mexican Heritage Plaza, Cupertino Community Services, Eastern European Services Agency (EESA), International Children’s Assistance Network (ICAN), Jewish Family & Children’s Services/Parent’s Place, Mayfair Improvement Initiative (Somos Mayfair), and Mexican American Community Services Agency (MACSA).
Read on to learn more about featured outreach activities underway today.
Take5: Partner Spotlight - Services for the Eastern European and African Populations
Eastern European Services Agency (EESA), a FIRST 5 funded Community Engagement & Education partner, and their sub-contractor African Community Health Institute (ACHI), serve the Eastern European and African communities in Santa Clara County with radio programming, a family resource center, newsletter and case management services.The weekly radio programs are broadcast in English and translated into several eastern European and African languages. The radio programs provide information on parenting topics, resources for families and story time for children. Tune in to KSSQ-FM 96.1 every Sunday night from 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. for Eastern European languages and KKUP-FM 91.5 every Monday afternoon from 4:30 - 5:00 p.m. for African languages. The family resource center offers translated collateral materials, a lending video and book library, story telling area and informal small group discussions answering questions and providing resources for families and their children. The newsletter features tips for parenting, special event coverage and provides a vehicle for disseminating FIRST 5 provided parenting materials, such as “The Top 10 Things Every Child Needs for the Best Start in Life.” For more information, visit www.eesasj.org and www.africachi.org.
Success Story - South County Partnership
A grandma raising her grandson on her own, lived in Gilroy for about two years, never going outside her home for fear immigration services would find her and send her back to Mexico. She lived in isolation until a neighbor asked her to join her English as a Second Language (ESL) and Computer classes.The grandmother came to class and brought her grandson along. The grandson participated in quality early learning while the grandmother attended ESL classes. The grandmother was immediately adopted into the South County “family” and offered counseling services. Her grandson was enrolled into the Head Start program, and the grandmother began to blossom. She now goes to stores, doctor appointments and visits friends she met while in these classes. She is employed caring for another child and is becoming self sufficient. She advocates for herself and has developed the confidence to stand her ground. Her self esteem has grown leaps and bounds with the assistance provided to her through the South County Partnership family.
High 5 - Special Recognition - Partnership for School Readiness
The Partnership for School Readiness (PSR) is comprised of private funders and community agencies, each with an interest in helping prepare children for school. FIRST 5 has been a member of the Partnership since its earliest days in 2001. The mission of the PSR is to advance school readiness and success for all children in the county through age eight.In 2004, PSR launched a Kindergarten Readiness Assessment as their “flagship” project, and since then has been focused on developing a shared portrait of the children who are entering our local kindergartens, the family factors that are correlated with readiness, and the teacher expectations that greet them when they arrive.
FIRST 5 gives a HIGH 5 to PSR in recognition of their key accomplishments:
- A definition of school readiness that has evolved to include definitions of the Basic Building Blocks of readiness and profiles of readiness.
- Two major Kindergarten Readiness Assessment Results “release events” that commanded extensive press coverage
- Completion of a three year baseline of kindergarten readiness in Santa Clara County
- Approximately 15 additional community presentations sharing results with educators, service providers and parents.
- Distribution of more than 1,500 books to children and classrooms in the community
- Support to other communities considering similar assessments