Lifting Together: Communities win when all families thrive

ATLANTIC – No parent is perfect and despite their best efforts to know and be everything for their children there are areas 

There is no such thing as a perfect parent, despite their best efforts to know and be everything for their children. Parenting, like childhood, can be quite messy at times.

Throughout Iowa there are places parents can go when they want a little support from fellow parents. The Child and Family Resource Network in Council Bluffs offers regular Parent Cafés, meetings where participants, usually parents or guardians, meet virtually to learn from one another.

The intention of the Parent Café is to allow caregivers an opportunity learn from one another on topics that are important to their parenting journey. 

"Our topics change," said Erika Kirchhoff, Network Outreach Coordinator at the Child and Family Resource Network in Council Bluffs, a program that connects pregnant women or couples and parents of children up to age five to free family support. The Child and Family Resource Network serves nine counties throughout southwest Iowa, including Cass County.

Kirchhoff was one of three panelists who spoke at the monthly alliance meeting of Thrive Iowa of Cass County at Cass Health. Coordinator Kristen Brooks led the meeting and conversation on the topic of Lifting Together: Why the Community Wins When At-Risk Families Thrive. The panelists included Kirchhoff, Gentri Meier of Cass Health and Laena Sonntag of the Iowa Health and Human Services.

The Parent Café began in 2007 in Illinois with the goal of offering peer-to-peer support. At the Child and Family Resource Network they are held virtually and cost nothing to join.

"All of our Parent Cafés and trainings for families are always free," Kirchhoff said.

Each Parent Café centers on a theme that changes month to month. On Aug. 24, the subject will be on building literacy skills. In September, the topic will be mental health and how to manage big emotions so children can thrive at every stage of development. 

"We want to engage as many families as possible," Kirchhoff said.

To sign up or learn more information on the Parent Cafés, visit www.childandfamilyresourcenetwork.org.

Several Thrive Iowa sites in Iowa are currently taking referrals, including Thrive Iowa of Cass County. For more information about Thrive Iowa, visit https://hhs.iowa.gov/family-community/thrive-iowa