NETWORK CONNECTOR NEWSLETTER
Volume 4, Issue 5; May 2017

Upcoming Events
  • August 8-10: Certified Lactation Counselor Training  
  • November 1-2: Annual Leadership Summit 
Please email vitalvillage@bmc.org if you'd like to be notified about these opportunities. More information to come! 
Talk! Read! Play! Flash Rhyme Mob!

"If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!"
"If you're happy and you know it stomp your feet!"
"If you're happy and you know it shout hooray!"

On April 27th, hundreds of children and families all around the city of Boston participated in several different Flash Rhyme Mobs! Flash Rhyme Mobs emphasize the importance of early childhood literacy, as well as offer up a chance for children and families of all kinds to come together and have fun during the day! 
New Beginnings!

We are so excited to welcome Temana Aguilar and Erica Pike to the Vital Village Network family! Temana is our new Senior Research and Evaluation Coordinator and Erica is our new Policy and Communications Manager. We look forward to their valuable contributions to the network! 
Erica 
Temana



BMC Test Kitchen Class  

Join us for a night of fun and food at the BMC Demo Kitchen, where we will be cooking some delicious food!

When: July 10th, 2017 at 6:00 PM
Where: BMC Demo Kitchen, Yawkey 2nd Floor

For more information, click  here!
Village Voices  
Village Blog
The next installment of Village Voices features a blog post about birth intentions from Waetie Sanaa, one of the Breastfeeding Coalition Volunteers, is now up! Waetie Sanaa will also continue to write for the Breastfeeding Coalition blog, so keep a look out for her writing in the future as well!
Praising Parents 
Watch this father and his son start their day off with a personal, inspirational pledge!

"You ready, Joshua? Let's go."
"Today is gonna be a good day. I am going to school to learn to go to college, and be the leader that God created me to be!"

Click  here to read the full article.  

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 
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 or check out the ma p 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 Fa cebook page.       
VVCP, a group 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 VVCP to make hats, scarves, baby blankets, and other crafty designs for Children's Services of Roxbury! 
Contact  KT  for more information.

When: Sundays, 2-3:30 pm
Where: Dudley Cafe, 15 Warren St, Boston, MA 02119
Essential's for Childhood 2nd Annual Summit!

Join us at the Tower Hill Botanical Gardens on June 7th, 2017 for a full day summit all about Giving and Receiving Strength!
When: June 7th, 2017 - 8:30 AM-3:30 PM
Where: Tower Hill Botanical Gardens, Boylston, MA

Click  here for more information!
Father's Uplift POWER Gala 

Join Father's Uplift for their annual blue tie event, as they work to support child, paternal health, and male engagement. This year's POWER gala will combat homelessness among fathers by raising funds to create, "Boston's first residential and community safe haven for men and their families."

When: Sunday, June 18th -  5:00pm-11:00pm 
Where:  Hyatt Regency, 575 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02139
MassHousing's Crisis to Calm Conference

Come to Mass Housing's Crisis to Calm conference on June 15th to learn about how to better support mental health within a housing lens!

When: Thursday, June 15th, 2017
Where: Sheraton Framingham Hotel and Conference Center

For more information, click  here!
Young People's Success Series - Clothing Drive

Donate any new or unused clothes at Madison Park High School on May 27th!
When: Saturday, May 27th, at 10am
Where: Madison Park High School
Father and Family Fun Day!

Head over to Harambee Park on June 10th from 12-4 for fun activities, food, and music for Father's and Families Fun Day!

For more information click  here!
Around the City city1
Outdoor Rx of the Appalachian Mountain Club

Improve your well-being though the Great Outdoors with a 4-week outdoor program happening in Franklin Park with our partners at WGBH.

Details here.

When: Sat, May 27th, 10:30am
Where: Franklin Park, Pierpont Road Entrance 1 Circuit Drive, Boston, MA
Codman Square Food Pantry

The Food Pantry is location 0.6 miles up Washington Street from the main location of the Codman Square Health Center. Food is available to patrons to be picked up once a month. All participants must bring proof of address and an official form of identification.

Learn more  here
 
When: Tuesdays 8am-11am
Where: Greenwood Church, 378a Washington Street, Dorchester, MA 02124
Friends of Geneva Cliffs Meeting

The Friends of Geneva Cliffs meets monthly to continue to make improvements at the Cliff and to plan community celebrations and educational programs .

When: Mon, May 22nd, 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Where: Menino Pavillion Community Room, 155 Geneva Avenue
The National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families created a 30 page toolkit about how to create culturally appropriate approaches for diverse communities. The full guide is titled, " Developing Culturally Responsive Approaches to Serving Diverse Populations: A Resource Guide for Community-Based Organizations"
The Scoop on Stats   
Stay up to date with data!

Want a policy proposal that is not only good for children, but also the economy? Invest in high quality childhood program!

Providing young children with a healthy environment in which to learn and grow is not only good for their development-economists have also shown that high-quality early childhood programs bring impressive returns on investment to the public. Three of the most rigorous long-term studies found a range of returns between $4 and $9 for every dollar invested in early learning programs for low-income children. Program participants followed into adulthood benefited from increased earnings while the public saw returns in the form of reduced special education, welfare, and crime costs, and increased tax revenues from program participants later in life.

Sources: Masse, L. and Barnett, W.S., A Benefit Cost Analysis of the Abecedarian Early Childhood Intervention (2002); Karoly et al., Early Childhood Interventions: Proven Results, Future Promise (2005); Heckman et al., The Effect of the Perry Preschool Program on the Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills of its Participants (2009).

Job Postings
Families First Program Manager 
Families First is hiring a Program Manager for its Power of Parenting Program, through which "parents participate in twelve weeks of comprehensive programming held at a partner site in their neighborhood and four weeks of online complementary learning." The Program Manager will recruit for, coordinate and deliver the Power of Parenting program at several locations around Boston.  

For more detailed description of the position, please click  here
Smart from the Start Education Coordinator and Program Facilitator 
Smart from the Start is hiring a Spanish-speaking Education Coordinator and a Program Facilitator for their work to support families, engage communities and prepare children for school. Smart from the Start offers,"home visiting, parenting education and support, adult education, information and referrals to vital services," among other fun, educational resources. 

Anyone interested can contact:   Brenda.daley@smartfromthestartboston.org

Like the Vital Village Community Partnership Facebook Page 
to  access  tons of  community-shared resources and help us get to 500 likes!
Like us on Facebook
VITAL VILLAGE NETWORK
Stay Connected
88 East Newton St. · Vose Hall, 5th Floor ·  Boston, MA · vitalvillage@bmc.org · 617.414.3674