NETWORK CONNECTOR NEWSLETTER
Volume 4, Issue 2; February 2017
Save the date!  Savedate
February Network Connection Meeting
What are you doing to help children thrive? What are you doing with others to help children thrive? How can we help you to do it more effectively? 
 Join us for our second Network Meeting of the new year!

Monday, February 13th
6:00 PM-8:00 PM
Evans Seminar Room
BU School of Medicine Instructional Building
72 East Concord Street, Boston, MA 02118
Social Justice Mediation Open House
Are you interested in learning about mediation? Join VVN Mediators, a group trained in the practice of social justice mediation, for an open house on Sunday, February 12th from 1:30-4 pm at BMC (Evans 118). If you have any questions, please e-mail vvnmediators@gmail.com. 

Bright Spots bright
Boston Breastfeeding Coalition  Meet-Up Group 
Our new meet-up group has 34 members and continues to grow! As we connect with more moms, we hope that meet-up will become a space for parents to share information and lend support when times are tough. Please feel free to check out and join our group to receive  weekly updates! 
The Vital Village Community Partnership , a  g roup of dedicated community residents, recently started a  Knitting and Crochet Social Group  to create a space for self-care, learning new skills, and meeting new friends. Please join them on Sundays from 2-3:30 pm at the Bolling Building to make hats, scarves, baby blankets, and other crafty designs for guests at Children's Services of Roxbury! Contact  KT  for more information.

Special Announcements CONtexts
Pop-up Breastfeeding Support 
The Boston Breastfeeding Coalition (run through VVN) is looking to connect with more moms, dads and caregivers to babies! We would love to stop by your event, play-group or organization - whether just to share a flyer with your network or to host a more extensive workshop on baby massage or breastfeeding's role in infant attachment. 

If you're interested in having one of our peer counselors stop by, or know of a great community event that we should connect with, please email zoe.miller@bmc.org!  
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CONtexts 
Vital Village is excited to offer a free texting service, in which users will receive information about  community resources  (Mondays), useful  youth wellness tips  (Wednesdays), and  fun family activities  (Fridays). To subscribe, please  text KIDS  to  88588 . You can also join the Facebook page  here

To give feedback on what information you'd like to hear about or to share resources you know about, e-mail vitalvillage@bmc.org with the subject "CONtexts" or post on the Facebook page.
Praising Parents  praisingparents
"If you fall?"
"I get back up!"

Ron Alston created this morning routine to inspire and empower his daughter everyday!
Click  here to see the full video!


Have an interview or a video that you think would be perfect for next month's Praising Parents? Share it with us at 
Around the Network network
Boston Children's Museum - Studio A

The Art Studio is a dynamic, hands-on activity space designed to encourage children to explore ideas, artists and art from around the world. The Art Studio is open every day. During busy times, the Studio doors open every half hour, for about 20 visitors (adults included!). Occasionally the Art Studio is closed during the day for cleaning or to set up a new activity. Otherwise, you can drop in at any time, and stay as long as you like!
Click  here for more information!
When:  Thursdays -  10:10am  to  12:45pm 
Alighieri School Playgroup

Bring your children to the Alighieri School Playgroup for some some pure, kid friendly, fun!

Where:  37 Gove St, East Boston, MA 02128

When:  Monday, February 20, 2017, 12:00pm - 01:30pm

Click  here for a referral form!
Salary Negotiation Workshop

Attend this FREE two-hour salary negotiation workshop to gain the skills and confidence to successfully negotiate your salary and benefits packages. 
Participants will learn:
- About the gender pay gap, including its personal consequences;
- How to quantify and articulate your value;
- How to conduct objective market research and determine a fair target salary; and
- How to create a strategic pitch and respond to salary offers.

When: February 28, 2017 * 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Where:
Northeastern Crossing, 
1175 Tremont Street
RSVP  here !

Around the City city1
Dorchester Walking Club
 
"Come join the Dorchester Walking Club every Friday for some healthy exercise! Walk on a flat surface in the Dorchester House Multi-Service Center gymnasium while listening to great music. You are welcome to stay as long as you like -- whether it's just 5 minutes, or 55 minutes. Your choice, your pace, your health!! (Everyone welcome, including patients, staff, community members, friends, etc. Please, no cell phones.)"

When: Fridays, 12 PM-1 PM
Where: 353 Dorchester Ave, Dorchester - Dorchester House Gymnasium
Credit Boot Camp - Hosted by the Boston Home Center

A 6-hour workshop to help you review your credit and create a plan for increasing your credit score and/or resolving credit problems
Topics Covered:
-How to read a credit report
-How to grow and repair credit
-How to address issues with credit cards, student and/or car loans, and medical debt
-How to create a spending plan to manage your money better
Where:  Mattapan Family Services
When: 535 River St, Mattapan
Tuesday Evenings - Feb 28th, Mar 7th +14th, 2017
Pre-School Movie Hour

Looking for something to do on Friday mornings with your child? The Grove Hall Branch of the Boston Public Library hold Pre-School Movie Hours every Friday at 10:30 AM! Come on down and check them out!

Where: Grove Hall Branch of the Boston Public Library -  41 Geneva Ave, Dorchester, MA 02121

Call 617-427- 3337

When:    Fridays from 10:30am - 11:30am
Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Luncheon

T uesday, February 7 is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and you are invited to join a free Luncheon at 12:00pm in the Great Hall at Codman Square Health Center to celebrate the strength of the Black community in the face of HIV. We seek to eliminate stigma and raise further awareness around treatment, testing and risks related to HIV. 

Click  here to register for the event!
 
When: Tuesday, February 7th, 12 PM
Where:  Great Hall at Codman Square Health Center

Engaging Fathers in Parenting Intervention Improves Outcomes for both Kids and Fathers


Though much research as been conducted on child outcomes, a majority of these studies have focused on mothers. However, one recent study d ecided to look at the role fathers play in the development of their children.The study was carried out using a method of reading called Shared Reading. This technique allows the child to become the primary story-teller, since the parent's role is designed to prompt feedback, give encouragement, and effectively facilitate the activity. According to the researchers, it can increase child development and outcomes, because it pushes the child to become more involved in the activity rather than merely acting as a passive listener.

In order to follow through with the study, researchers created two separate groups, a control and test group. Both groups mainly consisted of low-income fathers with pre-school aged children. While the control group was not told anything about Shared Reading, the test group participated in weekly viewing sessions, where they watched videos of other fathers making exaggerated errors when reading to their children. Together, the test group then came up with strategies which addressed the problems they saw in the videos. Finally, they were instructed to utilize those same activities with their own children.

What were the results?  Click below for more information!

To read the articles, click here,or here!



Interested in learning how to more effectively advocate for important policy? Check out some of these tips from the APA on how to call your Representatives/Congressional Office!

Be Direct. Be Informative. Be Appreciative.

Click here to learn more. 
The Scoop on Stats stats
staying up to date with data measurement!
How many people participated in the Women's March?

Two researchers took it upon themselves to try and map out the crowd sizes of many of the Women's Marches that occurred on January 21st - (they even charted some of the marches that happened in other countries too!). So, how many people attended the March in Boston? 175000! Though the numbers are still being tracked, this puts the Boston March as the 5th or 6th biggest march that occurred on that day! Can you guess which city had the largest crowd? Be sure to click on the website below to see all of the data presented in full.

Click here for more information!

Please reach out to kymberly.byrd@bmc.org with your thoughts! 


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88 East Newton St. · Vose Hall, 5th Floor ·  Boston, MA · vitalvillage@bmc.org · 617.414.3674